Midshipmen at the Naval Academy just completed six-week exams.
It was a long, grueling week and the Navy men’s basketball players were clearly fatigued Saturday.
The Midshipmen had enough energy to put forth a typically strong defensive performance. However, the weariness showed on the offensive end in a 55-50 loss to Holy Cross at Alumni Hall. Senior power forward Gerrale Gates had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Crusaders (9-18, 7-8), who reside in the bottom half of the Patriot League standings.
“It was a hard-fought, tough game and we knew that coming in. Every time you play Navy you know it’s going to be a physical battle. It was a defensive game on both sides,” Holy Cross coach Brett Nelson said. “I was really proud of our fight, proud of our effort.”
Junior forward Tyler Nelson scored 15 points for Navy (18-9, 11-5), which shot just 26% (17-for-64) from the field. Perimeter starters John Carter Jr., Greg Summers and Sean Yoder were a combined 2-for-18 for the Midshipmen, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.
“You’ve got to make baskets. You can’t shoot 26% from the floor and expect to win the game,” Navy coach Ed DeChellis said. “It’s challenging if you’re going to score 50 points and shoot as poorly as we did. You can’t miss one-foot shots and free throws.”
DeChellis definitely felt the week of exams, which invariably reduces the amount of sleep midshipmen get, had an effect on his team. A noon tipoff, which precluded a pregame shootaround, didn’t help.
“These guys had finals all week. They’re tired. If try to shoot the ball and you don’t have any legs, you can forget it,” DeChellis said.
DeChellis said the players would be off until Monday afternoon’s practice. There are no classes at the academy on President’s Day, so that will allow them to get additional rest.
“They’re a tired bunch, so they need to get some time off their feet,” DeChellis said.
Sophomore wing guard Bo Montgomery had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Holy Cross.
Gates had six points as Holy Cross outscored Navy 14-4 to start the second half, turning a 29-26 halftime lead into a 45-30 advantage at the 11:19 mark. The Midshipmen went 12 minutes without a field goal beginning with 4:23 remaining in the first half.
Navy had no answer for Gates, who scored off a mixture of midrange jumpers and drives to the basket. Neither starting forward Richard Njoku nor backup Daniel Deaver could stop the 6-foot-6, 242-pound senior.
“[Gates] can shoot the ball from 15 feet, so you crowd him and then he drives by you because he’s quick, athletic, powerful and explosive,” DeChellis said. “We were kind of soft on him. He’s a tough matchup because of his size and skill level.”
Just as it appeared the Midshipmen would be blown out on their home court, they suddenly found some life. Of course, it all started with lockdown defense as they forced the Crusaders into 1-for-10 shooting and nine turnovers during a nine-minute stretch.
Nelson scored six points as Navy went on an 18-2 run during that same stretch, taking a 48-47 lead on a free throw by Njoku with 2:03 to go. “I’m proud of our kids. We were down and came storming back. We shook some balls free and got some easier baskets,” DeChellis said.
Nolan Dorsey, younger brother of Navy junior forward Patrick Dorsey, hit by far the biggest shot of the game. Multiple Navy defenders converged on Gates on a drive to the basket and he found Dorsey wide-open in the corner for a deep 3-pointer that put Holy Cross back ahead, 50-48, with 1:42 left.
“It was a huge shot. Gerrale made a great pass and Nolan stepped up with confidence and stuck it,” Nelson said.
Tyler Nelson hit a short pull-up jumper to tie the score, but the Crusaders took the lead for good on 10-foot jumper by Gates with 50 seconds remaining. The Midshipmen had several attempts to tie the score on three straight possessions and came up empty.
Njoku missed two free throws with 33 seconds left, sophomore guard Austin Inge tripped and committed a turnover with 14 seconds to go and the Mids missed two inside shots on the next possession.
Nelson was proud of the grit and determination displayed by his young team, which features four sophomores or freshmen in the starting lineup.
“We won it on the defensive end. That’s where our team has grown up,” he said. “Early in the year, if we weren’t scoring, we weren’t able to sustain anything on the defensive end. Today, we were able to get just enough stops.”
Carter, Navy’s leading scorer, was limited to one point on 0-for-6 shooting. Summers, the second-leading scorer, finished with four points on 1-for-6 shooting.
“We’ve got to get better offensively. Guys have to take it upon themselves to make some baskets,” DeChellis said. “We can run all the offense we want, but at the end of the day you’ve got to make a shot.”
Navy, which maintains sole possession of second place in the Patriot League, welcomes Loyola Maryland to Alumni Hall on Wednesday night.
LOYOLA MARYLAND@NAVY
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Stream: ESPN+ Radio: 1430 AM
