On the day that Don DeVoe's coaching record at Navy climbed to .500, his team continued to play better than average at home.
The Midshipmen rolled over Colgate, 93-51, yesterday at Alumni Hall and moved within a game of second place in the Patriot League.
The margin of victory was Navy's largest in its past 271 games, since a 108-63 victory over Delaware during the 1985-86 season.
A crowd of 3,386 watched the Mids (15-8, 7-4) go ahead 10-9 on a basket by Larry Green and then pull away, handing Colgate (11-12, 8-3) its second-worst defeat this season. Maryland took a 113-53 win Dec. 8.
It was Navy's fifth straight victory and seventh in the past eight.
"This was totally our game," DeVoe said. "Our kids worked their fannies off to have the intensity on defense and the concentration and poise with their shots so we could carry this game through."
In avenging last month's 14-point loss to Colgate, the Mids improved their home record to 11-2 and DeVoe's to 40-40. And they did it with a combination of torrid shooting in the first half and air-tight defense on Colgate's two biggest offensive threats, Tucker Neale and Adonal Foyle.
Neale, the Red Raiders' all-time leading scorer, tied his season low with eight points on 2-for-10 shooting from the field. He came in averaging 23.3 points and had scored 28 in the first meeting, but wherever he went yesterday, Navy's Michael Green usually followed.
"Playing against Tucker is like playing against anyone else," said Green, a 6-foot-4 sophomore. "You have to be aggressive, and at the same time, you have to realize there's going to be help from your teammates."
Wes Cooper was just as great a nuisance to Foyle, a
much-heralded 6-10 freshman who had five points at halftime and 11 for the game. Even more impressive, Foyle was limited to four rebounds -- almost nine below his league-leading average.
When Cooper, a 6-5 senior, went to the bench, Alex Kohnen usually took over. And the results were the same.
Senior Larry Green tied his career high with 21 points, most coming against Foyle. He also grabbed 12 rebounds.
He scored five points during a 13-0 run that wiped out a 9-6 deficit. And his two free throws gave Navy its first 20-point lead, 34-14, with six minutes left before halftime.
"I'll just find any little positive thing to build on. I just like to put a bunch of them together and make a mountain out of a mole hill," he said.
"I don't want to sound cocky, but I don't think any team in the league can beat us twice, so I kind of felt we were going to win, anyway. It was just a question of by how much."
The Mids weren't afraid to venture inside and challenge Foyle. Many of their points came in the paint, and when Kohnen scored over Foyle on a left-handed hook for a 72-39 lead, it illustrated just how confident they were.
Greg Stephens (10 points) later flew in for a one-handed dunk.
"Now I know how Custer felt," said Colgate coach Jack Bruen, whose team shot 9-for-28 from the field in the first half and 18-for-51 for the game. The Red Raiders also went 12 of 26 from the line and were out-rebounded, 51-23.
"They kicked us from one end of the floor to the other, back and forth, inside and outside, up and down," Bruen said. "They came out fired up and ready to play and just spanked us. They hurt us inside as good as any team we've played all year."
Navy was fairly potent from the outside, as well, especially in the first half, when it made 19 of 32 shots. Eleven players scored, including plebe Michael Heary with 16 points off the bench and Cooper with 13.
"Everyone who hit the hardwood for us today truly delivered," DeVoe said.
The Mids' next game is Wednesday against Army at West Point. They return to Alumni Hall Feb. 20 against Fordham in their last home game before the Patriot League Tournament.