Navy Sports

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:01pm

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy rifle team pieced together a strong second half of the season, catapulting the Mids into their 17th straight NCAA Championship to be held March 14-15, at West Point. Navy has advanced to every NCAA Championship since 1992.

Alaska, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, TCU, Navy, Army and West Virginia will comprise the field. Navy enters the championship boasting the fourth-best average in the country.

“I am proud of this team and the way they responded in the last month of the season,” said Navy head coach Bill Kelley. "We made it a goal at the start of the year to not be the team to end the streak, and the team turned it on when they needed to.

“We are going to go in there with the intentions of winning the NCAA title,” said Kelley. “We feel we have the pieces to do that and are looking forward to the next few weeks to prepare for that.”

Individual and team competitions in smallbore three-position (60 shots) will be held Friday, March 14. Individual and team competitions in air rifle (60 shots) will be held Saturday, March 15. The overall team champion will be determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team totals into one aggregate score for each institution.

Navy is led in smallbore by senior Josh Albright, last year’s NCAA smallbore champion. He is averaging a 577.4 in 10 matches in the discipline, and has posted six of the top nine scores by a Navy shooter this year.

Kelley has also received solid contributions from freshmen Alison Lankes and Chris Burleson and senior Monica Amagna. Lankes is second on the team with a 570.6 average in seven matches, while Burleson averages 568.6 in 10 matches. Amagna is third on the team with a 568.7 average in seven matches.

In air rifle, the Mids are led by Lisa Kunzelman. The junior from Constantia, N.Y., is averaging a school record 589.5 in 10 matches, and has seven of the top eight performances by a Navy shooter in the air rifle discipline this year. Albright, Amagna and Lankes joined Kunzelman at the NCAA Qualifier two weeks ago. Albright averages 580.8, Amagna contributes a 578.8 and Lankes comes in with a 579.0 average.

The Mids will compete against Akron in the MAC Championships on Saturday, March 1, in Cambridge, Mass. The Mids will be without the services of Kunzelman, as she will be competing in the US Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo.

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:02pm

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Contact: Jonathan Maggart (410) 293-8771

Navy Earns USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Award

NEW ORLEANS For the second-straight year, the Navy womens cross country team has been recognized as a U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team for their athletic and academic efforts, it was announced on Tuesday.

The Midshipmen combined for a 3.28 cumulative grade-point average to earn the award with 157 other Division I womens cross country squads in the nation. The Mids were joined on the impressive list by fellow Patriot League institutions Lafayette and Lehigh.

Navy advanced to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championship at Lehighs Goodman Campus Course this past fall, placing 10th out of 28 scoring teams. The Midshipmen have finished among the regions top-10 teams in two of the past-three years and in each of the three visits to Lehighs home course for the NCAA regional championship.

In order to be eligible for USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors, the cross country team needed to post a team score at its respective NCAA regional and have a minimum 3.00 team cumulative grade-point average.

A total of nine Navy womens cross country runners were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll last month. Five of those nine runners, team captain Kyleigh Millhouse (Sr./Boiling Springs, Pa.), Arwyn Becker (Sr./Vail, Colo.), Vicki Moore (Sr./Burke, Va.), Jenny Rubin (So./Papillion, Neb.) and Erica Ziel (So./Saginaw, Mich.) produced a perfect 4.0 grade-point average last fall, tops among all schools in the Patriot League.

The Midshipmen finished the 2007 season with a perfect 4-0 dual-meet record, defeated Army in West Point to claim the N-Star and tied for the Patriot League Championship title with Bucknell.

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:16pm

By Kyle Whelliston (midmajority.com)

American at Navy (Patriot League)
Alumni Hall - Annapolis, MD
7:00 PM EST

Perhaps it has something to do with the Presidential race or something, but the balance of power in the Patriot League has definitely tilted towards America’s capitol region. The champions of recent years, Bucknell and Holy Cross, can be found at mid-table. The Bison and Crusaders are two parts of a five-team glob all within two games of .500, still filibustering for seeding positions three through seven as the regular season approaches its end.

Your leaders are the American Eagles (17-10, 9-3), a team that has never achieved the NCAA Tournament. Not to say they haven’t come close – they began their Patriot life in the 2001-02 season (after leaving the CAA) have reached the title game three years in a row, and have not missed the semifinals in six tries. But this looks like the year the Eagles could get over the hump. That’s thanks to a breakout junior season from 5-11 guard Garrison Carr (whose 15.8 ppg is over four times last year’s 3.8 figure), a methodical, slow style, as well as improved shooting, ball control and defense. The Eagles have won six straight, and could claim their third regular-season title in seven years tonight.

But they’ll have to do it at Navy (15-12, 8-4), the Patriot’s second place team, winners of five straight. The Midshipmen haven’t won the league title since the Don DeVoe days of the late Nineties, but could pull into a tie with the tiebreak hammer this evening. That’s because Navy won the first meeting between the two, a 77-66 Midshipmen win on Jan. 30 that featured a career-high 36-point performance from one of the most prolific PL shooters in recent memory, Greg Sprink. The 6-5 senior leads the Patriot League with 20.8 ppg and has attempted no fewer than 453 shots. But the Mids have been a bit better on the road (8-4) than at home (7-5), and they’ll be facing an American team that’s run a 10-6 record away from Bender Arena. Crowd size could play a factor tonight.

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:19pm

By
Chris Courgeon

Forget Bucknell-Holy Cross. For the first time in three years, the biggest game of the season doesn¹t involve the Bison or the Crusaders.

The Patriot League¹s two southern-most schools match up tonight in Annapolis with first place and a chance to sleep in their own beds throughout the league tournament on the line.

American comes in with a one-game lead and can clinch the top seed with a win tonight. Navy, which won the first matchup between the two, can take the top spot by sweeping its last two regular season games. The Mids would also gain the top seed if it wins over American and both teams lose their regular season finale (Navy would have a season sweep to take the tiebreaker).

While American at Navy is in the spotlight, the other three games tonight all have first round tournament homecourt implications. Only Army is out of tontention for hosting a first round game and even the Black Knights still have something to play for since they can escape the league cellar by winning out.

American (17-10, 9-3) at Navy (15-12, 8-4), 7 p.m. Two of the league¹s top three scorers, Navy¹s Greg Sprink and American¹s Garrison Carr, will square off in the biggest game either team has played in years. But it isn¹t likely to be determined by those two guys.

Odds are they will both get their 20 points. Carr has too quick a release to be shut down completely. He is going to get his shots because his range is pretty much anywhere on the offensive side of halfcourt and he needs just a sliver of daylight to get his shot off. When Carr gets his shots off, he seldom misses.

Sprink has similar range, and an inside game that Carr lacks makes up for any disadvantage he might have in perimeter accuracy. Even when Sprink’s threes are not falling, he has a knack for getting to the foul line, where he is an 86.3 percent shooter. That is second in the league behind Carr’s 87.8 percent, but Sprink is easily the league¹s top scorer from the stripe.

Sprink has gone to the line 204 times this season, making 176. The next most frequent foul shooter in the conference, Lafayette¹s Bilal Abdullah, has only shot 152 foul shots. Abdullah¹s 95 makes, second most in the league, is slightly more than half as many as Sprink has hit. Carr, by the way, has gone 72 for 82 at the line.

The question is, who else will score for the two teams. The two teams approach that question from opposite directions.

Navy, the league’s highest scoring team, thrives by getting significant offensive production from guards Kaleo Kina and Chris Harris. All three are in the top 10 in the league in scoring. When Sprink, Harris and Kina are all in sync, the Mids score points in bunches.

