Columbia senior Matt Preston has a haircut that looks like he should be playing bass guitar in his best friend's garage band, and a vertical leap that probably wouldn't stand out in most local YMCA games.
But even if he doesn't look the part, it's clear that the shaggy-haired Preston is one of the Ivy League's best players. The 6-foot-5 forward had his way with Navy last night in Annapolis, scoring a season-high 23 points to lead the Lions to a 69-63 victory at Alumni Hall.
"I guess I'm just scrappy," said Preston, who has vowed to not cut his hair for the rest of the season. "I try to just really work for my baskets. My outside game wasn't really happening tonight, so I really tried to exploit going inside. I was able to do that."
Even though Preston had his way with the Midshipmen early on - 17 of his points came in the first half - Navy managed to keep things close thanks to some equally inspired inside play by forward Matt Fannin, who led his team with 16 points. But in a game that felt like a recurring bad dream for Mids coach Billy Lange, Navy (4-12) lost its composure for small stretches, and that proved to be the biggest difference in the Lions' victory.
"It's a familiar-looking box score," said Lange, as the Mids' first-year coach stared at the stat sheet. "Instead of Billy Lange, I feel like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day."
The loss was the sixth straight for the Mids, but it was also the third consecutive game where Navy saw a decent chance to win dissolve thanks to some sloppy play in crucial moments. Right before halftime, Columbia (10-4) went on an 8-0 run to grab a 29-24 lead. The Mids never got closer than three points from there, thanks mostly to turnovers (22) and poor free-throw shooting (16-for-30).
Still, Columbia's second-year coach Joe Jones, who is one of Lange's best friends from when the two were both on the staff at Villanova, said he sees a lot of similarities between where Navy's program is now, and where the Lions were two years ago. Columbia went 2-25 the year before Jones took over, and is now one of the fastest-rising teams in the Ivy League.
"They play with unbelievable passion," Jones said. "They're going to end up winning some games in their league. They're just learning how to play [Lange's] style of basketball. You just know, at some point it's going to click. They're playing everybody tough right now."
COLUMBIA-Preston 8-21 7-8 23, Barrett 1-3 0-0 2, Loscalzo 1-4 3-3 6, Boswell 3-8 0-0 7, Hill 0-3 0-0 0, Sweet 1-1 1-1 3, Baumann 1-2 0-0 2, Cuff 0-4 1-2 1, Montgomery 4-4 6-11 15, MacQuarrie 0-0 0-0 0, Kravic 1-4 1-2 4, Land 2-4 2-2 6, Nwachukwu 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 21-29 69. NAVY-O' Garro 2-6 2-4 6, Fannin 6-7 4-10 16, Johnson 4-10 2-2 11, Mathews 0-4 0-2 0, Sprink 3-10 6-9 13, Hooper 2-12 0-0 5, Boatner 0-0 0-0 0, Green 0-1 0-1 0, Rhoiney 1-2 0-0 3, Higgins 3-4 2-2 9. Totals 21-56 16-30 63. Halftime-Columbia 29, Navy 24. 3-point goals-Columbia 4-21 (Preston 0-3, Loscalzo 1-3, Boswell 1-4, Hill 0-1, Cuff 0-4, Montgomery 1-1, Kravic 1-4, Land 0-1). Navy 5-25 (Johnson 1-3, Mathews 0-2, Sprink 1-7, Hooper 1-10, Rhoiney 1-2, Higgins 1-1). Fouled out-O'Garro, Mathews. Rebounds-Columbia 37 (Loscalzo 6), Navy 48 (Sprink 9). Assists-Columbia 13 (Loscalzo 4), Navy 13 (Mathews 4). Total fouls-Columbia 23, Navy 24. A-1,017.
