ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– After fighting back from an eight-point second-half deficit to force overtime and then take its first lead of the afternoon early in the extra session, the Navy men's basketball team (10-2, 7-1 Patriot League) eventually fell, 87-78, to Army West Point (9-4, 5-3), Sunday at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.
 
"This was a hard-fought game, like they always are, on both sides," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "We didn't play our best game and I give Army credit; each time we made a run, someone made a tough shot for them."
 
Playing one day after Navy recorded a 69-62 victory over Army in the Star Game, but again without the services of three-year starting guard John Carter Jr. (Hr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) and reserve forward Daniel Deaver (So., Falls Church, Va.), the Mids quickly dug a 7-0 hole for themselves.  Navy began the game by committing six turnovers and going 1-9 from the floor in falling behind, 15-5, midway through the half.
 
The Mids were able to close to within three points at 15-12, two points at 20-18 and one point at 24-23 before Christian Silva (Jr., Miami, Fla.) made his second three-point field goal in as many possessions to tie the game for the first time at 26-26 with 3:09 left in the half.  He had entered the game with two triples in his career.  The Black Knights would close the frame on an 8-2 run to take a 34-28 advantage at the half.
 
Patrick Dorsey (So., Raleigh, N.C.) made a triple early in the second half to cut the margin to 34-33, but Army scored the next seven points to stretch it out to 41-33.  The score was 51-46 in favor of Army with just under 10 minutes left on the clock when Sean Yoder (So., Dublin, Pa.) scored eight-straight Navy points.  His three-point field goal to close the span tied the game at 53 with 8:20 remaining.
 
Cam Davis (Sr., Battlefield, Mo.) had a jumper on the next Navy possession that would have broken the tie, but his shot missed and Army scored back-to-back baskets to take a 57-53 lead.  Davis would sink a trey on the next Navy offensive opportunity, but the Black Knights answered by scoring each of the next four and seven of the next nine points to regain a 64-58 lead with 3:48 left.
 
Navy was able to close to within two points at 66-64 with 34.3 seconds remaining.  Aaron Duhart made free throws for Army, which was followed by a Dorsey layup with 22.6 seconds left (68-66).  The Mids sent Jalen Rucker to the line, and he too made both attempts to make the score 70-66 with 18.9 seconds left.  The Mids gave the ball to Davis and he was fouled while attempting a three-point shot with 15.0 seconds remaining.  He made all three attempts to draw the Mids to within one point at 70-69.  Navy fouled Lonnie Grayson with 14.4 seconds still to play.  He missed the first but made the second.  Navy again gave the ball to Davis and he sliced from the right side of the free throw lane to the left before launching a shot that went in with 9.9 seconds remaining to tie the game at 71.  An Army timeout ensued.
 
The Black Knights gave the ball to Rucker, who was guarded by Davis.  Rucker drove down the right side of the court to the baseline where he attempted an eight-foot shot.  Davis got a piece of the ball to halt its forward momentum and then grabbed the carom as time expired.
 
Navy controlled the overtime tip and had two good looks at the basket from three-point range on its opening possession.  Neither went in, however.  Army's Nick Finke scored on the other end for the first points of the period.  Richard Njoku (Jr., Washington, D.C.) was fouled on the next Navy possession, and he made one of his two attempts from the line to cut the lead down to one point at 73-72.  An empty Army possession was followed by Njoku scoring off of a feed from Davis to give the Mids their first lead of the game at 74-73.
 
Army evened the score at 74 on its next trip down the court, a free throw that started a strong of the Black Knights scoring on nine-straight possessions and limiting Navy to just two scoring possessions in that same span.
 
"We didn't do the things we spoke about this morning," said DeChellis.  "We didn't do a good job of guarding the basketball one on one.  You can't let them get to the free throw line 36 times.  It is just not who we are.  You can't give someone 87 points.  I thought we guarded much better yesterday; we didn't guard as well, obviously ,when you give someone that many points and foul them that many times."
 
Navy made more field goals than Army, 30-26, but the Mids shot 38.5 percent from the field on their 78 attempts and the Black Knights connected on 44.1 percent of their 59 shots from the floor.  Army also was 28-36 from the foul line and the Mids were only 8-12 from the free throw line.
 
Additionally, the Black Knights held a 17-8 advantage in points scored after turnovers, while the Mids held a 26-9 edge in second-chance points scored.  And despite playing with a depleted bench, the Navy reserves outscored its Army counterparts, 24-22.
 
Njoku, Dorsey and Davis each scored 13 points for Navy, with Yoder adding 11 points.  Njoku and Dorsey each tied their respective career highs with those totals.  That same duo grabbed seven caroms apiece to rank second on the team behind the nine boards snared by Greg Summers (Jr., Ocoee, Fla.).  Summers also contributed eight points, a career-high seven assists and two blocks.
 
The loss is Navy's first since it fell to Maryland on Nov. 27.
 
Navy will face Loyola this weekend.  The teams will meet Saturday in Annapolis and Sunday in Baltimore.