Much of American’s success this season, though, has come from improved defense. Carr is the only guy on the top 10 scorers list. Point guard Derrick Mercer (12.8 ppg) is the only other guy in double figures. But as a team, American ranks second in the Patriot in scoring defense, third in field goal percentage defense both overall and from the arc.

A big key to this game will be possessions. The way Navy shoots the ball, American cannot afford to give the Mids extra chances. That means taking care of the ball on offense and rebounding on defense.

The Mids thrive on turnovers and offensive rebounds. They lead the league in both categories. Billy Lange likes to talk about how his team does not run plays designed to shoot the three, but they always have somebody lurking at the arc waiting for a kickout, especially when they grab an offensive board. American can¹t be content to get a sto, they need to get the stop and get the ball.

The Eagles, on the other hand, have given up fewer turnovers per game (13.5) than any team in the league. They also rank second in defensive rebounds and rebounding margin. If they keep Navy from getting extra possessions, they can keep the Mids high-octane offense in check.

Neither team has what you would call a post scorer, but American has a significant edge on the frontline in guys like Brian Gilmore and much-improved big man Cornelio Guibunda. Navy will try to negate that edge by forcing them to guard guys like Adam teague away from the basket.

The x-factor might be Navy¹s homecourt edge. The Mids have been drawing better of late, averaging 2,165 per game, fourth in the conference. Crowds in excess of 3,000 have become the norm during conference play. Given the magnitude of this game, a large contingent of rowdy Midshipmen might swell the crowd and give Navy a real homecourt advantage. If that happens, it might just give the Mids a homecourt advantage the whole way through the tournament.

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:22pm

Eagles looking to sink Navy
by Craig Stouffer, The Examiner

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - There are two perspectives on American and Navy’s first meeting four weeks ago.

At one end, it was a defining performance Navy senior Greg Sprink, who set career-highs with 36 points and four steals in a 77-66 road victory for the Midshipmen.

At the other, it also was the Eagles¹ worst game of the season and a rallying point that has propelled them to six straight victories. American (17-10, 9-3 Patriot League) can clinch its first regular-season conference title since 2004 with a win in tonight’s rematch.

“I think it was [the worst performance of the season],” said American head coach Jeff Jones. “I certainly didn’t then and don’t now mean to take anything away from Navy. I think they took the game to us, and we didn’t respond when they came out and were the aggressors.”

But it is American, with a ruthlessly efficient offense and patient, yet aggressive, defense, that’s claimed sole possession of first place in the Patriot League standings. The Eagles shot 46 percent or better from the field in four of their first 21 games. They¹re shooting nearly 50 percent since, including three games at 53 percent or better.

They’ve also committed an average of 14.2 fouls over the last five games, a statistic that will be key to stopping Sprink (20.9 points per game), who was 17 of 18 from the line at Bender Arena on Jan. 30. He¹s led Navy (15-12, 8-4) to five wins in a row.

“We want to try and stay in front of him, try to slow him down from getting to the basket, and try to take more charges as he comes into the lane instead of blocking his shots,” said Eagles senior guard Derrick Mercer (12.9 ppg, 3.2 assists per game). “I think that’s one of our problems. We tried to block his shot instead of taking charges.”

Both the Eagles and the Midshipmen already have clinched home games for the first round of next week’s Patriot League Tournament, but the road to the NCAAs will go through the home court of tonight’s victor.

“This is something I’ve been wanting to have since I got here as a freshman,” said Mercer. “It was one of my goals that we’re starting to achieve, but it’s not over yet.”

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:24pm

Boxing: 
Last Week: Club boxers won 6 of 9 bouts @ Brigade Boxing Finals
This Week: @ Kentucky Invitational, (Friday, 8pm, Louisville, KY)

Cycling -
Last Week: @ William & Mary: Time Trials - 2 first places, 2 second places; Race - 1 first place, 1 second place, 1 third place
This Week: U.S. Naval Collegiate Race Weekend (Saturday, Hospital Pt, Sunday, Davidsonville Elementary School)

Hockey - (17-18-1)
Last Week: defeated Seton Hall 12-2
This Week: Military Hockey Tournament, McMullen Ice Arena (Fri., 5:30pm vs VMI, Sat., 3:00pm vs Citadel, Sun., 2:00pm, vs UVA )

Karate - (0-0)
Last Week: Idle
This Week: Idle

Pistol - (6-2)
Last Week: @ USMA, Cancelled due to weather
This Week: Idle

Lacrosse - (1-1 )
Last Week: defeated Johns Hopkins 17-2
This Week: @ Penn State University (Sat., Mar 1)

Marathon - (2-0)
Last Week: Idle
This Week: B & A Trail 1/2 Marathon, (Sun…, 7:30am, Annapolis)

Powerlifting -
Last Week: 8 Navy lifters placed 1st in their respective divisions; 1/c Christina Acosta won Best Lifter Award while 6 lifters qualified for the National Championships.
This Week: Idle

Rugby (M) 
Last Week: defeated Norfolk 41-37
This Week: C Side vs Maryland C Side, (Sat., 10:00am, Farragut Field) A Side, vs New Haven Rugby Club (Sat., 12:30pm, Farragut Field)

Rugby (W) - A Side 11-2-1 / B Side 8-2-2
Last Week: placed 3rd in Ruggerfest Tournament and defeated UMBC 50 - 5
This Week: @ VWIT Tournament, (Sat., Charlottesville, VA)

Soccer -
Last Week: Idle.
This Week: Idle

Softball - (8-3)
Last Week: Idle
This Week:

Tennis -
Last Week: Idle
This Week: vs Goucher College (Sat., 10:00am, Tose Family Tennis Center) vs UMBC (Sun…, 12:00pm, Tose Family Tennis Center)

Triathlon - (0-0)
Last Week: Idle
This Week: Idle

Volleyball - (9-7)
Last Week: Hoosier Classic: lost to Eastern Illinois 1-2; defeated Indiana 2-1; lost to Lakeland 0-2; defeated SUNY-Buffalo 2-1; defeated Missouri 2-1; lost to Illinois 0-2
This Week: @ Penn State Tournament (Sat., State College PA)

Field Hockey -(0-0)
Last Week: Idle
This Week: Idle

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:25pm

For Immediate Release
Sent Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Navy Tennis to Face #42 Clemson and #30 N.C. State this Week

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy tennis team will take to the road this week for a pair of challenging matches against North Carolina State and Clemson. The Mids will play at Clemson, currently ranked 42nd in the country, Friday at 11 a.m., then will face No. 30 North Carolina State Saturday at 9 a.m.

“We face two very good teams this weekend,” said Navy head coach John Officer. “We challenge ourselves with this level of competition to be prepared for our league season. We will need to move well on the court to be able to control
rallies.”

The Tigers have been ranked as high as 30th in the country this season and have already recorded a trio of victories against teams who currently hold a national ranking. Clemson has posted an 8-5 record this season, with all five of its losses coming to nationally-ranked programs. Individually for the Tigers, Rok Bizjak holds singles rankings of No. 12 in the Mideast Region and 99th nationally.

The Wolfpack began the season ranked 20th in the country and have compiled a 5-3 record this year. Two of their wins and all of their losses have been against nationally-ranked programs. Jay Weinacker and Nick Cavaday hold Mideast Region singles rankings of 23rd and 25th, respectively, with the duo also forming the ninth-ranked doubles team in the country.

Navy has previously played No. 49 East Tennessee State and No. 75 Maryland this season. The Mids lost to the Bucs by the score of 3-0 and dropped a 7-0 decision to the Terrapins.

