(Boxscore)
ANNAPOLIS, MD. (2/25/06) – Junior guard Jon Simon scored a career-high 25 points to lead Colgate to an 80-72 win over Navy Saturday afternoon in the Patriot League regular season finale at Alumni Hall.
Colgate (10-18, PL 4-10), which swept its regular season series against the Midshipmen, finishes sixth in the Patriot League standings, while Navy (10-17, PL 3-11) falls into seventh place.
Simon, who had four 3-pointers to move into eighth place in career 3-pointers made with 110, received plenty of scoring help from senior guard Alvin Reed, who tallied 22 points, and sophomore forward Kendall Chones with a career-high 21 points.
Colgate produced its highest offensive output of the season giving the Raiders a 4-1 mark when scoring over 70 points. It also was just the third time in 19 attempts that Colgate has come back from a halftime deficit this season.
Navy was led by Greg Sprink with 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Kaleo Kina with 16 points.
Navy held a 36-30 edge in rebounding. Todd Checovich was Colgate’s leading rebounder with six including five on the offensive boards.
Colgate jumped out to a 9-3 lead over the Midshipmen, before Navy rallied for a 16-14 advantage. With the Mids leading 19-18, Sprink scored eight straight points to put his team in front 27-18, which was the biggest lead of the first half.
Colgate cut the deficit to one point on three occasions before Corey Johnson nailed a pair of free throws to give Navy a 41-38 halftime lead.
The Raiders scored the first six points of the second half on two free throws by Simon and back-to-back baskets by Kendall Chones. Colgate held the lead until Johnson made a layup with 10 minutes left to give Navy a 49-48 advantage.
The Raiders answered Navy with a 12-point run for a 60-49 lead. Reed paced Colgate with five points in the decisive run. The closest Colgate would come was five points in the closing two minutes of the game.
The Raiders shot 50 percent in the contest, including 58 percent in the second half, while Navy managed only 42 percent. The Mids shot 50 percent in the first half, but only 34 percent in the second half.
Colgate made a season-high 25-of-34 free throws, while Navy connected on 21-of-28 charity tosses.
