Ohio State tops Navy in men's basketball opener

The Veterans Classic is quickly becoming a great Annapolis tradition, attracting national-caliber basketball programs to Alumni Hall to open their seasons. The atmosphere gets an extra boost when the hosts play well, and they did tonight before falling to Ohio State, 78-68. Hasan Abdullah led Navy with 22 points, while the Buckeyes were paced by Kam Williams, who scored 23.

Despite opening the season with a loss, Navy head coach Ed DeChellis liked a lot of what he saw from his team.

“We were proud of our guys,” he said. “I thought we really battled, came out and played well to start, hung in there.”

Navy opened the game with a 7-2 run, with Shawn Anderson and Tim Abruzzo able to get to the basket early. The hot start turned cold after that, and Ohio State went on a 12-2 run over the next six and a half minutes to take a 14-9 lead.

The Mids fought back to tie the game at 14 after a James Hemphill layup at 10:31, but the Buckeyes answered by scoring on their next four trips down the floor, pushing the lead back to four at 22-18.

A Shawn Anderson layup with 1:28 left in the half brought the Mids to within three, but JaQuan Lyle hit a three-pointer with 37 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Buckeyes a six-point advantage. The Mids went into the locker room down five, 33-28.

Navy opened the second half the same way they opened the first, going on a 7-2 run that was capped off by an Edward Alade dunk that tied the game at 35 with 18:20 left to play. That would be the last time the game was tied. As Navy’s shooting went cold, Ohio State gradually built a lead that got as large as 18 points before the Mids start to fight back. They never got closer than 10, though, which was ultimately the final margin.

Even with the loss, there were several encouraging signs. Ohio State is a long, athletic Big Ten squad, but Navy had a 30-22 scoring advantage in the paint. That was partly by design, as the Mids made a concerted effort to keep Ohio State from scoring easy baskets.

“Our strategy was to make them beat us on the perimeter, and they did,” said DeChellis. “Williams came off the bench. We knew he could shoot, and he had a great night for them making threes. That’s what they had to do to beat us, and that’s what they did.”

The Mids did an admirable job attacking the basket themselves, although that wasn’t necessarily the plan going in.

“We were trying to drive the ball,” continued DeChellis. “We thought we had to get to the free throw line. We wanted to try to drive and kick, and we didn’t really do a great job of kicking. We thought we could get inside and get it back outside.”

DeChellis wasn’t sure that the Mids would be able to get to the basket given Ohio State’s size, which is why the original plan was to drive and kick. The ability to drive and finish might have been a pleasant surprise, although free throw shooting is a concern that persists from last season; the Mids shot only 58% from the line.

Another pleasant surprise was the play of Hasan Abdullah. The sophomore point guard got off to a promising start last year before his season ended due to a hip injury. He earned the start at point guard tonight and did not disappoint, sinking shots from beyond the arc and leading the team in scoring. Youth, in general, was a theme of the night, with the Mids getting solid contributions from fellow sophomore Ryan Pearson and freshman center Evan Wieck. DeChellis also mentioned that sophomore forward George Kiernan was expected to play before twisting his ankle in practice this week.

It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from one game, but already it appears that Navy’s two biggest questions heading into the season have been answered. The first question was whether a starting point guard would emerge, and it seems that one has. The second issue was how well the team could handle the loss of Will Kelly, and the Mids ability to limit Ohio State’s production in the paint is a testament to Edward Alade and Evan Wieck. It’s something to build on as the team begins their march toward the Patriot League schedule.