Emmmitsburg, Md. (December 9, 2008)--Mount St.
Mary's fell to Navy, 68-65, in a non-conference matchup at Knott
Arena on Tuesday night. Mount St. Mary's junior Kelly Beilder
(Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds
for his second career double-double in the loss.
The Midshipmen (8-2) rode the hot-hand of leading scorer Kaleo Kina
in the second half to earn the victory. Kina scored 20 of his
game-high 26 points over the final 15 minutes of the game.
The Mount held a 40-34 advantage four minutes into the second half
after a Jean Cajou (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) three-point basket. The
Midshipmen, however, rallied with a 14-to-4 run to grab a 48-44
advantage with 9:37 left in the contest. The Mount (3-5) answered
that run with a 7-0 spurt to regain the lead, 51-48. Beidler hit a
three-pointer to ignite the run, fed Jeremy Goode (Charlotte,
N.C./Providence Day) for a fastbreak lay-up, and capped the streak
with a jumper.
From there, Kina took over, scoring 13 of Navy's next 16 points,
giving his team a 64-61 advantage with 1:29 on the clock. The
Mount's Sam Atupem (Newport News, Va./Woodside) hit one-of-two free
throws with 1:15 left to cut the deficit to 64-62, and the Mount
got a stop on the defensive end when Kina missed a floater in the
lane with 41 seconds left. Mount St. Mary's had a chance to tie,
but Goode's right-handed jumper in the lane was off the mark with
O.J. Ovworo collecting the carom.
Ovworo hit both free throws, but the Mount's Will Holland (Houston,
Texas/Lamar) drained a three-pointer with nine seconds on the clock
to cut the deficit to 66-65. Chris Harris was fouled on the
inbounds with six seconds left and calmly hit both free throws for
a 68-65 lead. The Mount was unable to get a shot off in the final
seconds to try for the tie.
Kina finished the game with 26 ponits, seven rebounds and four
assists to pace Navy while Harris added 14 points in the win. The
Midshipmen shot 59.1 percent from the floor in the second half to
earn the victory.
Cajou finished with a team-high 15 points for the Mount while
Beidler chipped in his double-double of 14 points and 11 boards.
Beidler's only other double-double of his career came in the
Mount's season-opening win at Loyola. Sam Atupem added 12 points
on 4-of-6 shooting in the loss. The Mount shot just 35.5 percent
in the second half and was held to 37.3 percent shooting in the
game.
The Mount looks to snap a three-game losing streak at Penn State on
Saturday. Tip-off for that game has been moved to 1:30 p.m. at the
Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.
Game Notes...Navy holds a 7-5 advantage in the
all-time series with the Mount...The Mount has lost three straight
games by a combined total of nine points...Kina entered the game
leading Navy in scoring at 20.2 points per game...Point guard
Jeremy Goode was held in single digits in scoring for the first
time this season.