Kiernan sparks Navy past Colgate in Patriot opener, 72-66

Jan 4, 2019, 01:13 pm

ANAPOLIS, Md. -- George Kiernan scored 20 points, including a 3-pointer to give Navy the lead down the stretch, and the Midshipmen played their first home game in a month to open Patriot League play, holding off Colgate 72-66 on Thursday night.

Six of the last seven Navy-Colgate contests have been decided by single digits and the Midshipmen snapped a three-game losing streak to the Raiders.

Navy was down, 59-54 after Jordan Burns hit a jumper with 8:17 left for Colgate. Greg Summers answered by scoring at the basket and Kiernan found Luke Loehr for a jumper to cut the deficit to a single point. Kiernan put the Midshipmen in front for good with a 3-pointer with 6:16 left and Hasan Abdullah added another to make it 64-59. Summers hit four straight from the line in the final 20 seconds to keep it a two-possession game.

Kiernan knocked down 4 of 7 from distance for Navy (4-8). Abdullah finished with 18 points and Summers was 5-for-5 from the line and added 11 points.

Burns finished with 14 points for Colgate (8-6). Will Rayman added 12 points.