Navy saw its four-match winning streak come to an end this past Sunday when the Mids lost a 5-2 decision to Yale. After winning the doubles point from the Bulldogs, Navy’s Owen Bullard (Fr., Concord, N.C.) recorded a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles to provide the Mids with their second point of the day. Navy came close to picking up an additional point as Alex James (Sr., Visalia, Calif.) went three sets in his No. 5 singles match against Calvin Bennett. Jason Hill (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) also had a strong effort on the day for Navy, losing a 6-4, 6-3 decision at No. 4 singles.

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:28pm

By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer

Greg Sprink has etched his name throughout the Navy basketball record book. Sprink will finish as Navy’s third all-time leading scorer with more than 1,695 points. The 6-foot-5 swingman holds the school’s career record for 3-pointers made (224), ranks second in career free throw percentage (.844) and third in games started (102).

However, the numbers and accolades are not what Sprink wants fans to remember about him. Rather, the California native is hopeful his name will forever be associated with a period of revival for Navy basketball.

“All the statistics and where I stand in the record book I might sit back and think about that stuff one day,” Sprink said. “My main goal was to get better individually and do whatever I could to make the team better. I’m most proud of helping this program get turned around.”

Navy (15-12) appears well on the way to its first winning season since 2000-2001 and is already guaranteed its best record in the Patriot League since then. Sprink, who will be honored in a pre-game ceremony tonight along with fellow senior Ben Biles, has played an instrumental role in lifting the Midshipmen into contention for the conference crown.

First place in the Patriot League will be on the line when Navy hosts American at Alumni Hall and Sprink would like nothing more than to celebrate “Senior Night” with a victory.

“It’s been a long, hard road to get to where we are now. There have been a lot of struggles, a lot of hardships,” Sprink said. “A Patriot League championship would mean the world to me because I know how far this program has come the last few years.”

Sprink has a good chance of becoming the first player in Naval Academy history to be named Patriot League Player of the Year. The versatile left-hander leads the league in scoring with 20.9 points per game and ranks second in rebounding with an average of 6.4.

“I don’t think there is another player in the league who shoulders as much responsibility as Greg does for our team,” Navy head coach Billy Lange said. “Not only has Greg scored consistently, but he’s done a great job of creating open shots for other guys.”

Earning Patriot League Player of the Year would be quite an honor, but no greater than serving as team captain.

“I’ve grown up a lot during my time at the academy. I thank Coach Lange for sticking with me and believing me along the way,” Sprink said. “It’s a real privilege to have the role of captain. To know the respect my teammates have developed in my leadership ability is very rewarding.”

Sprink, who grew up in the San Diego area, was not highly recruited coming out of El Camino High. Brad Enright, an assistant under former head coach Don DeVoe, discovered Sprink and convinced him to attend the Naval Academy Prep School. The Cardiff by the Sea resident arrived in Annapolis to find that Lange had replaced DeVoe as head coach and installed an offensive system that fit his free-wheeling playing style.

As a plebe, Sprink was given an opportunity to play and capitalized, averaging 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds en route to earning Patriot League All-Rookie honors. He moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and led Navy in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (4.9 rpg) while ranking second in assists (57) and third in steals (32).

Despite the impressive statistics that season, Sprink was far from a finished product. His overall game needed further refinement and the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder spent countless hours in Halsey Field House during the offseason practicing or playing pickup ball.

“Greg loves to play, loves to work on his game. He’ll go to Halsey on his own and shoot 200 jumpers. He had that desire to become a great player,” Lange said. “I think Greg has come a long way in terms of becoming a complete player.”

That showed recently when Sprink drove the lane and made great passes to assist Clif Colbert and Adam Teague on decisive jump shots at the end of close games. Defenses pay special attention to Sprink and he has learned over time how to find open teammates instead of forcing difficult shots, evidenced by the fact he has accumulated a career-high 74 assists this season.

However, scoring will always be Sprink’s calling card and he is a tough matchup due to an ability to shoot 3-pointers, drive to the basket or post up.

“Sprink is a pure scorer who can hurt you in a lot of ways. He’s hard to guard because he’s too quick for a big defender and too strong for a smaller one. He can hurt you inside or outside,” American coach Jeff Jones said.

Sprink has endured some difficult times at the Naval Academy, struggling with academics and running afoul of authority in Bancroft Hall.

“I’m thankful that I’ve been given multiple opportunities to continue my career here,” he said. “I had a lot of long discussions with Coach Lange and my parents about leaving this place. They all urged me to stick it out and halfway through my junior year I realized this was the career I wanted.”

While it wasn’t easy, Sprink has made it through the academy and will graduate with a grade-point average of about 2.4 in economics. He has chosen surface warfare as his Navy calling and is thrilled to have been assigned to a FSG 46 Rentz, a frigate based in his hometown of San Diego.

His father Tom Sprink is a special education teacher at El Camino High and spent 18 years as head coach of track and field. His mother Karen Sprink works part-time as an accountant. The couple bought a second home in Annapolis in order to spend more time with their son and they have attended no less than 15 Navy basketball games this season alone while traveling back and forth from California.

“Family is very important to me and the support my parents and sister have provided throughout my time at the academy has meant a lot,” Sprink said.

Sprink and Ben Biles are the only members of the recruiting class of 2004 still with the basketball program. Biles, a product of Gaston Day School in Cramerton, N.C., will also be honored tonight. The 6-foot-10, 255-pound center-forward started seven games as a freshman and nine games as a senior.

“The coaching staff has immense respect and deep gratitude for Ben’s commitment, loyalty and dedication over four years,” Lange said. “Ben is an outstanding teammate, student and outstanding Midshipmen. Whenever called upon, he was ready to go.”

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:29pm

For Immediate Release
Sent Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Navy Places 21 on All-League Swimming & Diving Teams

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men’s and women’s programs combined to place a league-best 21 athletes onto the Patriot League Swimming & Diving All-League Teams that were announced Wednesday by the league office.

The all-league teams are determined by results from the Patriot League Championship, which was held Feb. 21-23 in Navy’s Lejeune Hall. All individual event winners are automatically placed onto the first team, with the remaining first-team positions completed based upon individual event points earned over the three days of the meet. All individual event second-place finishers not already receiving first-team honors are then placed onto the league’s second team, which is then filled out by individual event point totals.

Each of the two all-league teams total 18 members, with more if there are any ties based upon point totals.

During the five years in which both the Navy men’s and women’s teams have competed at the Patriot League Championship, the Mids have led the league in the combined number of all-league selections three times and tied for the most accolades in the league in the remaining two seasons.

Bucknell, the men’s runner-up and third-place team in the women’s meet, placed 19 athletes onto the two teams, while Colgate, winner of the women’s title and the fifth-place finisher on the men’s side, tallied 15 all-league recipients.

The Navy men’s program, winners of its fifth league crown in as many years, saw 13 members of its squad garner all-league accolades, with eight being named to the league’s first team. Automatic first-team qualifiers were 2008 Men’s Diver of the Meet Jon Galinski (Jr., Phoenix, Md.), who won both diving events, Andrew Hetzner (So., Riverside, Calif.), winner of the 200 butterfly, Alex Oldenkamp (Jr., Coppell, Texas), who won both sprint freestyle events, Billy Vey (Jr., Huntersville, N.C.), the 400 individual medley champion, and Ryan Ward (Fr., Prospect, Ky.), winner of the 200 backstroke title.

