Tonight marks an anniversary the Navy men's basketball team would just as soon forget.
It was March 4, 2001, that the Midshipmen last won a basketball playoff game. Seven times since, they have exited early from the Patriot League tournament.
Navy (19-10) hopes to end that streak tonight against Colgate in the quarterfinals at Alumni Hall (7 p.m.).
Navy is one of three Division I teams in the state, not counting Maryland, expected to have a legitimate chance to win an NCAA tournament berth. Tomorrow, Mount St. Mary's (17-12) starts its run for a second straight Northeast Conference championship. Next week, Morgan State (19-11) tries for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference crown.
Navy, the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League tournament, has tossed Colgate twice this season. But, given the Mids' postseason drought, are they likely to rattle Colgate's teeth again?
"It's not something that I've mentioned a lot in practice," coach Billy Lange said of Navy's playoff woes. "And I hope our guys aren't connecting the dots.
"I don't want them to think it's a curse or bad karma. This team is part of Navy's history, sure - but we're not responsible for all of it."
Four of those seven tournament losses came in overtime, including last year's defeat to Bucknell. Navy lost on a running half-court bank shot at the buzzer in triple overtime.
"We were winning that game for 54 minutes and 58 seconds," Lange said. "But we didn't finish it."
That game still rankles the players, said Kaleo Kina, the Mids' top scorer (17.9 points per game).
"It's motivation for those of us who were on the court that night," said Kina, a 6-foot-4 senior guard who also leads his team in rebounds and assists.
"I don't know how many players in the country mean as much to their team as [Kina] does to us," Lange said. "If the game comes down to our final possession, it's no secret who will get the ball."
If there's an upside to Navy's playoff losing string, it's that the home team won't take Colgate (9-19) lightly, Lange said.
"We're tougher because of [the losses]," the coach said. "We're better prepared. The guys know how fragile each game is and that they have to play for every second. They are confident that they can beat anybody but humble enough to know they can lose to anyone, too."
