ANNAPOLIS, Md. — College basketball’s best time of the year is upon us. It is tournament time.
The men of the Naval Academy find themselves playing their best basketball of the season at the perfect time.
The Midshipmen enter conference tournament action on a four-game winning streak, which is their longest of the season. Navy is the No. 7 seed in the Patriot League tourney and will host No. 10 Loyola Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in the first round.
The Mids are led by Austin Benigni. The sophomore guard is the Patriot League’s second leading scorer averaging 16.6 points per game.
Sophomore forward Donovan Draper is also a force, pulling down a conference-leading 8.9 rebounds per game.
But all of that is in the past. Going forward the stats don’t matter. The focus is finding a way to win the league and grab that automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"This has been my dream my whole life," said Draper. "We all grow up watching college basketball and ultimately want to get to the tournament and stuff. So, actually coming true and being put in a position to have a chance to make it there and having that dream come true is just a huge deal."
"This is what you always look forward to every time. Growing up you always want to be playing in March," said Benigni. "So, just having the chance to play here is awesome and then we are catching fire right when you want to be getting hot."
"It’s great excitement but you are one and done. So, you have to be playing your best basketball and fortunately for us we have won four in a row," added head coach Ed DeChellis. "We are playing pretty well. Guys are playing with a different level of confidence."
This year’s Patriot League is a jumbled up collection when looking at standings. Only two games separate second-seeded Boston University (10-8) and seventh seeded Navy (8-10). The Mids are 12-17 overall.
Loyola enters Tuesday's game at 7-24 overall and 5-13 in conference. The two teams split the season series this year with each winning on the road. The Greyhounds boast the Patriot League’s leading scorer, Deon Perry, who averages 17.2 points per game.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
