Navy men’s basketball got their first win of the Season on Sunday vs. Binghamton in the consolation game of the Tip-Off Tournament.  Though they lead by one at the half, Navy found themselves down 53-42 with less than 14 minutes left in the game.  Over the course of the next 9 minutes, Navy hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor, including two Brandon Venturini three-pointers, to tie it up at 60.  Venturini hit his 4th three of the game with 3:15 left to give the Mids the lead for good.  For the game, Ventrini was 9-of-13 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line to lead the team with 26 points.  The men return home for a Thanksgiving-eve match-up with Penn State Harrisburg.

This week’s football opponent, South Alabama, kept it close with South Carolina in the first half before dropping the contest 37-12.  Twice in the 1st half the Jaguars got inside the Gamecocks’ 5-yard line, but had to settle for field goals.  There is an air of uncertainty around the quarterback position at South Alabama heading in to Friday afternoon tilt, with three different quarterbacks having played in the past 4 games due to injuries and ineffectiveness (two QB’s have combined for 8 interceptions in the past 3 games).

As anyone who has set foot in Alumni Hall and has seen the banners knows, the women’s basketball team has had an amazing run of success.   But now the ladies find themselves going through a bit of a rebuilding year, returning just one starter from last year’s Patriot League regular season champions.  On Thursday night, the team rallied from a 3-point halftime deficit against Division III Mary Washington to prevail 79-59.  But there would be no such rally on Saturday vs. Penn.  Trailing by 12 at the break, Navy was only able to gain back three in the 2nd half and ended up falling 60-51.

Quick Hits:

• With a win this past Saturday, Western Kentucky became the 8th bowl eligible team Navy has played in 2014.  Temple has the potential to become the 9th such team if they can win one of their final two games of the season (vs. Cincinnati, at Tulane).
• The Senior Bowl has a nice Q&A with Navy long snapper Joe Cardona, just the 3rd Mid to be selected to the prestigious event.
• Water Polo ended its season with a 3rd place finish at the CWPA Championship this past weekend.
• Wrestling finished 8th at the Navy Classic with 5 place-winners, but was shut out of an individual championship for just the 4th time in the 37 year history of the meet.
• Navy cross country runner Steve Schroeder finished in 182nd place at the NCAA championship.  Despite a strong start, Schroeder was hampered by back spasms for the final 5000m of the race.
• Navy volleyball’s season ended with a 3-set loss to Lehigh in the Patriot League tournament.  The season ends with Navy having its first winning record since 2008 and the first sweep of Army matches since 2005.