Mids struggle with Liberty
Navy doesn’t find much comfort at home; Morgan St. upended
Navy men’s basketball is in the midst of a rigorous stretch of its non-conference schedule.
This tough year-ending run started off on the wrong foot with Morgan State blowing out Navy by 24 points on Nov. 20 in Baltimore. The Midshipmen were hoping to right the ship when they returned to the Alumni Hall, where they had won two in a row.
It was simply not meant to be against a Liberty ball club that certainly looks like a legitimate contender in the vastly improved Atlantic Sun Conference.
Freshman guard Darius McGhee came off the bench to score 18 points as Liberty led pretty much from start to finish in easily handling Navy, 76-58, before a sparse audience of 489 fans in Annapolis.
McGhee, a 5-foot-9 product of Roxboro, N.C., did not miss when left open on the perimeter — making five 3-pointers.
“They have a really good kid (McGhee) who shoots the ball and I was a little disappointed with our team because our attention to detail was not very good,” Navy coach Ed DeChellis said. “We knew he could shoot and we couldn’t come off of him. We had to make him a driver and we really didn’t do that, which is frustrating because we spoke about that for a few days.”
Junior power forward Scottie James had 14 points and seven rebounds for Liberty (6-1), which took control toward the end of the first half with a decisive run and never let Navy (2-4) back into the game. Senior forward Keenan Gumbs (12) and junior guard Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz (10) also reached double figures for the Flames, who led by as much as 16 points on numerous occasions during the second half.
“I thought we played well to start the game, but the last three or four minutes of the first half we were very, very poor,” DeChellis said.
Sophomore guard Cam Davis scored 13 points to lead Navy, which managed to cut the deficit to single digits twice during the final 10 minutes of the contest. Sophomore forward Danny Ogele had a solid outing with 12 points and six rebounds for the Midshipmen, whose next three opponents entered Wednesday’s action with a combined record of 15-5.
GEORGE MASON 82, MORGAN STATE 75: Otis Livingston II scored five of his 22 points in the final two minutes to help the host Patriots (3-5) pull away from the Bears (2-4).
George Mason rebounded from double-digit losses to Cincinnati and Baylor in the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida.
Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. and Stanley Davis scored four points apiece during an 8-2 spurt to tie the game at 71 with 2:19 remaining. Livingston made a pair of free throws and converted a 3-point play as the Patriots closed on an 11-3 surge.
Livingston was 7 of 13 from the field, made all six free-throw attempts and added seven assists. Kyson Rawls scored 18 points, and Davis had15 points and12 rebounds to lead Morgan State.
SALISBURY 101, GOUCHER 71: James Foley (Annapolis Area Christian) scored a game-high 21points and the host Sea Gulls (6-0) routed the Gophers (1-5). The last time Salisbury scored over a 100 points was a 126-122 five-overtime loss to Marymount on Feb. 14, 2007. Gabe Ceribelli (Hereford) led Goucher with 17 points.
Women
WESTERN KENTUCKY 90, MORGAN STATE 43: Adre’onia Coleman scored 13 points, but the visiting Bears (1-8) fell to the Hilltoppers (3-6). Western Kentucky went on a 27-8 run in the second quarter. Morgan State has lost seven straight.
AMERICAN 64, UMBC 42: The host Eagles (4-3) opened with a 30-8 run in the first quarter and cruised past the Retrievers (6-2). Janee’a Summers led UMBC with 15 points and nine rebounds. UMBC scored 27 points in the second half.
Baltimore Sun staff contributed to this article.