The Navy women’s team finished in second place at the league meet, just 44.5 points in back of first-place Colgate. Four Mids from the program won individual events to earn automatic first-team all-league honors, with eight Mids in all being named to one of the two teams. Headlining the list of Navy recipients were major award winners Tara Chapmon (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) and Katie Griffin (Sr., Ellicott City, Md.). Chapmon won the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle events to earn women’s swimmer-of-the-meet honors, while Griffin swept the two diving events to garner her second-straight women’s diver-of-the-meet award. Among the additional Mids to be named to the first team were event champions Thuy-Mi Dinh (So., Anaheim, Calif.), winner of the 50 and 100 freestyle events, and Kelly Zahalka (Jr., Richmond, Va.), winner of the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley races.

The future bodes well for both Navy teams as the only seniors from the two programs to earn all-league recognition were Griffin and fellow diver Adam Niekras (Sr., Liverpool, N.Y.), who received second-team honors.

Navy’s First-Team All-Patriot League Recipients
Men – Alex Buck, Nathan Durham, Jon Galinski, Andrew Hetzner, Nathan LeRoy, Alex Oldenkamp, Billy Vey, Ryan Ward
Women – Tara Chapmon, Thuy-Mi Dinh, Katie Griffin, Allison Ranzau, Tessa Snow, Kelly Zahalka

Navy’s Second-Team All-Patriot League Recipients
Men – David Guthmann, J.J. Helms, Adam Niekras, Olaf Olson, Dan Warner
Women – Natalie Albertson, Desiree’ Robison

GreatAmerican · February 27, 2008, 6:31pm

Patriot League Notebook

Season Starts Now
Five of the six Patriot League squads kicked off the 2007 season last week. Bucknell will have its first game this Wednesday, Feb. 27, when the Bison host Penn State at 4 p.m.

Newcomers
The Patriot League welcomes two new head coaches this year. Caline McHenry takes over at Bucknell, while Cindy Timchal will be starting her inaugural year as head coach at Navy. McHenry was a standout student-athlete at Duke University, where in 2005 she was a First-Team All-American and a semifinalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is awarded annually to the top player in the nation. Timchal enters her 26th season of coaching, after splitting the first 25 between Northwestern University and the University of Maryland. At Maryland, Timchal led her teams to seven- onsecutive and eight overall national championships, and is currently the all-time wins leader in Division I history with 337.

All-Time Leaders
Lafayette senior Madalyn Booth entered the 2008 season with several career records in reach. Booth had totals of 177 points, 94 goals and 93 assists prior to Lafayette’s first game against St. Joseph’s. After a two goal, three assists performance against the Hawks, Booth is just 22 points away from cracking the top 10 career list, and is one assist away of tying Erin Rowse of Holy Cross for first all-time with 97.

2008 Patriot League Tournament
The 2008 Patriot League Women’s Lacrosse Championship will once again use the two-day format that gives a day of rest in between the semifinals and the championship game for the top four teams in the Patriot League. The tournament will be held at the highest seed on Friday, April 25 and Sunday, April 27.

Team Notebooks

American
The Eagles opened up the season with one win and two losses. Last week, American lost a close game to Drexel, 8-6, at home, but followed that up with a thrilling overtime win on the road at Davidson. Leslie Fischer scored the game-winning goal in overtime for the Eagles. Senior Jackie Lane currently leads the team with seven goals, and is tied with two other teammates for the team lead with two assists. American will host Old Dominion this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Bucknell
The Bison have yet to open the season, and will do so when they host No. 16 Penn State on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Colgate
The Raiders dropped their first two games of the season at Stony Brook (18-14) and at Binghamton (12-11), but were able to pull out a victory at home against La Salle last weekend. Sophomore Brie Moran tallied two goals and an assist in the win, and also had three goals in the game against Binghamton. She currently leads Colgate with nine points, and is tied for the team lead with eight goals. The Raiders will play two games this week, as they host Cornell on Wednesday and travel to No. 16 Penn State on Saturday.

Holy Cross
The two-time defending Patriot League Champions had a rough start to the 2008 season, dropping consecutive road games at UMass (9-5) and at Harvard (19-2). Senior Cashel Scanlon scored two goals and tallied two assists in the UMass game, while freshman Meg O’Leary also scored two goals in the game. Both Scanlon and O’Leary lead the team with four points apiece. The Crusaders will look to rebound Wednesday at New Hampshire.

Lafayette
The Leopards stayed close with St. Joseph’s for most of the game, before falling to the visiting Hawks by a score of 11-7. Senior Madalyn Booth once again led the Leopards with two goals, three assists and five points, while Emily Archibald also scored two goals. Lafayette will play at Marist on Wednesday and at Columbia on Sunday.

Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks have jumped out to a great start here in the early part of the 2008 season, recording two wins and one loss. The loss came at the hands of No. 12 Vanderbilt, who used a second-half surge to down the Mountain Hawks by a score of 18-8. 2008 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Inneke Carmola recorded two hat tricks last week, and a total of nine points overall. Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsy Ferris recorded a .440 save percentage in two games last week. Lehigh travels to La Salle on Thursday and Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday.

Navy
The Midshipmen won their first game in program history on Saturday when they defeated Longwood by a score of 21-10. Leading the way for the Mids was senior Erin Rawlick who scored five goals and dished out two assists, while freshman Meg Decker scored four goals as well. Navy will host Niagara at Marine Corps Stadium this Saturday afternoon.

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 8:58am

Navy to play host to CSA Individual Championships

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008
Squash Contact: Stacie Michaud (410) 293-8773

Naval Academy to Serve as Host of 2008 College Squash Association Men’s and Women’s Individual Championship

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Thanks to the recent completion of the Halsey Field House International Squash Courts Complex, the Naval Academy will serve as the host school for this weekend’s College Squash Association Men’s and Women’s Individual Championships. The tournament is on tap to begin Friday at 9:00 am with action taking place at both Halsey Field House and Bancroft Hall. The competition will run through Sunday with the consolations set for 9:00 am and the championship matches at 2:00 pm.

More than 50 schools nationwide will be represented, in addition to Western Ontario, a Canadian institution of higher education. The tournament also reaches out to all corners of the world as more than 15 countries have players studying in the United States and Canada and will compete in the men’s and women’s tournaments this weekend.

The men’s tournament will feature the top 90 squash players in the game battling it out in two divisions. Traditionally, the field has been limited to 64 players, however, Navy’s vast squash complex has enabled all 90 players entered into the competition the opportunity to play this year. The Potter Division traditionally features the top 32 players in the country, while the Molloy Division hosts the remaining field. Similarly, the women’s tournament will also feature two brackets with the best 84 players fighting for the individual title. The top 20 finishers in both the men’s and women’s tournaments will receive All-America recognition.

“As a coach, it is very exciting to host this tournament at the Naval Academy,” said eighth-year Navy head coach Craig Dawson, who garnered All-America recognition as a Midshipman in 1973. “The completion of our 12 world class courts this past fall enabled us to be able to host this prestigious event. Additionally, for the first time at the Naval Academy, we will erect an all-glass court in the Halsey Field House Main Arena where we will play the featured matches.”

Navy, who will have four men and one woman competing in this weekend’s championship, plans to take full advantage of the glass court. On Friday, Navy’s No. 1 player, senior Tucker George (West Hartford, Conn.), will battle his opponent at 12:30 pm in front of what the Naval Academy hopes will be a record-setting crowd.

“The hope is to have 2,000 fans in attendance for Tucker’s match,” added Dawson. “If he can win his match, he will have a chance at becoming Navy’s first All-American since Jamie Slough, who was a four-time All-American in 1991, '92, '93 and '94.”

Earlier in the year, George admitted the importance of earning All-America recognition in this, his senior year.

