BOSTON, Mass. –– Two free throws by John Carter Jr. (Fr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) with 8.7 seconds allowed the Navy men's basketball team to thwart a furious rally by Boston U. and let the Mids (11-18, 8-10 Patriot League) hold off the Terriers (14-17, 7-11), 79-74, Saturday afternoon at Case Gym in Boston, Mass.
 
"It was a great win for our kids," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis, who earned the 99^th victory in his eight-year Navy tenure today.  "We struggled last week with losing two road games to Loyola and Colgate.  The kids really bounced back, practiced hard and we were able to find a way to beat Bucknell at home and go on the road and come away with a win here today.  Really, really proud of our kids."
 
Picked to finish eighth in the Patriot League at the start of the season, Navy will enter the league tournament as the No. 5 seed and play Thursday at No. 4 American in the quarterfinal round of the event.
 
Navy started all four of its seniors in its victory over Bucknell Wednesday in Annapolis.  The Mids jumped out to a 17-4 lead over the Bison to boost Navy to the win on the program's Senior Night.  That same lineup began the game today for Navy and the quintet once again paid dividends as the Mids scored on each of its first seven possessions to take a 19-12 lead five minutes into the contest.
 
Navy was 7-7 from the field –– which included four three-point attempts –– during that 19-point game opening run.
 
"I don't know why (we started so well)," said DeChellis.  "If we could duplicate that, we would.  I think the seniors have really stepped up and done a great job for us.  They bring a lot of energy because, as I told them, this is their time, this is their team.  They have done a good job of getting us going.  We just made shots.  That has helped us to getting off to a good start and building confidence, which is important."
 
The Navy advantage grew to 10 points at 27-17 and was as large as 17 (41-24) before the teams went into the locker rooms with the Mids in front, 46-35.
 
Navy shot 72 percent from the field in the first half, which included a 7-11 effort from three-point range.  The Mids scored 20 of their 46 points in the paint.  Helping that advantage was Evan Wieck (Jr., Amarillo, Texas) going 5-5 from the floor and scoring 11 first half points.
 
Boston winnowed the margin down to eight points at 56-48 with 9:57 remaining, but a Carter triple sparked an 8-0 run that boosted Navy out to a 64-48 lead with just under seven minutes left on the clock.  The Mids would eventually match their largest of the game of 17 points when a pair of free throws by Luke Loehr (So., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) made the score 67-50 with five minutes remaining.
 
The margin was 14 points at 69-55 with 3:25 left, then was 12 points at 73-61 with 1:47 left.
 
That's when things became more than interesting for the Mids.
 
A jumper by Tyler Scanlon made the score 73-61 with 1:19 left, then a Navy turnover led to a quick triple by Jonas Harper that made the score 73-66 with 1:10 left on the clock.  Carter made a pair of free throws after being fouled seven seconds later to push the margin out to 75-66.  The Terriers misfired on a three-point shot on their next possession that was gathered in by Navy, but the Mids quickly turned the ball back over to the Terriers and Boston sank another triple with 46 seconds left to close to within 75-69 with 46 seconds remaining.
 
Yet another Navy turnover against the pressure defense resulted in another three-point basket by Boston to make the score 75-72 with 38 seconds showing on the clock.  The Mids called timeout to get organized, and this time Navy was able to advance the ball over halfcourt and force the Terriers to foul Cam Davis (So., Battlefield, Mo.) with 30 seconds left.  He calmly sank both foul shots (77-72), but it was back to a three-point game (77-74) 12 seconds later when Boston scored again with 18 seconds left to play. 
 
Navy was able to advance the ball into its offensive end of the court and run 10 seconds off the clock until Carter was fouled.  He stepped to the line and matched what Davis previously did to make it a two-possession game.  Boston's last three-point shot of the game missed its mark and bounced out of bounds.
 
"I think we are playing pretty good," said DeChellis.  "(I am) really happy with where we are at.  We are playing well offensively, playing well enough defensively to win.  Happy we were able to turn this ship around, win some games and put ourselves into position as we head into the tournament."
 
Both teams made 29 field goals in the game, the Mids were plus one over the Terriers in three-point field goals made (9-8) and Navy was 12-18 from the foul line –– 9-12 in the second half –– to Boston's 8-11 effort.  Navy shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half to end the game with an overall mark of 61.7 percent.  Boston shot 51.8 percent from the field for the game.
 
Navy narrowly won the rebounding contest, 27-25, with the Mids holding a 12-6 edge in second chance points despite being minus two in offensive boards (9-7).  Boston scored 21 points off of the 13 turnovers the Mids committed –– 15 of those points came in the second half –– and Navy scored 11 points following the nine turnovers by the Terriers –– just two of those points came after halftime.
 
Wieck ended the game 7-10 from the field and scoring 15 points.  Carter also tallied 15 points to share the scoring lead, George Kiernan (Sr., Hinsdale, Ill.) added 11 points and Davis chipped in 10 points.  Hasan Abdullah (Sr., Birmingham, Ala.) registered nine points and seven assists.
 
Scanlon led Boston with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
 
The home team won each of the Navy vs. American games this season.  The Eagles posted a 71-63 win on Jan. 9 and the Mids recorded a 77-67 victory on Feb. 6.
 
"I think it is great to stay out of the first round," said DeChellis.  "We were picked eighth at the start of the year and we are finishing fifth, so we overachieved a little bit there.  We have a good opponent in American in that they are not that far away so we don't have to travel.  That's all positive stuff.  American is a very good basketball team.  They have a dynamic player in Sa'eed Nelson.  We will have our hands full.  But at this time of year, everybody is good.  You have to play your best basketball now and throw all of the records out of the window."
 
 
Patriot League Tournament
If Lehigh defeats Loyola tonight
First Round (Tuesday, March 5)
#10 Holy Cross at #7 Boston U.
#9 Loyola at #8 Lafayette
Quarterfinals (Thursday, March 7)
Holy Cross/Boston U. at #2 Bucknell
#6 Army at #3 Lehigh
#5 Navy at #4 American
Loyola/Lafayette at #1 Colgate
 
If Loyola defeats Lehigh tonight
First Round (Tuesday, March 5)
#10 Holy Cross at #7 Lafayette
#9 Loyola at #8 Boston U.
Quarterfinals (Thursday, March 7)
Holy Cross/Lafayette at #2 Bucknell
#6 Army at #3 Lehigh
#5 Navy at #4 American
Loyola/Boston U. at #1 Colgate