Nov. 19, 2006

Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Behind terrific shooting and timely three pointers, Navy topped the Stony Brook University men's basketball team, 87-76, on Sunday afternoon at the Stony Brook Indoor Sports Complex. Mike Popoko and Ricky Lucas led the way for Stony Brook with 20 points a piece. With the loss, the Seawolves drop to 2-2 on the season while Navy improves to 3-1.

"It's very hard to win a game when your opposition shots 58% from the floor," said head coach Steve Pikiell. "Normally, scoring 76 points are enough to get you a win. Tonight our perimeter defense was lacking and it showed in the end result."

The Seawolves jumped out to a blazing start in their home opener as they shot out a 9-0 lead forcing a Navy timeout. The lead ballooned to as many as 11 when then Seawolves went up 18-7 after a Mitchell Beauford three pointer. The Midshipmen mounted a furious rally to tie the game at 20 at the 7:36 mark after a three by Adam Teague. The Mids didn't stop there as they increased their lead to 34-24 with 3:42 left in the first stanza off another Teague trifecta. Heading into the locker room, Navy led 34-29 as they shot a blistering 52% from the field and 67% from downtown off 12 of 18 shooting.

The Seawolves defense was unable to clamp down on Navy as the second half was the same story as the Mids scored 53 points en route to victory. They were able to ice the game in the final minutes as they went 22-for-26 from the free throw line.

Popoko, who was named the America East Player of the Game, went 6 of 9 from the field and 4 of 5 from downtown while Lucas as buried four threes to notch his fourth consecutive 20-point game.

Navy was led by three players in double figures as Greg Sprink led all scorers with 29 points while Chris Harris netted 21 and Teague finished with 19. The three combined to connect on 14 of 21 from behind the arc.

Stony Brook looks to get back on the winning track as they travel to Columbia on Nov. 25th. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m.