“I can’t understate it,” said George, who has spent he season ranked 16th in the country. “It’s something I’ve been getting closer to every year. Three years in a row, I’ve been one win away from becoming an All-American. We’ve done well as a program over the last several years, but I’d really like to leave my mark.”

George heads into the weekend with a 12-2 record this season and has produced a 57-27 record over the course of his four years at the Academy.

Joining George this weekend are team captain and classmate Jeff Sawin (Haverford, Pa.), along with sophomore Nils Mattsson (Spring House, Pa.) and newcomer Allan Lutz (McLean, Va.). Sawin and Mattsson are no strangers to this tournament, as the two battled it out a year ago for the Molloy Division title. Mattsson trailed Sawin two games to none, but rallied to beat his more experienced teammate in a five-game match. Mattsson fell behind early in the match as Sawin looked to have the match in control with back-to-back wins, 9-3 and 9-6. Mattsson stopped the momentum briefly with a 9-2 victory in the third game to narrow Sawin’s lead to 2-1. Sawin looked to have the match won as he took an 8-5 lead in the fourth and even had a match ball to win, however, Mattsson fought back to take the fourth game, 10-8. He claimed the match win with a 9-1 victory in the deciding game and became the first player under Dawson’s watch to win an individual title at the championship.

Sawin has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in recent memory, amassing a four-year 84-29 record, including an 18-5 mark in his senior year. Meanwhile, Mattsson has won 41 of his 57 matches in his first two seasons at the Academy, including a 16-7 record this year.

Lutz has been a welcome addition to the Navy lineup this season where he has played the No. 3 and 4 positions on the ladder in his rookie campaign. He owns a 19-7 record and for the second consecutive year, Navy will be represented in the individual tournament by a member of the freshman class.

In addition to the four members of the men’s team, Dawson will also enter freshman Julie Kiernan (Bernardsville, N.J.) into the women’s tournament. Over the weekend, Kiernan helped lead Navy to a third-place finish at the 2008 CSA Women’s Team Championship, commonly referred to as the Howe Cup. Kiernan won all three of her matchups at the team tournament without dropping a game, as the Mids were one of six teams to compete in the Emerging Teams Division of the tournament, a first for the Naval Academy.

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 9:00am

Late Run Lifts Navy Past American, 83-68

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Senior guard Greg Sprink scored 34 points with seven assists and Navy outscored American, 28-10, in the last seven minutes to defeat the Eagles, 83-68, in front of 3,191 fans at Alumni Hall. The win lifted Navy into a first-place tie with American in the Patriot League race at 9-4. Navy is now 16-12 overall and has won six games in a row.

In addition, the Mids hold the tiebreaker over American and with a win on Saturday at Colgate will clinch the Patriot League regular-season championship and the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament.

“It was a great game for the area and the Patriot League and for both programs. The energy in the arena tonight was electric and it was fun to be a part of it,” said Navy head coach Billy Lange, who won his 50th game at Navy. “We made a lot of critical plays when we needed to down the stretch. This team has shown a lot of resiliency and determination in key spots during the year and tonight was just another example of it.”

The Mids led for virtually the entire first half, leading by as many as 12 in the opening stanza before settling for a 41-33 halftime lead.

Navy still led by six at 51-45, before American went on a 13-4 run to take a 58-55 advantage with 7:15 to play. On its next possession, Navy snapped an eight-minute drought without a field goal on a Adam Teague three-pointer with 7:03 to play to tie the game at 58.

That is when Navy senior Greg Sprink took over. Sprink scored 13 of his 34 points in the last six minutes to help Navy to its 28-10 run over the final seven minutes. Sprink finished the game with a season-best seven assists and five rebounds, while connecting on a season-best six three-pointers.

“I think the game found me at the end. I hit a little lull in the second half, but my teammates and staff picked me and got my focus back,” said Sprink, who celebrated his final regular-season home game with his sixth career 30-point game. “The team wanted to send Ben (Biles) and I out on a high note. I am just very proud of all the guys and the effort and focus we have had.”

Sprink finished the game 11-of-24 from the field, including 6-of-15 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He scored 70 points in two games against American this year.

“Greg has been through a lot in his four years and what he has done the last six games has cemented his legacy here,” said Lange. “From the last time we played American, he has played with the intensity and desire on both ends needed to be successful. He made some big-time plays tonight. He played a complete game and its rewarding to see him perform like that.”

The Mids took the lead for good on a Sprink layup at 60-58 with 6:05 to play followed by a Chris Harris three-pointer with 5:24 to play for a 63-58 advantage.

Navy then closed out the game by connecting on 11-of-12 free throws in the final minute for the 15-point victory.

The Mids won for the sixth straight despite trailing in the second half. Navy’s experience of playing in close games all season long has helped the squad during the current run.

“I thought a big reason we won tonight is that this team has done a great job staying focused and not letting the game get too big,” said Lange. “We have never once said ‘This is a big game’. We just worry about ourselves and try and go out and play Navy basketball and play one game at a time. We have taken great pride when playing for Navy.”

Besides Sprink’s 34, Kaleo Kina scored 17 points and Chris Harris added 13 points, seven assists and two steals.

Carr led American with 20 points.

The Mids shot 25-of-63 (.397) from the field, and 15-of-38 (.395) from three-point range. The three-pointers made and attempted are the second most in a single game in school history. The Mids committed just eight turnovers, including one in the first half. Navy shot 18-of-22 (.818) from the free throw line, including 17-of-18 (.944) in the second half.

American shot 24-of-50 (.480) from the field and 6-15 (.400) from three-point range. American entered the game averaging the fewest turnovers in the league at 13.5 per game, but committed 21 turnovers. Navy turned the 21 turnovers into 26 points.

The Mids will travel to Colgate for a 2:00 pm tip-off on Saturday, in Hamilton, N.Y. The contest will be televised locally (New York) on Time-Warner Sports.

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 9:01am

For Immediate Release
Sent Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Navy Drops Game to First-Place American

WASHINGTON, D.C. – American scored the opening nine points of the game and shot nearly 40 percent from the field for the night in posting a 69-37 victory over the Navy womens basketball team, Wednesday night at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.

Our level of play tonight was a departure from how we have played over the last four games, said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. American took control right from the opening tip on both ends of the floor and we did not respond to the challenge.

American (16-12, 10-3 Patriot League) quickly built a 9-0 lead over the opening three minutes of the game before Navy (6-22, 2-11) scored its field goal with 16:51 left in the half. The Mids would also score the next bucket of the game four minutes later to make the score 9-4, but the Eagles went on an 11-2 run to build a 20-6 advantage with just over seven minutes left in the half. Navy was able to cut the margin down to single digits at 20-11 with just under six minutes left in the first half, but went into the locker rooms at intermission trailing 31-15.

American started the second half in similar fashion to the first half by scoring seven of the opening nine points to jump in front 38-17 with 17 minutes left to play. The Eagles would lead by at least 18 points over the remainder of the game.

The Eagles dominated the glass in the game, recording 48 rebounds to Navys 35, while shooting 38.3 percent from the floor and holding Navy to 23.6 percent shooting. Additionally, the Eagles connected on 18-of-21 attempts from the field line and converted 5-of-12 three-point attempts in the game, while the Mids were 11-of-16 from the charity stripe and misfired on all 15 attempts from beyond the three-point arc.

Navy was led in both scoring and rebounding by Cassie Consedine (Fr., Bartlesville, Okla.) who tallied 12 points and seven boards, with K.C. Gordon (So., Vienna, Va.) adding nine points for the Mids.

Americans Michelle Kirk paced all players in the game with 16 points.

