HAMILTON, N.Y. -- The Navy men's basketball team cut a 24-point second-half deficit down to six points, but could not draw any closer in a 74-58 loss to Colgate, Wednesday night at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y., in the championship game of the Patriot League Tournament.

The second-seeded Mids (21-11) were appearing in their first league final since 2001 and the top-seeded Raiders (23-11) were playing in the title tilt for the fifth-straight year and have now won three championships in this span.

Navy's Greg Summers (Sr., Ocoee, Fla.) and John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) were each named to the Patriot League All-Tournament team.

"First of all," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis, who received his second-straight Patriot League Coach-of-the-Year award this year, "I would like to congratulate Colgate.  (Head coach) Matt (Langel) has done an unbelievable job with the program.  I wish them well in the NCAA Tournament.

"I am proud of our guys.  I am really proud of our seniors, all four of them.  We had to change things in the second half.  We weren't getting anything done playing traditional, so we went to a smaller lineup to try to open things up and drive the ball more.  It almost worked.  We were one shot away from making it real interesting.  We didn't make that shot tonight.  But it wasn't from a lack of effort and it wasn't from a lack of energy or enthusiasm.  I am proud of our kids.  I thought we played really hard."  

Colgate turned a slim 15-13 lead into a 27-17 advantage thanks to starting the game 9-12 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range.  After Summers scored a basket for the Mids, the Raiders ran off the next 11 points to build a 38-19 lead late in the half.  Colgate went into halftime holding a 40-22 advantage.

The Raiders were 14-21 (66.7%) from the field overall, which included a 4-8 (50%) effort from three-point range, in the half while the Mids were 10-31 (32.3%) from the floor, made just 2-11 (18.2%) three-point attempts and did not attempt a foul shot.

Navy did hold a 10-2 edge on the offensive glass, but Colgate held a 5-4 advantage in second-chance points. The Raiders also led the Mids 11-0 in points after turnovers.

Colgate began the second half with back-to-back triples to take a 46-22 lead.  It would also be a 24-point cushion at 49-25 and then was a 22-point game at 58-36 with 10:48 left on the clock.

"We just didn't do a very good job defensively," said DeChellis.  "We were a step behind them, for the most part. They were just a little quicker than we were.  We weren't doing a very good job defensively and we weren't making shots.  Everything was hard for us.  Credit them (Colgate)."

Navy would climb back into the game by scoring the next 16 points to draw to within six points at 58-52 with 6:22 still to play.  The teams exchanged baskets on their next respective possessions (60-54), then the Mids forced a turnover on the ensuing Colgate offensive opportunity.  Summers recorded a steal on the play and was fouled to give the ball to Navy.  

"They (Navy) tried just about everything they could to try and find a way back into the game," said Colgate's Langel.  "They went small and they got very aggressive. Multiple guys fouled out of the game. They got very aggressive. Committed some fouls. Got some steals. The game got kind of chaotic. When your backs are against the wall and you've used up every option, that's what you have to do — or give up, and you know they're not going to give up."

"It (the comeback) shows that they never give up," said Colgate's Tucker Richardson.  "They could have easily folded when they were down 24. A team like that, you know they're going to keep coming because of what they've worked their whole lives for. And what they are going to continue to do. Our country is in good hands with people like that."

Summers missed the front end of the bonus, however.  Colgate scored on the other end of the floor (62-54, 4:44) to start what would turn into a 10-0 run that gave the Raiders a 70-54 lead with two minutes left.

"We just couldn't make that one big shot when it was in single digits to make it interesting," said DeChellis. 

Colgate ended the game shooting 56.1 percent (23-41) from the field and was 8-17 (47.1%) from three-point range.  The Raiders also were 20-28 from the foul line.  Navy shot 35.5 percent (22-62) from the floor, was 6-22 (27.3%) from beyond the arc and 8-13 (61.5%) from the charity stripe.

Navy held a 41-26 edge on the glass including an 18-2 advantage in the offensive rebounds.  The Mids ended the game holding a 12-5 lead in second-chance points.  Conversely, the Raiders held a 19-3 advantage in points scored after turnovers despite the Mids committing just three more turnovers than the Raiders (17-14).

"As a coach," said DeChellis, "these guys have heard me say it a thousand times.  I always talk about rebounding as an activity.  If you don't have any rebounds, then you don't have any activity.  We had 18 offensive rebounds tonight, which is phenomenal.  We had 41 rebounds.  Phenomenal.  We had great activity.  We just didn't shoot the ball very well.  Defensively, we weren't very good in the first half and we dug a hole."

Summers closed out the game with 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals.  Carter added 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.  Classmate and team captain Richard Njoku (Sr., Washington, D.C.) scored four points and four rebounds.  The third Mid to score in double figures was Tyler Nelson (Jr., Monroe, N.C.), who totaled 11 points and six rebounds.

"I am proud of our kids," said DeChellis, "proud of the year we have had.  Proud of our four seniors (Carter, Summers, Njoku and Christian Silva).  Our four seniors are going on to do really important things for our country.  I have three Marines and one Naval officer.  They have a bigger fight ahead of them, but there is no one else I would rather do it with than these four seniors.  Great young men, great character, great fiber to them.

"I also want to thank all of those Mids who came up here on the bus today.  It was tremendous.  They drove up and are driving right back.  That's a long day.  Those kids got up and sat in the bus for seven hours and now they are going to get home in the wee hours of the morning.  Other coaches in our department, it has been really great how we have bonded together, and with our women's team playing so well and us, and our students and student athletes; our football guys were the ones to start the bus thing to get up here.  I am really thankful for all of our student-athletes who wanted to come up here and support these guys."