25-point lead blown
Mids’ collapse vs. rival is largest in program history
With just over seven minutes elapsed in the second half Saturday, it looked as if Navy would cruise past Army West Point in the annual Star game. The Midshipmen had built a 25point lead and seemed well on the way to a season sweep of the Black Knights.
Navy was destroying Army’s man-to-man defense and getting layup after layup. First-year head coach Jimmy Allen switched to a 2-3 zone out of desperation and that decision changed the game.
That standard defense befuddled the Midshipmen, and Jordan Fox got hot from 3-point range for the Black Knights, who authored the greatest comeback in the history of the men’s basketball rivalry.
Fox made five 3-pointers in scoring 22 points as Army rallied to beat Navy, 71-68, stunning a sellout crowd of 5,710 at Alumni Hall. Tommy Funk also hit some big 3s in scoring 14 points for the Black Knights, who outscored the host Midshipmen 42-14 over the final 12½ minutes.
“It’s hard to put into words right now without going back and watching it,” Allen said of the improbable rally. “Navy was pretty dominant for a large portion of this game, but for 12 minutes we played some pretty amazing basketball.”
Senior forward Mac Hoffman had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Army (11-17, 5-11 Patriot League), which ended a three-year losing streak in the Star game. The delirious Black Knights accepted the Alumni Trophy for the first time since 2013, then celebrated at midcourt while the partisan audience looked on in disbelief.
“I’m really happy for our players because they have been working very hard and haven’t been rewarded too often. We’ve been so close in so many games and come up short,” Allen said. “Today is a nice step forward. This is a really satisfying feeling to win a game that means this much to our program and the institution.”
Junior point guard Hasan Abdullah totaled 18 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead Navy, which made just two of the last 12 field goals it attempted.
Junior swingman Shawn Anderson scored 12 points for the Midshipmen, who suffered the worst collapse in program history.
Previously, the largest lead Navy had blown en route to a loss was 18 points. That happened on three occasions, most recently in February 1994 versus Lafayette. Interestingly, Navy recorded the greatest comeback in program history earlier this season when it rallied from a 25-point deficit to beat Bryant.
“I don’t know if disappointing is a strong enough word. We had the game in hand,” Navy coach Ed DeChellis said. “The momentum of the game changed very, very quickly, and we just couldn’t get it back.”
The Black Knights made 13 of their last 14 field-goal attempts with eight of those shots being layups. DeChellis said those statistics speak to a total breakdown on defense by the Midshipmen (15-13, 10-6).
“Our defensive effort was absolutely horrendous the last 12 minutes of the game,” DeChellis said. “We had transition defense where they had post players running down the middle of the floor and scoring on layups. Guys were sucking in because our posts were getting back and they banged a few 3s. Our transition defense was really bad and our half-court defense was really bad.”
Navy would still clinch a home game in the Patriot quarterfinals if Loyola Maryland loses to Colgate today.