Navy will close the regular season Saturday when the Midshipmen play host to Colgate in a 7 p.m. game in Alumni Hall…

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 9:37am

Senior Scores 34 To Sink American: Navy 83, American 68

By Christian Swezey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 28, 2008; Page E03

Navy senior Greg Sprink left the basketball game against American twice last night. The first time came midway through the first half; he was on the bench for only a few seconds and, seven seconds after he came back, he made a three-pointer.

The second time came with 14 seconds to play. Then, he received a standing ovation, because Navy had secured its 83-68 victory before 3,191 at Alumni Hall and he had finished with 34 points and seven assists.

With the victory, Navy took first place in the Patriot League standings with one game remaining. The Midshipmen (16-12, 9-4) are tied with American (17-11, 9-4) but own the tiebreaker because they have beaten the Eagles twice.

Sprink has been a big reason why: In the two games, he scored 70 points.

“This year we haven’t shown we can really guard Sprink,” American Coach Jeff Jones said. “Last year in two games, I thought we did a terrific job. After the game we’d look and see he had 18 points, but he had to work hard and put up a lot of shots. We don’t have that one guy to match up with him this year.”

Winning the regular season is important in the Patriot League. The highest-seeded team plays home games in the tournament, including the final. And the home team has won the conference tournament – and thus advanced to the NCAA tournament – in 12 of 15 seasons.

It was clear early on last night that it was an important game. The crowd included around 1,400 members of the Brigade of Midshipmen. They marched to the game in a de facto formation; once they got inside, however, they shed the inhibitions and created an uncommon din.

Sprink entered leading the conference in scoring average – 20.9 points – and, in particular, his performances against the Eagles had proven decisive. He scored 36 points in a victory over American earlier this season and had 27 in a win at Alumni Hall last season.

In the seven games in which he played that were won by the Eagles, he averaged less than 12 points.

American’s game plan was to defend him close on three-point shots and try to draw a charge when he drove to the basket. On consecutive drives late in the first half, however, no one stepped to draw a charge, and Sprink scored on layups.

Junior forward Jordan Nichols was inserted into the game and was ready to draw a charge the next two times Sprink drove to the basket; Sprink pulled up both times.

However, Nichols had two fouls by that point, and a crucial moment occurred 23 seconds before halftime. With the shot clock winding down, Nichols drove to the basket and was called for a charge, his third foul.

He picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes 30 seconds remaining to play and sat out the rest of the game.

Eventually, American’s plan worked. Sprink was called for two charging fouls in the second half, but the outcome was decided by the time he picked up his fourth foul.

“Right now, the consistency he’s playing with and his desire to win for Navy, in my opinion, has cemented his legacy,” Coach Billy Lange said. “He’s a big-time player.”

The Midshipmen took a 51-43 lead following two free throws by junior Clif Colbert with 14:30 left. The Eagles closed to 51-45 after a layup by junior point guard Derrick Mercer, then went scoreless on their next four possessions.

Not only did Navy not take advantage, it lost ground. The Midshipmen went scoreless on 11 possessions and, by the time they scored again, two free throws by Sprink tied the score at 53 with 8:14 to play.

The Eagles took their last lead at 58-55 following a three-pointer by junior Garrison Carr with 7:14 to play. The Midshipmen answered with an 18-7 run and took a 76-65 lead following two free throws by Sprink with 56 seconds left.

Carr finished with 20 points and junior Travis Lay added 14 points and 10 rebounds for American. Junior Kaleo Kina had 17 points and Colbert finished with six points, five rebounds and three steals. All but one of the rebounds came in the second half.

In the end, Navy seemingly struggled without Sprink. As he left the court to a standing ovation – even some of the Eagles’ fans applauded – Navy’s string of 17 consecutive free throws ended with a miss by sophomore Chris Harris.

By then, it didn’t matter.

“It does feel real good” to be in first place, Sprink said. “But the first thing I was thinking about was Colgate” in the regular season finale on Saturday.

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 9:39am

For Immediate Release
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Contact: Jonathan Maggart (410) 293-8771

Navy to Host William & Mary on Friday Night

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After winning the All-Academy Championship two weeks ago, the Navy gymnastics team (8-3) will host William & Mary (3-3) in Macdonough Hall on Friday night at 7 p.m.

The Midshipmen come into Friday’s dual meet ranked 14th nationally with a three-score mark of 336.833, while the Tribe own the nation’s 13th-highest three-score average of 337.633. The two teams have met on one previous occasion this winter, with Navy topping William & Mary, 336.9-333.1, in the Navy Open on Jan. 26.

Prior to its idle weekend last week, Navy claimed its first All-Academy Championship with a team score of 330.85 points, 8.05 higher than second-place Air Force and 13.15 better than third-place Army, who it defeated one week before to claim the N-Star.

With less than a point separating Navy and William & Mary in the national rankings, several events are expected to be very closely contested on Friday night. Navy owns a higher three-score average on the floor exercise (57.467-57.383), still rings (56.033-55.583) and high bar (56.133-55.183), while William & Mary owns higher marks on the pommel horse (54.033-53.5), vault (60.183-60.1) and parallel bars (55.867-55.467).

Heading into the week, Navy owns the ECACs highest individual three-score average in three events and nine of the top-five marks among the six events and all-around competition.

Navy’s highest individual ranked gymnast coming into the week is Brandon Cook (Sr./Longmont, Colo.) on the floor exercise. His three-score average of 15.167 ranks 13th in the nation and is tops among all competitors in the ECAC. Cooks 15.55-point average on the vault ranks him second in the conference. The Navy senior could expect some solid competition on the floor exercise, as William & Marys Dave Locke ranks third in the ECAC with a 14.95 average.

A pair of Colorado natives, Adam Stanton (Jr./Centennial, Colo.) and Joseph Atzenbeck (Jr./Broomfield, Colo.) ranks among the conferences top-five performers on the pommel horse. Stantons 14.383 three-score average is tops in the ECAC and 14th nationally, while Atzenbecks 13.883 mark places him fifth in the East.

Two-time ECAC Rookie of the Week Dylan Parrott (Fr./Rockwell, N.C.) leads Navy in the all-around with a three-score ranking of 83.417 points, good for 18th-best in the nation and fifth in the ECAC. Parrott also ranks among the conferences top-five gymnasts on the floor exercise (14.683 points, fourth) and parallel bars (14.083 points, fifth).

Fellow All-around gymnast Christopher Tam (Sr./Draper, Utah) leads all gymnasts in the ECAC with a 14.55 average on the high bar, which ranks him 17th in the country. Tams 14.283-point average on the still rings is fifth best in the conference, while his 82.65-point mark in the all-around ranks as eighth highest in the East.

Following this Friday’s action, the Midshipmen will head up to University Park, Pa., on Saturday, March 8, for a tri-meet with Penn State and William & Mary.

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 9:46am

Sprink has 34 as Navy earns 6th straight win

By Todd Karpovich | Special to The Sun
February 28, 2008

Navy was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League preseason poll, but coach Billy Lange didn’t pay attention to that because he knew his 11 returning players were strong and athletic enough to contend for the conference title.

The Midshipmen continued to prove the pundits wrong by tying for the Patriot League lead with an 83-68 victory over American last night before an announced 3,191 at Alumni Hall.

Navy (16-12) and American (17-11) are both 9-4 in the conference, but the Mids have a tiebreaker edge because they swept the season series.

If Navy beats Colgate on Saturday, it will clinch the Patriot League regular-season title and be the top seed in the conference tournament.

Either way, Navy clinched home games for the tournament quarterfinals and semifinals. The Mids also ended American’s six-game winning streak.

