WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Greg Summers (Jr., Ocoee, Fla.) tied a career high with 21 points and recorded a career-best five steals to help lead the Navy men's basketball team (13-2, 10-1 Patriot League, 5-0 Patriot League South) to a 69-60 victory over American (2-4, 2-4, 2-4), Sunday evening at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.
 
"I am very proud of our team," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "It is very tough winning road games on consecutive days against the same opponent, especially coming off of the pause we had."
 
Navy's 10-1 league record is tied for the program's best through 11 league games.  The 1999-00 team was 10-1 after 11 Patriot League games, and both the 1985-86 and 1986-87 Navy teams were 10-1 through 11 Colonial Athletic Association games.
 
Similar to the start of Saturday's game between the teams, which ended with the Mids winning, 72-60, the Eagles put together a strong start this evening.  American led, 18-11, nine minutes into today's game.  Navy answered with an 18-0 run to build a 29-18 advantage with five minutes remaining until halftime. 
 
American committed seven turnovers that led to 15 of Navy's 18 points scored during that stretch of play.  All seven turnovers by the Eagles were due to steals recorded by the Mids.  Defensively, Summers totaled five steals and both Cam Davis (Sr., Battlefield, Mo.) and Jaylen Walker (So., Allen, Texas) recorded one steal. Offensively, Davis scored seven points, Walker scored five points, Summers scored four points and Daniel Deaver (So., Falls Church, Va.) scored two points.
 
"We really scored off of our defense tonight," said DeChellis.
 
Navy would go into halftime holding a 35-26 lead.
 
The Mids scored 20 points after the 12 turnovers committed by the Eagles.  Navy shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the half.  American was still in the game thanks to the play of Jamir Harris, who scored 17 points on 5-7 shooting from three-point range and a 6-9 overall shooting effort from the floor.  The rest of the Eagles were 1-7 from three-point land and 3-13 from the field.
 
Richard Njoku (Jr., Washington, D.C.) opened the second half with a dunk to take the Navy lead out to 37-26.  American soon drew to within 39-33 of the Mids and then the Eagles had two possessions to cut into the margin more but missed shots on each.  After their second empty possession, Summers grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the putback to not only halt the American run but also start a 6-0 stretch of scoring for the Mids. 
 
American slowly whittled the 45-33 Navy lead down to four points at 49-45 with nine minutes still to play. Tyler Nelson (So., Monroe, N.C.) was fouled on the ensuing Navy possession and he made both free throws.  That would start a 12-0 Navy run over a span of 4:30 that gave the Mids a 61-45 advantage with 4:30 left on the clock.  Navy eventually took its largest lead of the game at 65-48 with two minutes showing on the clock.
 
What seemed to be a comfortable cushion for the Mids soon became a little uncomfortable.  American quickly scored the 10 points in one minute to draw to within 65-58 with just under 60 seconds remaining.  After a timeout, the Eagles fouled Summers with 51 seconds left.  He walked to the other end of the court and made both attempts from the charity stripe to make it a three-possession game at 67-58.
 
Navy ended the game with advantages over American in points scored in the paint (42-14), points scored after turnovers (28-18), fast break points (14-7) and second-chance points scored (14-4).  Those 14 points came after just eight offensive boards snared by the Mids.
 
Navy shot 52.8 percent from the field, which included a 58.1-percent (25-43) production inside of the three-point line.  American played long ball tonight as the Eagles made 11 triples, shot 45.8 percent from beyond the arc and were only 9-25 (36%) from inside of the three-point line.
 
Harris alone was 7-11 from three-point range in scoring 30 points.  No other player on the American squad –– which played both games this weekend without two of the team's top-three scorers on the year –– scored more than eight points.
 
Summers was 7-10 from the floor and 7-8 from the foul line in scoring his 21 points.  He had produced 19 points, 10 rebounds and three steals Saturday against American.  Davis totaled 17 points and three assists, Njoku finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three steals and Nelson tallied seven rebounds and six points.
 
Navy will close the regular season with games this weekend against Loyola.  The teams will meet in Baltimore on Feb. 27 and in Annapolis on Feb. 28.
 
The Mids have already assured themselves of winning the Patriot League South and earning no lower than the No. 2 seed in the league tournament. 
 
Patriot League Standings (Remaining Games)
Division W-L / All PL W-L
South
5-0 / 10-1 Navy (South champion) / Feb. 27 at Loyola / Feb. 28 vs. Loyola
2-4 / 2-4 American / Feb. 24 vs. Loyola / Feb. 27 at Bucknell / Feb. 28 vs. American
0-3 / 3-8 Loyola / Feb. 24 at American / Feb. 27 Navy / Feb. 28 at Navy
Central
3-1 / 7-5 Lafayette / Feb. 27 vs. Lehigh / Feb. 28 at Lehigh
4-2 / 4-4 Bucknell (tournament qualifier) / Feb. 27 vs. American / Feb. 28 at American
1-5 / 4-8 Lehigh / Feb. 27 at Lafayette / Feb. 28 at Lafayette
North
11-1 / 11-1 Colgate (North champion) / Feb. 27 vs. Holy Cross (site TBA) / Feb. 28 vs. Holy Cross (site TBA)
5-5 / 6-6 Army (tournament qualifier) / Feb. 27 vs. Boston U. / Feb. 28 vs. Boston U.
4-8 / 4-11 Holy Cross / Feb. 24 at Boston U. / Feb. 27 vs. Colgate (site TBA) / Feb. 28 vs. Colgate (site TBA)
2-8 / 5-8 Boston U. / Feb. 24 vs. Holy Cross / Feb. 27 at Army / Feb. 28 at Army