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KLMNO COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BB&T CLASSIC
Eagles come close, then fade away 67 48
No. 18 Gators use
17-4 second-half run to pull away
BY STEVEN GOFF Therewere enoughpositives in
American University’s 67-48 loss to Florida in the BB&T Classic on Sunday atVerizonCenter to seem- ingly please Eagles Coach Jeff Jones: a good start, an inspiring runinthe secondhalf anda game- high 17 points by Troy Brewer against the 18th-ranked team in the land. Jones, though, was in a sour
mood after the Eagles’ third con- secutive loss since their 5-0 start. Although themargin of defeatwas respectable for a Patriot League teamfacingaSoutheasternConfer- ence titan, Jones expected a better performancebyhis veteransquad. TheEagleshadsliceda16-point
JOEL RICHARDSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
American’sVladMoldoveanu (14 points) rises to score over Florida’s Alex Tyus in the first half in theBB&T Classic atVerizon Center.
deficit to seven midway though the secondhalf—andwerewithin eight with eight minutes left — whena flurryofmental errors and misses led to a 17-4 run by the
Gators (6-2). “It’s frustrating because, for us
to have any chance, we have to be damn near perfect,” Jones said. “Those [mistakes] are what we needtodobetter,not justagainsta teamlike Florida, but for us to be thekindof teamIcertainlybelieve we canbe.” The Eagles are picked to finish
first in their small league, and althoughexperience andskillmay carry them a long way, Jones is troubledby the team’s course. “We canbebetter,”he said, “and
we shouldbe better.” Brewer, a Georgia transfer fac-
ing theGators for the fifth time in his career, was effective in transi- tion,made twothree-pointers and shot 6 of 8 overall. VladMoldove- anu, averaging 21.3 points, had 14 but hit just 1 of 9 three-pointers, many onopenlooks. The Eagles committed 17 turn-
overs and received no points and three rebounds from their re-
serves.They shutoutKennyBoyn- ton, Florida’s leading scorer, on 0-for-9 shooting and were out- reboundedby just two.ButErving Walker, Boynton’s 5-foot-8 back- court mate, made four three-
Terps’ spark comes too late
pointers and had 16 points, and combined with the three other starters to shoot 20 of 31 overall. Georgetown transfer Vernon Macklincontributed12points. WiththeEagles trailing30-21at
intermission, the first three min- utesof thesecondhalfappearedto end their hopes. Alex Tyus scored on either side of Walker’s three- pointer for a 37-21 lead, drawing a timeout by Jones. But the Eagles began to click as
Brewer and Nick Hendra hit three-pointers. They also looked to run after Florida misses and scored twice in transition. When Moldoveanu scored on a leaner and made a subsequent free throw, the Eagles were within 45- 38with11minutes 19 seconds left. With AU trailing by eight with
eight minutes to go, Florida’s Chandler Parsons made a free throwandmissed the second, but snuck in for the rebound and a layup. “We can’t come out and not
[block] out and get rebounds,” Hendra said. “It was a snowball effect fromthere.” Hendra answered with a re- verse layup, but consecutive turn-
FLORIDA AMERICAN
overs by the Eagles and seven straight points by the Gators ex- tended themargin to 16 with five minutes left. After the eight-min- ute mark, the Eagles were 2 for 7 withfive turnovers. “It’s mental toughness, really,”
Brewer said. “Webring it close,but then at times we relax and don’t takeadvantageof theopportunity.” Helpisontheway—Vanderbilt
transfer Charles Hinkle becomes eligible next week — and Jones is hoping it grabs the players’ atten- tion. Asked how Hinkle’s arrival will
impact the rotation, Jones said: “I don’t know exactly, but I do hope that there are three or four guys who wonder the same thing. Prac- ticeisdifferent fromgames[but]he hasbeenourbestplayer inpractice
forawhile.MorethananythingI’m hoping he brings us a sense of toughness that we lack way too often.”
goffs@washpost.com
MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2010
JOEL RICHARDSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Navy’s Greg Brown runs into traffic on his way to the basket during theMids’ first victory overGeorgeWashington since Feb. 14, 1980.
