LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell rallied after dropping the doubles point to win four singles matches and defeat the Navy men's tennis team, 4-1, Sunday afternoon in Lewisburg, Pa., in the championship match of the Patriot League Tournament.

Top-seeded Navy (24-15) was appearing in the championship match for the 13th year in a row and 24th time overall while second-seeded Bucknell (19-9) was playing in the final for the first time.

"Bucknell played a great match," said Navy head coach Chris Garner. 

The Mids took an early 1-0 lead thanks to wins at both Nos. 1 and 3 doubles by the identical score of 6-2.  Luke Garner and Jake Young defeated Brendan McDonald and Amar Tahirovic at the former and Aniketh Ayinala and Jason Kim posted the victory over Liam Kilmer and William Robinson at the latter.

Bucknell's Oscar Bain and Adam Stavrakas held a 5-4 lead over Herrick Legaspi and Charlie Spencer at No. 2 doubles in the match left unfinished.

The Bison quickly won the first set at the first four singles flights as they surrendered a combined eight games in winning those four sets.  Tahirovic defeated Legaspi 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and Stavrakas beat Nathan Nguyen, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 singles in matches that finished at roughly the same time to give Bucknell a 2-1 lead.  Kilmer soon followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles to make the score 3-1.  Bain then defeated Young, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4 singles to close play.

"Kilmer played a great match at three singles," said Garner.  "Their three players from across the sea (Bain and Tahirovic, Germany; Stavrakas, Greece) showed a different level of maturity, physicality and play than we've seen recently at their respective spots in our league."

Navy was leading in the two matches that were left on the courts.  J.J. Etterbeek was in front of McDonald, 7-5, 3-3, at No. 5 singles and Ayinala was leading Robinson, 6-4, 5-1, at the No. 6 flight.

Bucknell 4, Navy 1
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (3-1)
1. Garner, Luke / Young, Jake (NAVY) def. McDonald, Brendan / Tahirovic, Amar (BU) 6-2
2. Bain, Oscar / Stavrakas, Adam (BU) vs. Legaspi, Herrick / Spencer, Charlie (NAVY) 5-4, unfinished
3. Ayinala, Aniketh / Kim, Jason (NAVY) def. Kilmer, Liam / Robinson, William (BU), 6-2
Singles (2-1-3-4)
1. Tahirovic, Amar (BU) def. Legaspi, Herrick (NAVY) 6-2, 6-0
2. Stavrakas, Adam (BU) def. Nguyen, Nathan (NAVY) 6-1, 6-1
3. Kilmer, Liam (BU) def. Garner, Luke (NAVY) 6-2, 6-3
4. Bain, Oscar (BU) def. Young, Jake (NAVY) 6-3, 6-2
5. McDonald, Brendan (BU) vs. Etterbeek, J.J. (NAVY) 5-7, 3-3, unfinished
6. Robinson, William (BU) vs. Ayinala, Aniketh (NAVY) 4-6, 1-5, unfinished

2025 Patriot League Men's Tennis Championship Schedule
Thursday, April 17– First Round
No. 9 Boston University def. No. 8 Loyola Maryland, 4-3
Friday, April 18 – Quarterfinals
No. 1 Navy def. No. 9 Boston University, 4-0
No. 4 Army West Point def. No. 5 Colgate, 4-2
No. 3 Lehigh def. No. 6 Holy Cross, 4-0
No. 2 Bucknell def. No. 7 Lafayette, 4-0
Saturday, April 19 – Semifinals
No. 1 Navy def. No. 4 Army, 4-2
No. 2 Bucknell def. No. 3 Lehigh, 4-0
Sunday, April 20 – Championship
No. 2 Bucknell def. No. 1 Navy, 4-1