Greg Sprink scored 34 points, including 13 in the final six minutes, and Kaleo Kina had 17 for Navy, which has won six straight conference games - its longest Patriot League winning streak in eight years.

“I don’t believe in external motivation, because when you are successful, what is your motivation?” Lange said about the preseason prediction. “Our motivation is to play for our institution and take great pride in our basketball program.”

American took its first lead of the game, 53-51, on two free throws by Garrison Carr (20 points) with 9:10 remaining. But Navy regrouped after a timeout and outscored the Eagles 28-10 in the final six minutes.

The Mids won despite shooting just 10-for-28 in the second half and 25-for-63 overall.

Sprink scored 16 points in the first half and gave Navy a 41-29 lead on a three-pointer with 3:12 left. Navy scored 13 points off American’s 10 turnovers and led 41-33 at the half.

“At times, I think I was trying to force it too much because I got kind of caught up in the emotion of the game,” Sprink said. “I had my teammates and coaching staff there to harness all of that energy. I just let the game come to me.”

American made the most of its early opportunities and shot 12-for-23 (52.2 percent) from the field in the first half before going 12-for-27 after halftime. The Eagles also outscored Navy 34-18 inside the paint.

“This year, we haven’t really shown that we can guard Sprink,” American coach Jeff Jones said. “He had to work for [his points] and he put up a lot of shots. We don’t have that one guy who can match that.”

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 10:12am

By Mike Fratto
February 28, 2008

ANNAPOLIS On Senior Night and in perhaps the most important game in the Patriot League this season, Navy’s veteran leader shone.

Led by senior Greg Sprink’s 34 points, the Midshipmen completed a season sweep of American 83-68 last night at Alumni Hall.

The win moved Navy (16-12, 9-4) into first place ahead of the Eagles (17-11, 9-4) because the Mids own the tiebreaker. Navy can clinch the regular-season title with a win Saturday at Colgate, but the Red Raiders are the last team to beat Navy, 84-77 in Annapolis on Feb. 2.

The regular-season standings are especially important because Patriot League tournament games are played on the home courts of the higher seeds. Since the winner of the conference tournament is likely to be the Patriot League’s only representative in the NCAA tournament, the team that earns home court advantage gives itself a great chance. In the 15 years the Patriot League final has been played at a home site, the hosts are 12-3.

This was the sixth straight win for Navy, which snapped American’s six-game winning streak. The perimeter-oriented Mids, playing four and sometimes five guards, launched 3-pointers from all around the arc in the first half. But when AU’s defense stiffened in the second, Navy turned to its senior leader.

Sprink scored 12 of his 16 first-half points from beyond the arc but added only two long-range shots in the second half. Instead, he attacked the rim relentlessly with driving layups and floaters.

AU came out with a stronger defensive effort to start the second half and stymied Navy’s offense. The Mids led 51-43 with 14:30 remaining, but the Eagles then held Navy without a field goal for nearly eight minutes. That enabled AU to take its first lead with a 10-0 run.

Adam Teague snapped Navy out of the drought with a long 3-pointer, tying the game 58-58 with 7:04 remaining. Sprink gave the Mids the lead with a layup on their next possession and ensured they didn’t give it up.

“I think the game found me a little bit towards the end,” Sprink said. “I was trying to force it, got a little too emotional. My teammates and the coaches refocused me, and I harnessed the energy towards the end.”

Garrison Carr made a valiant effort to keep the Eagles in the game. He scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half as American overcame its eight-point first-half deficit.

But in the end, there was too much Sprink. The senior scored 13 points in the final six minutes of the game and left to a standing ovation with 14.3 seconds remaining.

“Bottom line, he is the man,” Navy coach Billy Lange said. “He started his run in the last American game. From that American game, the consistency of his play, his desire to win for Navy, he’s cemented his place here as a basketball player.”

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 10:30am

Navy basketball team sails into first in Patriot League
by Ron Snyder, The Examiner

Annapolis (Map, News) - Navy senior guard Greg Sprink knows he is guaranteed at least one more game at Alumni Hall when the Midshipmen host a Patriot League quarterfinal game next week.

Still, the 6-foot-5 Cardiff by the Sea, Calif. native made sure he left everything on the court in last nights game against conference foe American. Sprink finished with 34 points, seven assists and five rebounds as Navy moved past American into first place in the Patriot League with an 83-68 win in front of 3,191 fans at Alumni Hall.

Navy (16-12, 9-4) has won six straight conference games for the first time in seven seasons and has clinched home court advantage through at least the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Midshipmen, which swept American (17-11, 9-4) for the first time in six seasons, can clinch their first Patriot League regular season title since 2000 and at least a berth in the National Invitational Tournament with a win at Colgate on Saturday.

I think the game found me toward the end, Sprink said. At times I think I was forcing it too much and got caught up in the emotions of the game but I had my teammates and coaches there to harness my energy and refocus me.

Junior guard Kaleo Kina had 17 points and sophomore guard Chris Harris finished with 13 points and 7 assists for Navy, which made 15-of-38 shots from three-point range.

Navy set the tone from the opening tipoff as the Midshipmen scored the first six points on the game on three-pointers from Kina and Sprink. The Midshipmen led by as many as 12 points twice in the first half, including 41-29 following a three-pointer by Sprink with 3:10 left before intermission.

Trailing 41-33 at halftime, American slowly climbed back into the game as Navys offense sputtered. The Eagles held the Midshipmen without a field goal for nearly nine minutes at one point and eventually took its first lead at 53-51 after a pair of free throws from junior guard Garrison Carr with 9:10 remaining.

Navy followed that with a 12-5 spurt of its own as a Harris three-pointer gave the Midshipmen a 63-58 lead with 5:24 remaining. American then scored four straight and pulled within 63-62 after a basket by Carr with 4:15 remaining. However, Navy closed out the game on a 20-6 run.

I thought American played an awesome game and I thought we played a good game, Navy coach Billy Lange said. In the end we made the critical plays when we needed to and came out with a win.

Carr and fellow junior Derrick Mercer scored 20 and 11 points, respectively, and senior forward Travis Lay finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for American, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.

In a lot of ways it was a heck of a game, American coach Jeff Jones said. Obviously, the way we finished wasnt what we would have like and the outcome wasnt what we would have liked. But, I did think our kids competed.

<a href="mailto:rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com">rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com</a>

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 10:33am

Every Other Team Still has Chance to Earn Home Game in Patriot League Quarterfinals

Feb. 27, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - Behind 34 points from Greg Sprink, Navy knocked off American, 83-68, on Wednesday to win its sixth game in a row and pull into a first-place tie with the Eagles in the Patriot League men’s basketball race. The Midshipmen swept the season series with the Eagles, and will clinch the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the Patriot League Tournament with a win at Colgate or an American loss at home against Lafayette on Saturday. Both teams are guaranteed of finishing first or second in the League standings, and hosting through the Patriot League semifinals. The Patriot League Tournament is played entirely at home sites, beginning with the quarterfinals on March 5.

The top four seeds in the Patriot League Tournament will host quarterfinal games, and every other team still has an opportunity to earn the last two home spots. There is a four-way tie for third place in the standings after Lehigh beat Bucknell, 50-39, Colgate won at Holy Cross, 63-55 and Army knocked off Lafayette, 65-60 on Wednesday. Navy and American share the League lead with 9-4 marks, followed by Lehigh, Bucknell, Lafayette and Colgate at 6-7. Holy Cross and Army are both 5-8 in the League.

In the final weekend of action, Holy Cross is at Lehigh on Friday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU, while Navy visits Colgate, Lafayette goes to American and Bucknell travels to Army on Saturday afternoon.

