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                         February 6, 2004

Men's hoops sinks Navy 52-50

By Todd Merriett
Army Athletic Media Relations  

Freshman Matt Bell scored 17 points and made three three-pointers during a key 20-2 run to lead Army past Navy, 52-50, for its first victory at Alumni Hall since Feb. 19, 1992 -- the year the facility opened. The Black Knights improved to 5-13, 2-4 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen fell to 3-16, 0-6 in the Patriot League.

After leading 16-15, Army allowed Navy to reel off a 13-1 run as the Black Knights went 7:03 without a field goal. However, Army answered with a 20-2 run of its own over the final 1:24 of the first half and the first 6:55 of the second stanza. Bell, who finished 3 of 5 from behind the arc, highlighted the run with three consecutive three-pointers. The Black Knights did not trail the rest of the game.

Navy knotted the score at 38-38 and 42-42, but could not take the lead from the visiting Black Knights despite a 9:47 stretch without a field goal from Army. Senior Bill Mohr, who finished the game with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds, ended that drought with a dunk to put Army up 44-42 with just over five minutes to play.

Classmate Sean O'Keefe, who joined Bell in double-figures with 12 points, knocked in a couple of free throws with 1:21 to play to give Army a 50-45 advantage. Navy’s David Hooper answered with his third three-pointer of the game to close the gap to 50-48.

Bell, who was 4 of 9 from the free throw line, then made two crucial free throws with just less than one minute to play to make it 52-48. After a turnover for each team and a pair of missed free throws from Marshall Jackson, who tallied a game-high four assists, Navy cut the lead to two points on a basket from Kwame Ofori with 13 seconds remaining. Senior Josh Wilson, who fouled out with five points, fouled Ofori on the play. Ofori missed the free throw, but the ball went out of bounds to Navy off the miss.

After the in-bounds play, Ofori took a three-pointer, but missed. Mohr hauled in the rebound and was fouled with 7.8 seconds remaining. Mohr missed both his free throws. Navy hurried the ball down court and David Hooper took a three-pointer to try to win the game, but Mohr blocked his third shot of the game. The ball landed out of bounds with 0.3 seconds to play. The Midshipmen could not get a shot attempt off as freshman Erik Sewell deflected the in-bounds pass.

Army’s defense held Navy to 25 percent shooting (15 of 60), while the Black Knights connected on 47.2 percent (17 of 36) shots, their second-best showing of the season.

“I am happy, particularly for the seniors,” said Army head coach Jim Crews. “They have played Navy here for four years and hadn’t gotten a win yet. Our guys executed well and rebounded better late in the game. Bill Mohr came up with some big rebounds. We certainly deserve the win with all the work we have put in.”