Feb. 19, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Two of the Patriot League's hottest teams face each other as Holy Cross visits Navy for a key Patriot League contest, beginning at 7:00 pm in Alumni Hall. Both teams enter on three-game winning streaks and are looking to keep pressure on league-leading American with a fourth straight win. The Mids enter the contest with a 13-12 overall record and are 6-4 in the Patriot League, good for second place in the league standings. Holy Cross is 14-10 overall and 5-6 in the Patriot League. Tip off is set for 7:00 pm (ET) in Alumni Hall.

Wednesday's game will be broadcast on the airwaves on both WNAV (1430 AM) and WFED (1050 AM). Bob Socci will handle the Navy call, beginning at 6:45 pm with the Navy Basketball pregame show. The contest will also be streamed online as part of the Navy and Patriot League All-Access packages.

NAVY NOTEBOOK
• Navy is above .500 for the first time since winning its season opener on November 9 (1-0) with a 13-12 overall record.
• The Mids are two games above .500 in league play for the first time since January 2002. Navy currently sits alone in second place in the league standings with a 6-4 record.
• Navy will be looking for its fourth straight Patriot League win. The last time Navy won four straight Patriot League contests came on Jan. 24, 2001 to Feb. 3, 2001.
• Navy's seven road victories, six Patriot League victories and four Patriot League road victories are the most since the 2000-01 campaign. Navy needs just one more Patriot League road victory to tie the program's best single-season total of five league road victories.
• Greg Sprink leads the Patriot League in scoring at 21.2 ppg. In league games only, he is averaging 24.3 ppg.
• Sprink is one of three Patriot League players in league history with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists. Lafayette's Brian Ehlers and Colgate's Pat Campolieta are the others.
• Sprink currently has 1,662 points, moving into eighth place on the Patriot League career scoring list.
• The Navy trio of Greg Sprink, Kaleo Kina and Chris Harris have combined for 1,241 points, the sixth most by a Navy trio in school history. Next on the list is Vernon Butler, Rob Romaine and Cliff Maurer (1984) with 1,313 points.
• At least one member of the trio has scored 20 or more points in each of the last 15 games. Eight different times in that span, two players have scored 20 or more points.
• Over the last 15 games, the trio has accounted for 58.1 ppg, or 72.3 percent of Navy's scoring.
• Head coach Billy Lange needs three more wins for 50 during his time at Navy.

LAST TIME OUT
• Clif Colbert's eight-foot jumper with 0.4 seconds left lifted Navy to an 82-80 victory over Lafayette, the Mids' third win in a row and fourth in a row on the road in Patriot League play. Colbert scored 18 points off the bench on 7-of-8 shooting.
• Greg Sprink led Navy with 24 points and 11 rebounds and Chris Harris totaled 22 points, including seven three-pointers.
• The Mids swept the Lehigh Valley schools on the road for the second straight season. It marks the first time since the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons that Navy has won on the road at both Lehigh and Lafayette in two straight years.
• The win gave Navy its fourth straight Patriot League road win and improved the Mids league road record to 4-1. It marks the first time Navy has won four straight league road games since the 1999-2000 campaign.
• Navy's three-game Patriot League winning streak is the first since January 2002.
• For the second straight game, Navy dominated the glass, outrebounding Lafayette, 36-30. In Navy's two wins last week, Navy outrebounded its foes 83-68, an average of 7.5 boards per game.
• Chris Harris tied a career high with seven three pointers. It marked the second time he has connected on seven threes this year (Holy Cross).

MIDSHIPMEN-CRUSADER QUICK FACTS
• Holy Cross leads the all-time series with Navy, 29-15, including an 11-8 advantage in Annapolis.
• Navy is looking for its first season sweep of Holy Cross since the 1999-2000 season, and for its first win in Annapolis against the Crusaders since Feb. 19, 2000, a span of seven games.
• The Mids snapped their longest losing streak (17) to one opponent in the team's last meeting, an 85-74 win at Holy Cross.
• Since Navy joined the Patriot League in 1991-92, Holy Cross owns a 23-14 advantage.
• Holy Cross' Lawrence Dixon prepped at Archbishop Spalding, the same high school as Navy's Derek Young. Holy Cross assistant coach Andrew Sachs was an assistant coach at Archbishop Spalding when Young and Dixon played there.
• The two teams have combined to win 10 regular-season and eight tournament titles in the league's 18-year history. In addition, the two teams have appeared in the league championship game a combined 15 times.