Navy (16-12, 9-4 Patriot League) won its sixth consecutive game with a big effort from its top scorer and strong play down the stretch. Sprink had 34 points and seven assists, and scored 13 points in the final seven minutes as Navy posted a 28-10 to close the game after falling behind by three points.

The Mids led throughout most of the contest, going up by 12 points late in the first half before settling on a 41-33 halftime lead. American (17-11, 9-4) closed the gap in the second half, using a 10-0 run to claim its first lead of the night at 53-51 with 9:10 to play. They stretched the lead to 58-55 before Navy’s decisive push in the last seven minutes. The Mids scored eight straight points to take a 63-58 advantage, with Sprink’s layup with 6:05 remaining putting them ahead for good. After American cut the deficit to one, Sprink nailed a three-pointer to make it a 66-62 game with 4:02 to play. Navy led by at least three points the rest of the way, and closed the game by outscoring the Eagles 15-3 in the last 2:13.

Sprink hit 11-of-24 shots from the floor, including 6-of-15 from three-point range, and became the third Navy player to pass the 1,700-point milestone. Kaleo Kina added 17 points, while Chris Harris had 13 and seven assists. The Mids finished with 18 assists and only eight turnovers while forcing 21 American turnovers. Navy shot 15-of-38 from three-point range, and 18-of-22 from the line. American was led by Garrison Carr with 20 points, followed by Travis Lay with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Derrick Mercer with 11 points. The Eagles held a 39-30 advantage on the boards, but saw their six-game winning streak come to an end.

Navy will try to earn its first Patriot League regular-season crown since the 1999-00 season on Saturday. The Mids have won 13 of 17 contests since a 3-8 start. They earned their first season sweep of American as a Patriot League member.

Lehigh (13-14, 6-7) put together a stifling defensive performance to notch a crucial victory over Bucknell (11-17, 6-7), which would have clinched a quarterfinal home game with a victory. The Mountain Hawks held the Bison to 33 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers, and the 39 points scored by Bucknell were the second fewest allowed by Lehigh during Patriot League play.

Bucknell scored the first basket of the game, but Lehigh responded with the next eight points and led for the rest of the contest. The Mountain Hawks scored the last seven points of the first half to take a 26-17 lead at the break, and posted an 8-0 run early in the second half to pull away with a 36-21 advantage. Lehigh led by as many as 20 points, and it took a Bucknell three-pointer in the final seconds to keep the Mountain Hawks from breaking the school record of 38 points allowed in a Patriot League game.

Rob Keefer scored a career-high 17 points for the Mountain Hawks, while Marquis Hall had 12 and Zahir Carrington added 11. Lehigh matched Bucknell in overall and three-point field goals, but a 17-of-24 performance from the line made the difference. Lehigh earns a sweep of the season series against Bucknell for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign.

No Bucknell player scored more than eight points, with Todd O’Brien putting together six points and a team-high nine rebounds. In addition to a tough night from the floor, the Bison were hurt by a 6-of-14 effort at the foul line. Bucknell was held to its lowest point total since a 68-27 loss to Princeton on Dec. 9, 1998.

Lafayette (15-13, 6-7) had a chance to gain a leg up in the race for third place in the League, but could not hold a second-half lead against Army (12-15, 5-8). The Leopards had a 28-23 advantage at the break, and scored the first basket of the second half before the Black Knights rallied.

Army scored 11 consecutive points to build a 34-30 lead with 15:33 left. The game went back and forth from there, with Lafayette fighting back to claim a 42-39 lead and Army answering with a 10-0 run to go up, 49-42, with 6:30 to play. The Leopards bounced back to tie the score at 57 on a pair of free throws by Bilal Abdullah with 1:08 left, but Army got the big play of the day when Cleveland Richard scored on a runner in the lane with the shot clock winding down for a 59-57 advantage with 34 seconds to play. The Leopards turned it over on the other end, and Army sealed the win with a 6-for-6 performance at the foul line in the last 13 seconds.

Marcus Nelson posted a career-high 15 points for the Black Knights, with Richard (12 points), Jarell Brown (11) and Josh Miller (10) also scoring in double figures. The Black Knights shot 49 percent from the floor and made 12-of-15 foul shots to overcome a 3-for-13 performance from three-point range. Army nailed 14-of-25 field goals in the second half, and had all of its foul shot attempt in the final period. Lafayette was held to 33 percent shooting, and hit 9-of-31 shots from three-point range. Andrew Brown led the Leopards with 17 points, while Matt Betley had 16 and Abdullah added 12. Brown went over 1,000 career points in the contest, and now stands with 1,012. The Leopards have split all six of their completed Patriot League series so far.

Army has defeated five different League members in a season for the first time in Patriot League action. The outcome also means that every team will win at least five League games for the first time in the Patriot League’s 18-year history.

Colgate (15-13, 6-7) won its second consecutive League game, and third in a row overall, and pulled into the third-place tie in the standings with a victory at Holy Cross (15-12, 5-8). The Raiders swept the season series with the Crusaders for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign.

The Raiders fell behind by 10 points in the first six minutes of the contest, but battled back to tie the score at 27 by halftime. They began the second half with a three-pointer by Kyle Roemer, and led the rest of the way. Colgate posted a 16-4 run to stretch its lead to 51-37 with 10:14 left, but the Crusaders came back with the next 11 points to get the deficit back down to three with 5:41 to go. Holy Cross got it down to 57-55 with 53 seconds to play, but the Raiders answered with a layup by Kendall Chones to stretch the lead back to four. Colgate hit all four of its foul shots down the stretch to seal the outcome.

Roemer led Colgate with 20 points, and went over the 1,000-point mark for his career. Chones added 18 points and five rebounds, while Mike Venezia had 15 points with a 4-for-4 night from three-point range. Colgate hit 17-of-21 foul shots.

Holy Cross was led by a 14-point effort from Tim Clifford, and 11 points and nine rebounds from Colin Cunningham. The Crusaders held a 35-29 advantage on the boards, but were hurt by a 3-for-17 performance from three-point range and shot just 32 percent in the second half.

GreatAmerican · February 28, 2008, 2:47pm

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-The Navy Sports Magazine Show, presented by Comcast, will air tonight at 6:30 p.m. on 1430 WNAV in Annapolis. The weekly 30-minute show is hosted by Bob Socci and will feature interviews with Navy student-athletes and coaches.

The Navy Sports Magazine Show will also air on 1050 WFED ([FederalNewsRadio</a> - WFED: Home Page](<a href=“http://www.federalnewsradio.com%5DFederalNewsRadio”>http://www.federalnewsradio.com)) in Washington, D.C. at 12 noon on Saturday. Navy All-Access will also archive the show and it will be available for subscribers every Friday ([NavySports.com</a> - Default - Official Athletic Site for Navy Athletics](<a href=“http://navysports.cstv.com/)%5DNavySports.com”>http://navysports.cstv.com/)).

Greg Sprink of the men’s basketball team, Andy Tormey of the men’s lacrosse team and Johnny Waters of the tennis team and will be featured this week.

The Navy men’s basktball team travels to Hamilton, N.Y. to take on the Colgate Red Raiders in a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday. A victory by Navy or a loss by American to Lafayettewould give the Mids the Patriot League regular season championship, home court advantage throughout the Patriot League Tournament and a guaranteed berth in the National Invitational Tournament if the Mids did not win the Patriot League Tournament. The men’s lacrosse team plays host to Mt. St. Mary’s on Friday night in a 7 p.m. contest at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, while the Navy tennis team plays at Clemson on Friday and at North Carolina State on Saturday.

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