BOSTON, Mass. –– Boston U. (19-13) recorded three points on six possessions over the last 11 minutes of the game to rally for a 69-63 victory over the Navy (14-16) men's basketball team, Thursday night at Case Gym in Boston, Mass., in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.  The third-seeded Terriers will play host to seventh-seeded Bucknell Sunday in the semifinal round of the event.  The loss ended the season for the sixth-seeded Mids.
 
"This is a great team with great kids," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "They work real hard, they give us a good effort every night and they give us a good effort in every practice each day. 
 
"We fought tooth and nail for this game tonight.  BU just made too many timely threes."
 
Navy had a slow start to the game as it didn't make a field goal until a jumper by Tyler Nelson (Fr., Monroe, N.C.) went in at the 14:31 mark of the first half.  That basket sparked a 13-0 run that gave the Mids a 15-5 lead with 11:30 remaining.  Nelson also closed that spurt with a layup.
 
The Navy lead would grow to as many as 12 points at 22-12, but then foul trouble to its post players started to slow down any further progression by the Mids.  Navy's lead was still 11 points at 27-16, but was down to four points at 31-27 at the half.  By intermission, Evan Wieck (Sr., Amarillo, Texas) –– who was 4-5 from the field with eight points –– and Daniel Deaver (Fr., Falls Church, Va.) each had recorded two fouls and Richard Njoku (So., Washington, D.C.) had been whistled for three fouls.  That allowed the Terriers to hold advantages of 8-3 in offensive boards and 9-3 in second-chance points and close the margin at the half.
 
The Mids saw their lead dwindle down to one point after the first Boston possession of the second half, but Navy was able to extended it out to seven points at 44-37 with 13:36 remaining.  The margin would again be seven points –– 46-39 –– after an exchange of field goals with 12 minutes showing on the clock.
 
A jumper by Javante McCoy started an 8-0 run for Boston that gave it a 47-46 advantage with just over 10 minutes left.  Cam Davis (Jr., Battlefield, Mo.) briefly gave Navy a 48-47 lead, but a three-point field goal by Walter Whyte boosted the Terriers out to a 50-48 advantage.  McCoy soon followed with a basket and foul shot to grow the margin to 53-48 with eight minutes still showing on the clock.
 
The gap between the teams hovered between three and five points for the next several minutes as the Terriers were able to immediately respond to every score by the Mids.  The margin was four points when Jonas Harper made a three-point field goal to extend it to a 63-56 game with 2:32 remaining. 
 
The Mids were eventually able to winnow it down to a two-point game at 65-63 with 70 seconds left, but a basket by McCoy was followed by a Navy turnover and foul, with McCoy making a pair of free throws to stretch the margin out to what would prove to be the final score of the game with 21 seconds left.
 
"We have some guys who are young," said DeChellis.  "We only have one senior in Evan.  We made some mistakes defensively.  They (Boston) banged some big threes at crucial times.  That was the difference in winning and losing."
 
Of Boston's last 12 scoring plays, four of them came by way of three-point field goals and two were by an old-fashioned three-point play consisting of a basket and a foul shot.  Conversely, over the same timeframe Navy recorded just eight scores and only one of those was a three-point field goal.  The Terriers were 4-8 from three-point land during this span and the Mids were 1-7 from long range over the same time.
 
Each team was 24-57 (42.1%) from the field for the game, but Navy was 12-31 (38.7%) in the second half and Boston was 15-29 (51.7%) in the second stanza.  Additionally, the Mids were 2-9 (22.2%) from three-point range after halftime and the Terriers were 5-12 (41.7%) from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes of play.  Finally, to round out the scoring plays, Boston was 13-20 (65%) from the foul line and Navy was 9-13 (69.2%) from the charity stripe.
 
Wieck ended his career going 6-9 from the field and scoring 12 points.
 
"Evan has been great," said DeChellis.  "He has been great on the court, in the locker room, great academically and will make a great Navy flight officer.  I just feel badly for him that we couldn't get him to the promised land (NCAA Tournament)."
 
Leading Navy in scoring was Davis with 13 points.  Also reaching double figures in points were Nelson and John Carter Jr. (So., Spring Hill, Tenn.) with 10 each.  Nelson's 10 points matched his career-best effort, which paired nicely with his career-high eight rebounds.  Pacing the Mids on the glass was Greg Summers, who snared 10 boards tonight to give him three-straight games with at least that many caroms.