HOLY CROSS NOTEBOOK
• Holy Cross enters the game with Navy owning a 14-10 overall record and a 5-6 Patriot League record. The Crusaders are rounding into form, winning three in a row and five of their last seven contests.
• The Crusaders have won their last three games by an average margin of 13.7 ppg, including a 63-53 victory at Bucknell on Saturday night. Holy Cross closed out the game with a 20-8 run over the last seven minutes to earn the victory. Tim Clifford, Kyle Cruze and Alex Vander Baan combined for 48 points and Holy Cross went 27-of-33 from the free throw line.
• Holy Cross was decimated by injuries earlier in the year, but appears to be getting nearly everyone back. Vander Baan, Pat Doherty, Lawrence Dixon, Eric Meister and Adam May have all missed significant time with various injuries.
• Holy Cross ranks in the top 100 of scoring defense (23rd) and field goal percentage defense (79th). Tim Clifford is 56th in field goal percentage (.547) and 33rd in blocked shots (2.16 bpg).
• Clifford, the preseason selection for Patriot League Player of the Year, leads the Crusaders in scoring at 16.6 ppg. He is shooting 54.7 percent from the field. Six other players are averaging at least five points a game, and Vander Baan leads the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg). Pat Doherty has 85 assists (4.3 apg) against just 57 turnovers, but is shooting just 35.2 percent from the field.
• As a team, Holy Cross is holding foes to shoot just 41.7 percent and 60.2 points per game. Holy Cross leads the Patriot League in rebounding margin at +6.5 boards per game.

THE FIRST MEETING THIS YEAR
• Navy used a 24-13 run over the last nine minutes to defeat Holy Cross, 85-74, on Jan. 23. The win snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Crusaders and was Navy's first win in Worcester since Jan. 23, 2000 (81-49), a span of nine games.
• Navy hadn't scored more than 70 points against Holy Cross in the last 16 games, prior to the 85-74 win.
• The two teams were tied at halftime, 37-37. Tim Clifford had 15 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting. However, in the second half, Clifford went just 2-of-8 and finished the game with 20 points.
• Chris Harris scored a career-high 29 points, making 7-of-11 three-point tries and all six of his free throw attempts. He also dished out four assists (against one turnover) and grabbed three rebounds with two steals.
• Greg Sprink added 28 points with four assists and four rebounds. Kaleo Kina had a strong floor game with eight points and seven assists. Lastly, Romeo Garcia and Mark Veazey combined for 12 points, five steals and three assists, and connected on several big free throws down the stretch.
• Navy connected on 13-of-29 three-point attempts, compared to 3-of-15 for the Crusaders. The 85 points were the most against Holy Cross since scoring 93 (overtime) against the Crusaders on March 5, 1994.
• Kyle Cruze and Colin Cunningham scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Crusaders.

RECENT NAVY TRENDS
• Navy has scored at least 67 points in all but two games this year (58 vs. Mount St. Mary's and 65 vs. Howard). Navy has scored at least 67 points in 14 straight games, posting a 10-4 mark during that span.
• Navy is 7-2 this year (28-7 under Billy Lange) when attempting more free throws than its foe.
• Navy has led or been tied at halftime in 20 of the 25 games it has played in.
• The Mids are 13-7 when scoring 70 or more points this year and 7-1 when scoring 80 or more.
• Navy has averaged at least 1.00 point per possession in 14 games this year, owning an 11-3 mark when reaching that goal.
• Greg Sprink, Kaleo Kina and Chris Harris have combined for 61 double-figure scoring games this year. The rest of the team has 12 such games.
• When Sprink, Kina and Harris each score in double figures this year, the Mids are just 7-7.
• When Kaleo Kina scores 20 or more points in a game, the Mids are 5-2 this year.
• The Mids have already outrebounded four league opponents this year. Last year, Navy outrebounded just one league foe. The Mids are 8-3 overall this year when outrebounding its opponent.
• The Mids rank tied for seventh nationally in forcing turnovers at 19.0 per game. Cal State Northridge leads the nation at 20.0 turnovers forced per game.
• Navy is just 4-6 when forcing 20 or more turnovers this year. Conversely, Navy is 4-2 when forcing 15 or fewer turnovers.
• Navy has won seven straight games when holding opponents under 45.0 percent shooting.
• The Mids have made 10 or more three-pointers 12 different times this year, posting a 7-5 record in those games.
• In games that Navy has attempted 20 or fewer three-pointers, the Mids are 3-1.
• Navy has held a double-digit lead at some point in seven-of-10 Patriot League games.
• Navy is shooting 81.4 percent from the free throw line in five Patriot League road games, shooting 105-of-129.

# GO NAVY #