First-year Navy coach Billy Lange has spent the bulk of this season preaching to his players that only consistent hard work on the defensive end will turn around a program that has lost 20 games each of the previous three seasons.
On a snowy day in Annapolis yesterday, it also helped turn around a game against one of the Patriot League's best.
Trailing by nine early in the second half against Bucknell, Navy used a combination of zone and man-to-man defense to get back into the game, then sealed it at the foul line in a 66-62 win before 1,027 at Alumni Hall. Navy (6-14, 2-5) has now won more games than it did last season.
"We're playing a more hustle style than some of these guys are used to, so it takes a lot of work," Lange said. "I thought our defense had stretches [that were] outstanding."
Until Friday's loss to American, Bucknell (14-6, 5-2) had won 11 straight - including road wins against Saint Joseph's and then-No. 7 Pittsburgh - and picked up six votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, as many as Maryland.
After trailing most of the game, largely due to the hot outside shooting of Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt (game-high 27 points), Navy took a 63-62 lead on two free throws by Corey Johnson with 21.7 seconds left.
The Midshipmen got a break when Charlie Lee's inbounds pass from the sideline bounced off the hands of Abe Badmus and out of bounds. Moments later, Navy's George O'Garro made both shots from the line to put Navy up by three.
Bucknell had one last chance to pull even, but Bettencourt's off-balance three-pointer fell short with eight seconds left.
"I thought we played pretty well in stretches, but we let them hang around," said Bucknell assistant Nathan Davis, a former Navy assistant acting as head coach while Pat Flannery is on medical leave.
Though Navy, led by Greg Sprink (17 points) and O'Garro (16), ran hot and cold on offense, the Midshipmen won the game on defense, diving after balls, sticking hands into passing lanes and holding Bucknell to 36 percent from the field.
"They looked like a gang out there," Lange said. "They had each other's backs. When one of our guys went down, they went and helped that guy out. Nobody was out there on their own."
BUCKNELL-Clark 0-2 0-1 0, McNaughton 5-8 1-1 11, Lee 2-8 0-0 6, Badmus 0-4 1-2 1, Bettencourt 9-19 5-5 27, Mastropaolo 0- 1 4-4 4, Brown 1-1 2-3 4, Griffin 1-4 0-0 2, Morrison 0-0 0-0 0, Niesz 1-5 0-0 2, Viaer-McClymont 2-3 1-4 5. Totals 20-55 14-20 62. NAVY-O'Garro 5-10 6-9 16, Fannin 2-3 4-6 8, Johnson 2-9 2-3 7, Mathews 1-7 3-4 6, Sprink 5-10 4-5 17, Hooper 2-6 0-0 5, Green 0-0 0-0 0, Rhoiney 0-0 0-0 0, Mergerson 1-3 5-8 7. Totals 18-48 24-35 66. Half- Bucknell, 26-25. 3-point goals- Bucknell 8-23 (Clark 0-1, Lee 2-3, Badmus 0-1, Bettnecourt 6-14, Griffin 0-1, Niesz 0-3). Navy 6-15 (Johnson 1-4, Mathews 1-4, Sprink 3-4, Hooper 1-3). Rebounds- Bucknell 32 (Lee 8), Navy 41 (Sprink 8). Assists- Bucknell 15 (Badmus 4, Bettencourt 4), Navy 10 (Johnson 3, Fannin 3). Total fouls- Bucknell 28, Navy 19. A- 1,027.
