Navy struggled again last night against one of the Patriot League's upper-echelon teams.
This time, the Midshipmen couldn't handle second-place Lehigh, which roared away with a 16-1 run early in the second half and proceeded to an easy 74-49 victory at Alumni Hall.
Navy (9-13, 2-7) is now 0-5 against the top three in the league standings, with a road game at Holy Cross next week left to play and still needs another win to surpass last season's victory total.
Poor shooting against the conference's No. 2 defense was the undoing of the Midshipmen, who were coming off a thrilling overtime conquest of archrival Army. After plebe Kaleo Kina hit a three-pointer to pull Navy to within 33-29 in the opening minute of the second half, the team missed its next 10 field-goal attempts, a stretch that ended with the Mountain Hawks soaring by 54-33.
Lehigh (15-9, 8-1) has now captured 10 of its last 11 games and five consecutive road starts. It had never won eight of its first nine league games.
"We go through some droughts. Our guys are young and we're not deep inside, but I think we're coming," said Navy coach Billy Lange. "We lost to a great team having a great year. I think they're tremendous, good enough to win the league."
With workhorse forward Matt Fannin scoring all 12 of his points in the first half, the Midshipmen stayed in contention for a half. Lehigh was beginning to pull off then, but Navy scored the final two baskets of the period, with Kina making a steal and layup before the horn.
But Lehigh, which has won four straight in Annapolis, used two three-pointers by the Patriots' leading scorer, Jose Olivero, to launch the decisive run, which also included three straight baskets by 7-footer John Gourlay.
The Midshipmen could never get back into contention because of 23.5 percent accuracy from the field in the second half. The top three-point shooting team in the league, Navy made only four of 20 from long range.
"They've got excellent guards who play the way the game is supposed to be played and their big guys are serviceable," said Lange. "And we're still a young team figuring our how to score against tough defense."
The Mountain Hawks made 17 of 23 from the field (74 percent) after the break and finished with 59.2 percent average overall, including 10 of 16 from beyond the arc.
Olivero ended right on his league-leading 18-point average, Joe Knight added 14 points and Kyle Nepture had 13, plus an air- tight defensive job against Navy's No. 1 scorer, Greg Sprink, who had just two points.
kent.baker@baltsun.com
LEHIGH -- Neptune 5-6 1-2 13, White 3-5 0-0 6, Fischman 1-2 0-1 2, Olivero 7-12 0-0 18, Gilfillan 2-3 0-0 5, Mgebroff 2-2 0-0 4, Knight 5-10 2-2 14, J.Anderson 0-2 0-1 0, Gourlay 3-5 3-4 9, Szalachowski 1-1 0-0 3, P.Anderson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-49 6-10 74. NAVY -- Fannin 4-11 4-5 12, Teague 3-9 0-0 7, Sprink 1-5 0-1 2, Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, Kina 2-7 0-0 5, Reed 0-2 0-0 0, Colbert 1-5 2-3 4, Hooper 0-1 0-0 0, Boatner 0-1 0-0 0, Green 1-1 1-4 3, Brigham 2-4 0-0 6, Baldwin 0-6 2-2 2, White 0-1 0-2 0, Biles 2-2 0-1 4. Totals 18-60 9-18 49.
Halftime--Lehigh 31-26. 3-point goals--Lehigh 10-16 (Olivero 4-5, Neptune 2-3, Knight 2-5, Szalachowski 1-1, Gilfillan 1-2), Navy 4-20 (Brigham 2-4, Kina 1-5, Teague 1-5, Colbert 0-1, Sprink 0-2, Johnson 0-3). Fouled out--Gourlay. Rebounds--Lehigh 38 (J.Anderson, White 6), Navy 32 (Baldwin, Sprink, Teague 4). Assists--Lehigh 22 (Gilfillan 7), Navy 8 (Colbert, Sprink 2). Total fouls--Lehigh 21, Navy 18. A--1,375.
