ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's basketball team (18-9, 11-5 Patriot League) fought back from a 15-point second-half deficit to Holy Cross (9-18, 7-8) to take the lead, but could not hold on to it in a 55-50 loss Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

"We really make it hard," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "You have to make baskets.  You can't shoot 26 percent from the floor, and we almost give ourselves a chance to win the game. 

"It is really hard; we played American over there (Wednesday) and couldn't really score.  We defended them and they didn't have a great offensive night.  These guys (Holy Cross) had a better offensive night, and I knew they would."

The teams were tied at 17-17 with 8:52 left in the first half following a 6-0 run by the Mids.  The Mids soon led, 26-24, with 4:27 remaining before halftime, but were held scoreless over the rest of the stanza as the Crusaders took a 29-26 lead at the break.

A pair of free throws by Sean Yoder (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) nearly two minutes into the second half pulled the Mids to within one point at 29-28.  Holy Cross responded with an 11-0 and 16-2 run to take a 45-30 lead with 11:19 showing on the clock.  It was a 21-4 run by the Crusaders going back to the end of the first half.

Navy's starting backcourt of John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.), Greg Summers (Sr., Ocoee, Fla.) and Yoder were a combined 0-14 from the field until Summers scored on a drive with 11 minutes left to make the score 45-32.  Carter made a free throw for his first points of the game, then Patrick Dorsey (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) made a basket on Navy's next possession to cut the deficit to 10 points.  The Mids also scored the next time they had the ball when Tyler Nelson (Jr., Monroe, N.C.) scored on a layup to bring the deficit to single digits at 45-37 with 9:46 left to play.

Two possessions later, Jaylen Walker (Jr., Allen, Texas) made two free throws to draw the Mids to within six points.  Nearly two minutes after that, Nelson made two foul shots to cut the margin down to 45-41 with 6:28 remaining.  Holy Cross scored its first points in almost five minutes to slow down the Navy run, but Nelson answered with a driving layup to return the gap down to four points at 47-43 with 5:51 still to play.

Each team missed a shot, then a Walker steal gave the ball back to the Mids.  Navy converted when an offensive board by Richard Njoku (Sr., Washington, D.C.) led to Yoder scoring in the paint, which made the score 47-45 with 4:32 left.  A combined three missed shots by the two teams were followed by Yoder being fouled.  He made both attempts from the charity line to tie the game at 47-47 with 3:20 remaining.

Walker recorded another steal to give the ball back to the Mids.  His shot was blocked, but the defensive rebound by the Crusaders didn't lead to any points before Navy had possession again.  DeChellis called timeout with 2:11 showing.  The Mids placed the ball into the hands of Summers, who started to drive toward the basket when he became tangled up and stepped awkwardly.  Play stopped on the foul, which left Summers on the ground.  He was helped off the court –– he didn't return –– and Njoku stepped to the line to take his free throws with 2:03 remaining.  He made the first to give Navy the lead, but missed the second.

"I was proud of our kids," said DeChellis.  "We were down 15 and came storming back.  We shook some balls free and got some easier baskets.

"I love the fiber of our team.  We are not going to quit.  We just need to make more shots and our free throws."

Holy Cross grabbed the loose ball, and soon Njoku was called for a foul on the other end of the court.  Holy Cross inbounded the ball and quickly passed it to Nolan Dorsey, younger brother of Patrick Dorsey, who connected on a baseline three-point field goal to give the Crusaders a 50-48 lead with 95 seconds left.

Navy rushed the ball down the floor and soon Nelson scored on a layup to tie the game at 50-50 with 1:22 remaining.  A Holy Cross timeout was called after the Crusaders advanced the ball over halfcourt.  The play sent the ball to Gerrale Gates, who scored on a jumper to break the tie with 50.1 seconds left.

The Mids went into Njoku on their next possession, and he was fouled with 31.3 seconds still to play.  Shooting two shots, he missed both, with the latter carom being grabbed by the Crusaders and Njoku being whistled for a foul himself with 27.3 seconds left.  The penalty kept the Mids until the foul limit, which meant Holy Cross had to inbound the ball under the Navy basket.  The Crusaders did and the Mids trapped Judson Martindale along the sideline in front of the Navy bench.  He lost control of the ball and it went out of bounds.  The officials initially said Holy Cross maintained possession, but after reviewing the play on video they changed the call and Navy would inbound with 27.3 seconds left.  A timeout was called by the Mids.

When play resumed, Walker soon started to drive into the middle of the lane.  He lost control of the ball while attempting to shoot, but his missed shot was grabbed by players from both teams.  The possession arrow pointed Navy's way, which gave the Mids one more chance with 16.9 seconds remaining.  Austin Inge (So., Greensboro, N.C.) inbounded the ball, then he received the ball again on a handoff.  After he gathered it in, he slipped and was tripped up by the feet of the players around him and he was called for a travel with 15.0 seconds showing on the clock.  

Holy Cross had to inbound the ball on the sideline across from the Navy bench.  The pass was knocked free as it went toward the middle of the court and in between a few players.  Nelson picked it up and rushed a shot from just inside of the free throw line.  It missed, but Inge grabbed the board and had another shot that also missed.  This time the Crusaders grabbed the ball and Bo Montgomery was fouled with 8.6 seconds left.  He made both free throws to make it a two possession game at 54-50.

Navy shot a season-low 26.6 percent (17-64) from the field, including 15.4 percent (2-13) from three-point range, and was 14-21 (66.7%) from the foul line.  The Mids had 18 offensive rebounds, which led to 13 second-chance points.  Navy also forced 18 turnovers, which led to 13 points.

"We just need to score a few more points," said DeChellis.  "Our three perimeter players at the start of the game were 2-18.  That is challenging, if you are going to score 50 points.  I was told at halftime that we missed six one-foot shots.  You can't miss one-foot shots and you have to make your free throws."

Holy Cross shot 38.9 percent (21-54) from the floor, including 40 percent (6-15) from beyond the arc, and was 7-11 (63.6%) from the free throw line.  The Crusaders scored five points after their eight offensive rebounds and totaled 10 points following the 11 turnovers they forced Navy into.

Nelson was the lone Mid to score in double figures as he totaled 15 points.  Gates was 10-22 from the field in scoring 24 points while adding 12 rebounds for Holy Cross.

Navy will close the home portion of its regular season Wednesday when it plays host to Loyola on Senior Night.