Sugars gives Navy NAVY
game-high 20 points after missing 3 games
PHOTOS BY JOEL RICHARDSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Maryland Coach Gary Williams does not look pleased with his team’s performance in theBB&T Classic. andACC play is a week away. TEMPLE
Bench players provide lift in Maryland’s loss to Temple
BY LIZ CLARKE The limitations of Maryland’s
offense were on stark display againstTemple intheBB&TClas- sic onSundaynight. Eighteenminutes into the first
half, no player other than Jordan Williams had scored more than
twopoints.Bythen, theTerrapins trailed by 13 points, had turned over the ball nine times andwere getting soundly out-rebounded by the taller,more opportunistic Owls atVerizonCenter. And with no sign of improve-
ment early in the second half, CoachGaryWilliamsbenchedev- ery starter but his 6-foot-10 cen- ter and took his chances with three freshman substitutes and two sophomores. Williams got the spark he
wanted from the bench players. But a second-half spark wasn’t enough to subdue a Temple team that shotbetter andbattledhard- er start to finish. The result was a 64-61 defeat that drops Maryland to 6-3 and
Maryland’s Cliff Tucker takes it to Temple’sMicheal Eric in the first half. The Terps struggled on the boards and trailed 17-8 early.
raises questions about the start- ing lineup with Atlantic Coast Conferenceplay aweek away. Regardless of what moves
CoachWilliamsmakes, if any, for Wednesday’s game against UNC Greensboro, the lessons of the loss toTemplewere clear: The Terps need a consistent
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scoring option other than Jordan Williams hurtling toward the basket, although freshman Ter- rell Stoglin, whose three-pointer pulled the Terps within two with 4.7 seconds remaining, is fast emerging as thatplayer. Stoglinfinishedwith16points,
the only player other than Wil- liams indouble figures. Until the Terps develop that,
they don’t shoot well enough to give the ball away with errant passes andcarelesspossessions. Moreover, theTerpsneedtodo
a better job at rebounding—par- ticularly on the offensive boards—to give themselvesmore cracks at the basket. They were out-reboundedbyTemple, 42-32.
Both teams shot poorly at the
start. Temple’s 6-11Nigerian cen- ter,MichealEric,made itdifficult for Maryland to get the ball in- side.WhentheTerpsdid,Ericdid a great job grabbing the rebound todenyMarylanda secondshot. Marylanddidapoor jobonthe
boards — was particularly ane- mic on offensive rebounds—and paidfor it, fallingbehind17-8and giving the partisan Maryland crowdlittle to get excitedabout. Williams calleda timeoutwith
7 minutes 39 seconds remaining in the first half, the Terps trailing 21-10. At the half, they trailed 32-21. Temple (5-2) opened the sec-
ond half by hitting back-to-back shots to pad its lead to 36-21, and the arena fell silent. Williams respondedbypulling
allbuthissophomorecenter,who came within one rebound of a double-double in the first half alone, from the lineup. He yanked four veteran players and tookhischanceswiththreefresh-
BY KATHY ORTON MARYLAND 64 61
men and a sophomore, sending in freshmen Pe’shon Howard, Stoglin and Haukur Palsson and sophomore JamesPadgett. In a matter of minutes, that
groupparedthedeficit from15 to five. Palssonscored quickly. Stoglin
soon followed. Padgett hit a
jumper.Andwith Stoglin’s three- pointer, it was a 10-point game,
40-30.AndMaryland fans rallied to what until then had seemed like a lost cause. Howard sped down court on a
fast break to make it 40-32. And Palsson hit from three-point range, pulling Maryland within five (40-35),with13:40 left. But Temple’s trips down the
courtweremore fruitful, and the Owls kept the lead just out of reach despite spirited efforts by StoglinandHoward. JordanWilliams picked up his
fourth foul with Maryland trail- ing50-42andjustovereightmin- utes left toplay. Temple’s Khaliff Wyatt drilled
a three-pointer that hushed the crowd. Padgett came up with a tip-inthatmade it 53-48. And Stoglin andHoward com-
bined to pull the Terps within four. Stoglinfiredapinpointpass at Howard on a fast break. How- ard made the shot but failed to convert the three-pointplay. AfterafruitlessTempleposses-
sion, Stoglin hit a pair of free throws to pull the Terps to 56-54 with2:31 remaining. Adunk by Padgett tied it at 56,
capping an8-0Marylandrun. But Allen answered with a
three-point play and fouled out seconds later. Williams had a chance to pull
within one, but missed a pair fromthe free throwline.
