March 2, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's basketball team has earned the No. 2 seed for the Patriot League Tournament and will face No. 7 seed Bucknell on Wednesday night in Alumni Hall in the quarterfinal round. The Mids are 16-13 overall and finished second in the Patriot League standings with a 9-5 mark. The No. 2 seed is the highest for the Midshipmen since drawing the second seed in 2001. Bucknell enters the contest with an 11-18 overall record and the Bison finished league play with a 6-8 record.

The two teams split during the regular season, with each team winning at home. The Bison knocked off Navy, 85-77, in the Patriot League opener on Jan. 11, as Justin Castleberry led four Bucknell players in double figures with 19 points. Greg Sprink scored 26 points and Kaleo Kina added 24 for Navy, but the Mids were saddled with foul problems as the Mids' top two scorers, Sprink and Chris Harris, spent considerable time on the bench in the second half. Bucknell shot 50.9 percent from the field for the contest, including 11-of-24 (.458) from three-point range.

In the team's second meeting, Navy connected on several clutch shots down the stretch to thwart every Bucknell charge, defeating the Bison, 78-72, snapping a seven-game skid to the Bison. Kina led Navy with a career-high 27 points, while Sprink and Harris contributed 22 and 19, respectively. John Griffin scored 19 points for Bucknell. The Mids shot 47.4 percent from the field, including 10-of-24 from three-point range, and forced 22 Bucknell turnovers.

The two teams also met in the quarterfinals of last year's tournament, with the roles reversed. Bucknell, the No. 2 seed, defeated seventh-seeded Navy, 62-43.

The winner of the Bucknell-Navy game will face the winner of the Lafayette-Colgate contest, which will be played Wednesday in Hamilton, N.Y. The other half of the draw pits top-seeded American against eighth-seeded Holy Cross, and fourth-seeded Lehigh hosting No. 5 seed, Army. The semifinal round will be played Sunday at the highest remaining seeds. A Navy win in the quarterfinals ensures

Tickets are available for Wednesday's quarterfinal game at the Naval Academy Athletic Association ticket office in Ricketts Hall, or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY.

# GO NAVY #