It was Senior Night at Alumni Hall last night, with the Naval Academy and a highly vocal crowd of 2,531 paying tribute to the five Midshipmen who were making their final home appearance.
Navy coach Don DeVoe started four of the seniors -- captain Wes Cooper, Larry Green, Ryan Torgrimson and T. J. Hall. But it was two underclassmen -- junior Jim Hamilton and plebe Michael Heary -- who triggered Navy's second-half surge as the Midshipmen outscored Fordham 41-20 over the last 15 minutes to roll to their seventh straight win, 70-56.
Hamilton, one of the driving forces in Navy's run to the Patriot League title last year, has seen his playing time severely curtailed this season, with DeVoe using Heary and sophomore defensive specialist Michael Green at his small forward spot.
But Hamilton, who had scored only 71 points all season, registered a season-high 14 points and opened up the Rams' zone defense by hitting four of his seven three-point attempts.
The first of his three three-pointers in the second half pulled Navy (17-8, 9-4) into a 44-44 tie. He made another three with seven minutes left to complete a 10-0 run and give the Midshipmen a 51-44 cushion.
"Sure, I'd like to play more," said Hamilton, "but I've just tried to keep my head together and to be ready when the coach calls on me."
Heary, one of the nation's best freshmen, struggled in the first half when he was held scoreless and committed four turnovers. But DeVoe did not hesitate to start him in the second half with his team trailing 32-26.
"Michael is our go-to guy on offense, and he can make things happen a lot of ways," said DeVoe.
Heary scored 17 points in the second half, cramming 11 into the last seven minutes to negate any hopes for a Fordham comeback.
"You can't get down on yourself," said Heary, who took over the team scoring lead with a 13.6 average. "I just stayed patient and in the team concept and my shots started to fall."
DeVoe and Fordham coach Nick Macarchuk credited the Navy defense with triggering the second-half turnaround.
The Rams (9-15, 5-8) managed seven field goals in the second half and went scoreless from the field for a seven-minute stretch. Senior forward Ryan Hunter was the only consistent threat, scoring a game-high 19 points.
"Torgrimson and Hall really went after the ball and forced a lot of turnovers," said DeVoe. "And Cooper and Green shut off their inside game. Our seniors wouldn't be denied a victory tonight."
Cooper contributed 11 points and seven rebounds despite suffering a gash over his left eye late in the first half that required 13 stitches.