clarkel@washpost.com
Almost every time he made a
basket, Jordan Sugars pumped his
fistandletoutascream.Navy’s normally impassive junior guard appeared especially happy to be back on the court after missing the previous three games with a hand injury. The Midshipmen were equally
thrilled to have Sugars return.He was a big reason Navy defeated George Washington, 64-57, on Sunday evening intheBB&TClas- sicatVerizonCenter, theMidship- men’s first win against the Colo- nials since Feb. 14, 1980 and only their second win against GW in their last 17meetings. “Coach asked me before the
game: ‘Are you ready?’ He knew I was excited,” Sugars said. “Forme it was just a build-up. I never sat out [a game] so I just had all this built-upenergy andIwas ready to go tonight.” Sugars made four three-point-
ers—one of sevenNavy players to sink a shot frombehind the arc in the game — to finish with 20 points. “I thought his passion and his
enthusiasmweremore important than his actual stats,”Navy Coach Billy Lange said. “He’s brought us a level of toughness that we defi- nitely needed in this game.” David Pellomand Bryan Bynes
each scored 11 points for GW, which once again struggled to score. The Colonials (2-5), who haven’t reached 60 points in their past two games,have lost four ina row. “We’ve got to find somebody
that can score, that can get that ball inthebasket,”GWCoachKarl Hobbs said. Sugars injured his left (non-
shooting) hand during a practice before Thanksgiving and needed 11 stitches to close the wound. Though hewas not in the starting lineup for the start of either half, heplayedthemostminutes (33)of any Midshipman. Lange said he never considered starting Sugars,
solid return vs. GW Junior tallies
GW 64 57
the team’s second-leading scorer. “I didn’t want to put that kind
of pressure on him,” Lange said. Sugars entered 3 minutes 3
seconds into the game.WithNavy trailing, 7-2, the shot clock was about to expire when he caught a pass and launched a three-point shot just before the buzzer sound- ed. The ball fell through the net, spurring a 9-1 runby theMidship- men. Sugars, who has made a three-pointer in 20 consecutive games dating from last season, made four of his first five field goals in the game. GW, which went long stretches
in this game without a field goal, tried to counter Navy’s three- point shooting—theMidshipmen made 11 shots frombehindthe arc — by attacking the basket and drawing fouls. It was a successful strategy, in part. The Colonials went to the free throw line 28 times in the game. The problem was, theymade only 18 foul shots. Pellom, who also finished with
13 rebounds for his first career double-double, was the first GW player toscoreindoublefigures in this game, and he didn’t reach that mark until there was 7:36 remaining. GW’s leading scorer, Tony Tay-
lor, had another off shooting night. Taylor entered the game havingmade only nine of his pre- vious 27 field goal attempts. He missed five of his first six shot attempts and had only three points at halftime. He finished witheightpoints on3-of-15 shoot-
ing.Second-leading scorer Joseph Katuka played only 13 minutes and scored four points. Despite their shooting woes,
GW’s defense kept the Colonials in the game. Navy held a 14-point lead with 3:41 left, but the Mid- shipmen turned the ball over and missed shots late in the game, which allowedGWto cut the lead to 62-57 with 31 seconds remain- ing. “We gutted it out,” Lange said.
“Itwasn’t pretty butwe did it. I’m proud of our guys.”
ortonk@washpost.com
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