Hot shooting and strong team play propelled the Navy Midshipmen past the American University Eagles, 64-54 Wednesday night, Jan. 28, in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Midshipmen (8-13, 4-5 PL) shot 76 percent in the first half and used a 14-4 run to start the second half to pull away from the Eagles (11-10, 4-5 PL). AU, on the other hand, struggled to score, and failed to connect on a single three-point attempt in the second half.
Senior guard John Schoof got into foul trouble early, which sent him to the bench for the majority of the first half. The Eagles struggled to compensate for Schoof’s absence late in the first half as Navy came back from a 29-22 deficit to lead 37-34 going into halftime.
Fouls plagued the team all night, as senior guard Darius “Pee Wee” Gardner and senior forward Kevin Panzer each recorded three personal fouls. Sophomore Jalen Rhea was able to capitalize on the increase in minutes, contributing eight points in his ten minutes of play.
AU has not lost a conference game by more than nine points since they fell to Bucknell University on Dec. 31, and head coach Mike Brennan stressed the importance of improving his team’s defense heading into the remainder of the schedule.
"Navy was very good offensively tonight and our defense was not," Brennan said according to aueagles.com. "I thought we were okay with the ball, but they were making shots. It was a quick turnaround for us, and, in this league, any team can win if you don't execute both offensively and defensively."
Senior big man Kevin Panzer, coming off of arguably his worst performance of the season where he picked up more fouls (4) than rebounds (1), paced the Eagles for most of the night, scoring a career-high 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
Sophomore forward Charlie Jones continued his solid play, finishing the game with eight points, four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
The Midshipmen were lead by the duo of senior forward Worth Smith and junior guard Brandon Venturini. In just 22 minutes of play, Smith dropped in 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Venturini added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists.
This loss drops the Eagles into a four-way tie for fifth place. Parity has been the theme of the Patriot League this season as six out of the ten Patriot League teams currently have four wins.
The Eagles look to end their losing streak on Monday, Feb. 2 at the College of Holy Cross at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcasted nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
