Goucher Heads to D-I Navy for Wednesday Night Exhibition

TOWSON, Md. — Prior to opening the regular season portion of its schedule this Friday, the Goucher men's basketball team will travel to Annapolis for an exhibition matchup against Division I Navy at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.

This will be Goucher's fifth game against a D-I opponent in the program's 24-year history. The most-recent contest came in January, 2010, when the Gophers were defeated at Princeton. Later on this season, Goucher will also travel to D-I William and Mary for a regular season tilt on Dec. 20.

The Gophers return 10 players from last year's squad, and they will be joined by five incoming freshmen to complete the roster. Brian Morton II (Ellicott City, Md./Mount St. Joseph), Dylan Chaney (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake), Julian Livingston (Bowie, Md./Fairmont Heights) and Manney Wood (Washington, D.C./C. H. Flowers (Md.)), who each saw extensive action as starters last season, are among the returners.

Morton led the team in assists last season, while Livingston averaged 7.0 points per game and made a team-high 27 3-point baskets. Chaney's 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio was second on the team, trailing only Zachary Hall (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville), who had a 3.2 ratio off the bench.

Wood and Chaney will serve as team captains along with sophomore Troy DeShields (Seaford, Del./Sussex Technical).

The game will be counted as a regular season contest for the Midshipmen (0-2), and it will also serve as their home opener. Navy opened its season with a 72-45 defeat at Towson last Friday, and it fell 60-57 to Saint Francis last night. Worth Smith and Will Kelly have each averaged 10.0 points per game to start the season for the Midshipmen.

Navy is 32-4 lifetime against current members of the Landmark Conference. Tomorrow will be the first meeting between Navy and Goucher. The Gophers' other D-I games have come against Maryland-Eastern Shore (1994-95 season), Robert Morris (2006-07) and Maryland-Baltimore County (2007-08)

Live stats for tomorrow's exhibition will be available here, while free live video of the game will be available here.

The Gophers open up regular season action this weekend when they host the Goucher Classic from Friday through Sunday. Goucher will play Gordon at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Roanoke at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the Decker Sports & Recreation Center.

Click here for the full 2013-14 roster, and here for the complete 2013-14 schedule.