Deficit too much for Mids
Navy falls to Patriot League regular-season champions
Navy men’s basketball received good news before even taking the court Saturday afternoon.
Boston University beat Lehigh earlier in the day, assuring the Midshipmen of the second seed for the Patriot League Tournament.
Unfortunately for Navy, there was some bad news as well. Senior wing guard Sean Yoder was unable to play against Colgate because of a shoulder injury suffered Wednesday at American. It is unclear whether the captain will be ready to go when Navy hosts a playoff quarterfinal on Thursday night.
Another unsettling development for the Mids came on the court as they found out first-hand just how tough the top-seeded Red Raiders are to beat.
Senior forward Keegan Records dominated in the low post in scoring a careerhigh 25 points and Colgate overcame a spirited second-half comeback bid to beat Navy, 64-60, before an announced 2,505 at Alumni Hall.
Freshman point guard Braeden Smith totaled 11 points and seven assists for Colgate (23-8, 17-1), which never trailed. As regular-season champs, the Red Raiders are guaranteed to play at home throughout the Patriot League Tournament.
Senior forward Patrick Dorsey equaled a career-high with 18 points for Navy (18-12, 11-7), which is assured of being at Alumni Hall through the semifinals. If the Mids met the Red Raiders in the championship game, it would be played in Hamilton, New York.
Senior forward Daniel Deaver notched a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Midshipmen, who showed tremendous heart by turning an apparent blowout into a nailbiter down the stretch. Senior forward Tyler Nelson also posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to continue Navy’s seven-game winning streak.
“I’m disappointed we lost the game, but I’m not disappointed in our effort, our energy and our enthusiasm,” Navy coach Ed DeChellis said.
Senior guard Oliver Lynch-Daniels hit a 3-pointer to give Colgate its largest lead of 20 points at the 14:03 mark of the second half. At that point, the Red Raiders had led by double digits for most of the game and seemed set to coast the rest of the way.
Playing before a raucous crowd on Senior Day, Navy was not about to go down without a fight. Dorsey hit three deep 3-pointers to spark a 25-7 run as the Mids reduced the deficit to 56-54 with 5:20 remaining.
Suddenly confronted with a loud, hostile environment, the Red Raiders never got rattled and made enough plays on both ends of the floor to put the game away.
“They started making shots and we started missing some easy ones around the basket and the next thing you know you’re looking at a one-possession game,” Colgate coach Matt Langel said. “Fortunately, we have a bunch of guys who have been through the wringer together and know how to win games in different ways. We were able to hang on and close it out.”
Colgate was aggressive on defense and Navy was out of sync on offense during the first half. The Mids shot just 25% (8-for32) from the field in falling behind 34-23.
“We didn’t play very well offensively in the first half. We just didn’t shoot the ball well,” DeChellis said.
Missing Yoder, who is second on the squad in assists, was a big reason the offense struggled.
“Not having Sean out there tonight was tough,” Dorsey said. “He’s got the ball in his hands a lot and makes a lot of plays. It took us a little while to get used to not having him out there.”
Navy needed to start the second half strong and didn’t. Colgate opened with a 15-6 run to take a 49-29 lead. “It was the first four minutes of the second half. We came out lackadaisical and gave them a lot of easy baskets,” Dorsey said.
That said, Dorsey was proud of the Midshipmen for turning things around and getting back into the game. Dorsey totaled 13 points during the big run, making a steal and layup to bring the home team within two. Navy had the ball with a chance to tie, but senior forward Nate Allison missed a short shot in the lane.
Forward Sam Thomson made a baseline jumper on the other end as Colgate got some breathing room.
A rare 3-pointer by Deaver pulled Navy within two a second time at 62-60 with 50 seconds left. However, 6-foot11, 270-pound forward Jeff Woodward tapped in a missed shot with 17 seconds left and that put an end to the rally.
“I think we battled in the second half,” Dorsey said. “We really turned up the intensity defensively. We gave ourselves a chance to win after going down 20 at the start of the second half.”
DeChellis was disappointed Deaver and Allison did not follow the game plan by fronting Records and denying him the ball. The 6-10, 250-pound senior made 12 of 17 field goals with almost all coming within two feet of the basket.
Two-time defending champion Colgate is the complete package with a solid eightman rotation and a nice combination of inside-outside scoring. The Red Raiders are talented, experienced and possess tremendous chemistry.
“They can beat you in different ways. They can beat you inside with the post guys or they can beat you by shooting 3s,” DeChellis said. “They’re very cerebral and know how to play. They’re a really good passing team. Everybody on the team has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.”
The Midshipmen must win two tournament games before worrying about Colgate again. Navy will welcome the winner of No. 7 seed American and No. 10 seed Bucknell into Alumni Hall on Thursday.
DeChellis does not know if Navy will have the services of Yoder, who is the team’s third-leading scorer and rebounder. He noted the coaching staff did not have time to devise a way to play without Yoder with just two days between the American and Colgate games.
“We’ve got to figure it out Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We have to figure out who else we’re going to play, how we’re going to extend the bench another guy and what we can do offensively to change some things. We need to have Plan B in our back pocket,” DeChellis said.
This is the seventh straight season that both Colgate and Navy are not playing in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. They are the only two teams to avoid that fate during that span.
DeChellis is hopeful the Mids will get another shot at the Raiders with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line.
“Hopefully, our best game is ahead of us. I don’t think we’ve played our best game on either end of the floor,” he said.