ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Navy (12-7, 5-3) men's basketball team let a 27-point first-half lead slip away in a 74-73 overtime loss to Army (12-8, 6-2), Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

"As well as we played in the first half, we played the exact opposite in the second half," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "Really frustrated.  We took turns just throwing the ball away."

Navy used a 9-0 run to take a 12-3 lead at the start of the game, then scored 20-straight points to take a 36-9 lead with 4:36 left in the first half.  The Mids would go into halftime holding a 40-18 advantage.

Navy shot 61.3 percent (19-31) from the field in the first half and held Army to a 29.6-percent (8-27) effort.  The Mids also scored 30 of their 40 points in the paint, held a 21-11 advantage on the glass and committed five turnovers while forcing seven.

The margin would be back to 22 points at 53-31 with 11:43 remaining in the second half.  Army quickly scored the next 10 points to pull to within 55-41 with 7:27 showing on the clock, then made the score 57-53 with 4:47 still to play.  The Mids soon held a 60-56 lead, but the Black Knights scored the next seven points to jump in front, 63-56, with two minutes showing on the clock.

Both teams had an empty possession, then John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) drained a three-point field goal to tie the game at 63-63 with 67 seconds left in regulation.  Army's Jalen Rucker was fouled on the other end, and he converted both foul shots to make the score 65-63 with 48.0 seconds remaining.  

Carter misfired on Navy's next possession, but Greg Summers (Sr., Ocoee, Fla.) grabbed the loose ball for the Mids.  Navy called timeout with 25.8 seconds still to play.  When play resumed, the ball was inbounded to Summers who drove down the right side of the lane and scored on a layup to tie the score at 65-65.  Army advanced the ball over halfcourt and called timeout with 19.1 seconds showing.  The Black Knights put the ball into the hands of Aaron Duhart, who dribbled it above the top of the key waiting for time to tick down.  He eventually was able to try an off-balanced and challenged shot from inside the of the lane that missed its mark with just a few seconds left.  The ball bounced around several sets of hands as time expired.

There were several statistical differences in the second half from the first.  Navy committed 13 turnovers and forced just one in the second half as Army held a 19-0 advantage in points after turnovers.  The Black Knights ended the first half 1-6 from three-point range, but were 8-11 from beyond the arc after halftime.  Navy was just 1-6 from three-point land in the second half.  Additionally, Army was 16-31 (51.6%) from the field in the second half in contrast to the 10-19 (52.6%) shooting by Navy.

Army opened the overtime with a field goal, then Richard Njoku (Sr., Washington, D.C.) scored back-to-back baskets to give Navy a 69-67 lead.  The Black Knights came away with one point on their next time down the court, but another Navy turnover led to a basket by Army that gave it a 70-69 lead midway through the extra frame.

Austin Inge (So., Greensboro, N.C.) drilled a three-point field goal for Navy to make the score 72-70 in favor of the Mids with two minutes left to play.  Army missed a shot on its next opportunity, but turned the ball over.  Summers was soon fouled with 1:02 remaining.  He would make the front end of the bonus (73-70) but miss the second and the Black Knights grabbed the rebound.  Army's Chris Mann was eventually fouled on the other end, and he made both foul shots to draw the visitors to within 73-72 with 39.0 seconds left.

Army's pressure again forced a turnover, and that led to Rucker scoring on a layup to give the Black Knights the lead 74-73 with 28.7 seconds remaining.  Navy called timeout after advancing the ball over halfcourt.  After it was inbounded with 23.4 seconds left, time started to wind down before Summers saw an opening and drove down the lane.  His effort was blocked out of bounds with 0.1 seconds left.  After looking at the video, the officials put 0.5 on the clock.  Navy's inbounds pass from the baseline into traffic was knocked away as the game ended.

Navy committed 20 turnovers on the afternoon and that led to 30 points for Army.  In contrast, Navy scored 13 points after the 10 turnovers it forced in the 45 minutes of play.

"Most of them (turnovers) we had no defense for because they were in the backcourt," said DeChellis.  "Or it was a situation where had a breakout and scored on a layup or pitched it and knocked down the three.

"Tonight we just turned the ball over and gave them open looks on the perimeter.  And that was our demise."

The Mids also were 3-14 (21.4%) from three-point range while the Black Knights were 9-18 (50%).

Carter scored 17 points for Navy, Summers scored 11 and Daniel Deaver (Jr., Falls Church, Va.) scored 10.

Navy now takes to the road for a Wednesday game at Bucknell.