ANNAPOLIS, MD ‘ Free throws by and in the final 24 seconds helped 51³Ô¹ÏÍø hold off a wild Navy comeback, 60-59, in a Patriot League game Friday night at Alumni Hall.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø (12-12, PL 4-7) has defeated the Midshipmen five straight times, while picking up its first Patriot League road win of the season. Navy (3-21, PL 0-11) drops its 12th straight game, and remains winless in league play.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø was led by Reed with 12 points, with 11 and Chones with 10 points.
Navy trailed 40-28 with 11:33 to play but rallied and tied the game at 47-47 with 4:47 to play. The Mids had a chance to take the lead, but Carlton Baldwin, who had made a free throw to tie the game, missed the second.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø then ran back out to a 52-47 lead after a layup by and a layup and free throw by Linebaugh. Navy got to within two twice in the final minute, but a dunk by Chones with 32 seconds left and two free throws by Reed with 24 seconds and two more by Chones with 15 seconds to play pushed the lead to 60-54.
Baldwin, who had 24 of his career-high 28 points in the second half, led Navy’s comeback. He scored 16 straight points for Navy until a three-pointer at the buzzer by Leonard Green closed the final margin.
The Raiders scored the first eight points and led 19-4 less than seven minutes into the game before settling for a 31-18 halftime lead.
GAME NOTES: This is the second straight season that 51³Ô¹ÏÍø has swept the Navy series ‘ Blue moved into 13th place in career rebounding with 577 ‘ Linebaugh has been in double figures nine straight games, while Chones extended his streak to eight straight games ‘ Chones was 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s leading rebounder with nine ‘ Linebaugh moved into seventh place in career assists with 244.