ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Jaylen Walker's (Jr., Allen, Texas) baseline jumper with less than 13 seconds remaining accounted for the last of three lead changes in the final minute of a 56-55 victory by the Navy (15-8, 8-4 Patriot League) men's basketball team over Loyola (13-10, 7-5), Saturday evening at Reitz Arena in Baltimore, Md.

"I'm really proud of our kids," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "We all know we didn't finish the game Wednesday (a 63-62 loss at Lehigh).  It was very disappointing.  We took care of the ball in the second half.  We didn't do that in the first half but we did in the second.  We stayed focus, made plays, made one more shot than they did and defended them down the stretch.

"I thought our defense was really good, with mixing our man and our zone.  I'm just really proud of our kids.  I thought we were ready to play."

Loyola had used an 8-0 run to take a 41-35 lead with 12:30 left in the game.  Navy tied the score at 41-41, then the teams traded baskets over the next 90 seconds to make it a 46-46 game with 7:42 showing on the clock.

"Our kids stayed focused and played with poise," said DeChellis when asked about the response to the Loyola run.  "'Fearless' is what I wrote on the board before the game.  Just be fearless, just go play.  If you make a mistake, yous make a mistake.  Let's wipe it off and roll on to the next play.  I thought we did that.  Sure we made some mistakes, but we didn't dwell on them."

Greg Summers (Sr., Ocoee, Fla.) found Daniel Deaver (Jr., Fairfax, Va.) for a basket in the lane, then Summers scored on a fastbreak layup to give the Mids a 50-46 lead with 5:32 remaining.  A missed shot by the Greyhounds was followed by John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) being fouled while attempting a three-point shot. He made the first two attempts before missing the third to stretch the lead to 52-46 with 4:28 still to play.

Loyola scored the ensuing seven points to take a 53-52 lead with 2:19 showing on the clock.  The Mids turned the ball over on their next possession, but then forced the Greyhounds into a missed shot that was gathered in by Summers with 75 seconds left.  Summers was fouled while driving down the lane, but it occurred before he was in the act of shooting and was just the sixth team foul on the Greyhounds.  That led to Navy inbounding the ball under its basket with 1:02 remaining.

Navy showed good patience once play resumed.  Eventually, Deaver made a nice pass in the lane to Summers, who scored on a very short jumper to put Navy in front, 54-53, with 46.4 seconds left.  DeChellis then called timeout.

Loyola inbounded the ball and eventually put in the hands of Cam Spencer, who scored on a jumper with 30.8 seconds left to put the Greyhounds back in front, 55-54.

Navy worked the ball around and it soon went into the hands of Walker who was open on the baseline.  His 12-foot shot went through the nets to make the score 56-55 in favor of Navy with 12.8 seconds still to play. The Greyhounds hurried the ball to their offensive end of the court and called timeout with 9.0 seconds remaining.

After the break, Loyola tried to find Spencer outside of the three-point line toward its bench. Carter did a great job of denying the pass and he was able to break it up and knock it out of bounds with 4.5 seconds showing on the clock.

With play halted, the officials looked at the replay to check both the time and who knocked the ball out of bounds.  They first ruled that there was 4.9 seconds left and then confirmed it was Carter who last touched it.  The Greyhounds would inbound in front of their bench.

The ball quickly went into the hands of Spencer, who was well guarded but still managed to get a shot off around a defender.  His effort missed its mark and bounced to teammate Kenneth Jones who was on the baseline.  However, he was unable to get a shot off before the final horn sounded.

"(Associate head coach) Jon Perry and (assistant coach) Drew Gibson did a great job scouting," said DeChellis.  "They knew they (Loyola) was going to run a little screen for Spencer, then we knew the last play was going to him too.

"We have a fiber to us.  The kids are going to continue to fight.  There is a lot of basketball still to be played."

Loyola started the game 4-4 from three-point range in taking an early 16-6 lead.  Navy winnowed the margin down to 16-14 and eventually tied the game on a pair of Deaver free throws with seven seconds left before halftime.

Loyola ended the game 11-27 from three-point range in contrast to a 5-14 effort by Navy.  The Mids were 9-13 from the foul line and sent the Greyhounds to the charity stripe on just two occasions where they were a combined 0-3 on those trips.

Navy also held a 32-26 advantage on the glass and a 25-11 lead in bench points.  The Mids turned the ball over 12 times in the game -- but just four times in the second half -- and forced 11 turnovers.

Carter and Deaver each scored 15 points for Navy.  

The Mids will play host to Lafayette Monday at 7 p.m. in a game to be televised on the CBS Sports Network.