ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– A 66-58 victory by the Navy men's basketball team over Loyola Sunday in the regular season finale gave the Mids the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.  Navy (15-2, 12-1 Patriot League) defeated Loyola (4-10, 4-10) both Saturday in Baltimore and today in Annapolis to earn the top seed for the 10-team tournament.
 
The three divisional winners –– Navy in the south, Lafayette in the Central and Colgate in the North –– were awarded the top-three seeds for the upcoming tournament, with league winning percentage determining the order of the three teams.  The Mids, who ended the year with a 12-1 (.923) record in league play, received the No. 1 seed.  The Raiders are seeded second due to their league mark of 11-1 (.917).  The Leopards posted a 9-5 record (.643) in league play and received the No. 3 seed.
 
Seeds 4 through 10 were determined by winning percentage in league games regardless of placement within any of the divisions.
 
The last time Navy was the No. 1 seed was in 1999-00 when both the Mids and Lafayette shared the top seed.  This is the first time since the 1996-97 season in which Navy is the outright No. 1 seed.
 
The Mids were not only without the services today of leading scorer Cam Davis (Sr., Battlefield, Mo.) and starting post player Richard Njoku (Jr., Washington, D.C.) for the second day in a row due to COVID contact tracing with Midshipmen not affiliated with the men's basketball team, but also head coach Ed DeChellis.  DeChellis missed the game due to a medical issue related to diabetes. 
 
"I'm just really excited for our program, really excited for our guys," said Navy assistant coach Jon Perry.  "I wish coach DeChellis, our leader, could have been here.  This has been 10 years in the making.  This is his program, his team.  Everyone here today put in and did what he asked us to do.  Really disappointed for Cam and Richard not being able to be here, too.  Those are two huge parts of the success of this program."
 
"We have a strong tradition in this program of winning on senior day," said Alec Loehr (Sr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), who started for the first time in his career today.  "I think back two years ago when we had a huge win over Bucknell.  That was a special win and today, obviously, was another.
 
"We have a great group of guys.  I have been here four years, but there is something about this group that feels different.  Navy Team Family is our motto, and this year it really does feel like a family."
 
The first half was a close one with neither team being able to hold any kind of significant lead.  The largest amount of separation was six points and that first came when the Mids took a 25-19 advantage late in the half.  Loyola closed to within 25-23 before Navy ended the frame with the last four points to take a 29-23 lead at the break.
 
The Mids shot 60 percent from the field in the half (12-20) and limited the Greyhounds to a 40.9-percent effort (9-22).  Each team had turnover issues throughout the half as Navy turned the ball over 11 times and Loyola committed 10 turnovers.
 
Navy would score on each of its first three possessions of the second half to take a 36-26 lead two minutes into the stanza.  The margin would grow to 14 points (39-25) two minutes later.  Loyola promptly answered with a 12-0 run to close to within 39-37 with 10 minutes still to play.
 
Patrick Dorsey (So., Raleigh, N.C.) made one free throw, then Greg Summers (Jr., Ocoee, Fla.) scored on a basket and foul shot to make the score 43-37 with 8:44 remaining.  A three-point field goal by Loyola was followed by a 5-0 run by the Mids that stretched the lead out to 48-40 with 6:31 left on the clock.  The Greyhounds again had another run in them and very quickly whittled the deficit down to two points at 48-46 with 6:31 left.
 
John Carter Jr. (Jr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) scored on a basket and foul shot –– Navy's fifth of the game –– but that was answered by a three-point field goal by Loyola's Santi Aldama to keep the margin at two points (51-49, 3:49 left).
 
The Mids were 2-4 from the foul line over the next 75 seconds, then Loyola made one free throw to winnow the margin down to 53-50 with 2:31 left. 
 
Carter came up with another huge play as he drained a three-point field goal on Navy's next possession to give the Mids a 56-50 lead with two minutes still to play. 
 
"That 'three' he (Carter) hit on the wing was the game winner," said Perry.  "They (Loyola) were in the 1-3-1 defense and we made three passes and that was a big shot."
 
Aldama missed a shot the next time Loyola had the ball, and Summers grabbed the defensive board.  After he started the possession, Summers ended it with a basket to push the lead out to 58-50 with 99 seconds left.  It soon was a 59-56 Navy lead after Jaylin Andrew banked in a three-point field goal for the Greyhounds with 29.2 seconds remaining.  From there, Navy was 7-8 from the foul line to seal the victory.
 
Navy shot 40 percent from the field in the second half (10-25), but was 16-22 (72.7%) from the foul line.  Loyola made 42.3 percent of its second-half field goal attempts, which included a 4-10 (40%) effort from three-point range, and was 9-14 (64.3%) from the charity stripe.
 
Eight of the nine Navy players who took to the floor scored at least one point.  Carter led the Mids with 16 points, Daniel Deaver (So., Falls Church, Va.) scored 15 points and Summers totaled nine points and nine rebounds.
 
Aldama led all players with 21 points.
 
Navy will play host to either No. 8 Holy Cross or No. 9 Loyola Saturday at noon in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.  The Crusaders and Greyhounds will play Wednesday night in a first-round game.
 
Patriot League Tournament Seeding

1. Navy (south division winner)
2. Colgate (north division winner)
3. Lafayette (central division winner)
4. Army
5. American
6. Bucknell
7. Boston U.
8. Holy Cross
9. Loyola
10. Lehigh

 
Patriot League Tournament Schedule (higher seeded team hosts each game)
First Round – Wednesday, March 3
9 Loyola at 8 Holy Cross
10 Lehigh at 7 Boston U.
 
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 6
Loyola / Holy Cross at 1 Navy
5 American at 4 Army
6 Bucknell at 3 Lafayette
Lehigh / Boston U. at 2 Colgate
 
Wednesday, March 10 – Semifinals
Sunday, March 14 – Final