ANNAPOLIS, MD (3/4/09) – Junior Ben Jonson (Dallas, TX) scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Colgate to a 64-59 overtime upset over Navy Wednesday night in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.
Colgate, seeded sixth, snapped a five-game losing streak with its first overtime victory since the 2006-07 season. They had lost six straight overtime games including one earlier this season. The Raiders improved to 10-19 overtime with their first road win since Jan. 10. Navy finishes its season with a 19-11 record.
Colgate will advance to the semifinal round on Sunday, March 8 at second seeded Holy Cross, which defeated Bucknell 75-56.
Freshman Yaw Gyawu (Lilburn, GA) added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Raiders, while Mike Venezia (Westfield, NJ) tallied 13 points including three 3-pointers. Gyawu iced the contest with a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds left.
Kaleo Kina led Navy with 23, while O.J. Avworo contributed 11 points and Adam Teague added eight points and nine rebounds.
In the overtime period, Navy jumped out to a 56-54 lead on a jumper by Chris Harris before Colgate scored six straight points for a 60-56 advantage. Venezia started the run with a jumper, followed by a 3-pointer from Trevaron Vinson (Arlington, TX), and Yaw's free throw.
Avworo made an old-fashion 3-point play to bring the Midshipmen back to within one point, 60-59, with 1:20 left, before Yaw, who was struggling from the free throw line (6-of-14) made two big charity baskets with 21.1 seconds left. Navy would miss two 3-pointer attempts trying to tie the game, but Colgate couldn't take advantage missing four straight free throws. Navy had one more chance to tie the contest after Yaw missed two free throws, but threw the ball out of bounds. The Mids fouled Yaw again, but this time the rookie sealed the victory making both of his attempts with 1.8 left.
Navy controlled the first half jumping out to a 14-6 lead behind seven points from Kina. The Midshipmen led the rest of the way before settling for a 28-23 halftime advantage.
In the second half, Colgate scored nine straight points after Navy tallied the first basket of the final 20 minutes. Trailing 32-30, the Mids came back for a 35-32 lead with 13:21 left.
Later with Navy enjoying a 41-38 lead, Colgate scored eight straight points to move ahead, 46-41. Jonson nailed a jumper, and Venezia and Vinson followed with back-to-back 3 pointers.
Navy was able to tie the game 52-52 on a 3-point play by Kina with 2:24 left, before Colgate went back in front 54-52 on Yaw's basket. The game went into overtime on Awvoro's layup with 1:32 remaining. The Mids had one last chance to win the game in regulation but Teague's 3-point attempt was short, and Yaw grabbed the rebound with 9.5 seconds left. After moving into the front court, Colgate couldn't get a final shot off.
Colgate shot 41.5 percent from the field (22-of-53), while Navy managed only 32.2 percent (19-of-52). The Raiders made 7-of-13 3-pointers (53 percent), while holding the home team to 4-of-19 (21 percent).
Navy had the advantage at the free throw line making 17-of-19 attempts, while Colgate was 13-of-25. Colgate edged Navy in rebounding 40-39.
(Boxscore)
