Chris Williams

After two straight Patriot League titles and automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, the Naval Academy has adopted a new motto this season: "It takes a team to build a dream.""We lost a lot of our leadership by graduation," said team captain Skip Victor, the MVP in last year's conference tourney. "And you can't replace a force like Hassan Booker. No one has that kind of desire."That's why we'll have to stress being more of a team this year, counting on 10 or 11 players to deliver. We've got a lot of talented young guys and I think we're more athletic than last year.

WORCESTER, Mass. -- While heavy snowfall pelted the area for the second time this week, Navy and Holy Cross moved inside the Hart Center yesterday to play a barn burner of a Patriot League championship game. And for the third time this season, the Crusaders' size, bulk and resilience were a tad too much for the Midshipmen, who dropped a 68-64 overtime decision before 3,148 spectators and a national television audience. "It's been a long, long journey," said Holy Cross senior Juan Pegues, a native of Aberdeen, who prepped at St. Mary's.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Despite getting an 88-52 first-round thumping by North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, Navy coach Don DeVoe was upbeat about the future of his basketball team.Gone will be co-captains Hassan Booker and Michael Heary, the inside-outside duo that sparked the Midshipmen to two straight Patriot League titles, but it is the underclassmen who underline the coach's optimism."The way our season unfolded this year, we had some young players who stepped up and made me think we will be pretty solid next season," he said.

All season, the Navy men's basketball team has performed in fits and starts, neither winning nor losing more than four games in a row. But with the Patriot League tournament at hand, the Midshipmen are looking a lot like the squad that was touted as an NCAA contender as they advanced to the championship game yesterday with an 88-64 rout of a young Bucknell team. Second-seeded Navy (19-11) will receive a third opportunity to beat regular-season titlist Holy Cross when it visits Worcester, Mass.

Navy's basketball team continued its drive toward a third 20-win season in the past four years by routinely turning aside Stony Brook, 81-63, yesterday at Alumni Hall. It was a break from the Patriot League schedule that coach Don DeVoe didn't exactly welcome, but the Midshipmen didn't underestimate its importance, rolling to a 12-2 lead, then reeling off a 25-3 streak to soar into a 25-point bulge 4 1/2 minutes before the half. "We're not taking anybody lightly," said Chris Williams, who topped Navy (18-5)

Chris Williams scored 19 points, Reggie Skipworth added 14, and Robert Reeder had 13 points and nine rebounds yesterday to lead visiting Navy to a convincing 79-64 win over Wofford in a non-conference men's basketball game.The Midshipmen (5-1) jumped to a 39-20 halftime lead, thanks in part to poor shooting by the Terriers, who were just 5-for-27 (18.5 percent) from the field in the first half. Wofford shot only 34.5 percent for the game, while Navy shot 51.9 percent.Mount St. Mary's 74, Bucknell 67: Gregory Harris scored 29 points, including five three-pointers, as the Mountaineers (2-3)

From throughout the Southeastern Conference came the recruiters to entice Chris Williams. From the University of Florida. And the University of Georgia. Even from far outside the league. UCLA was in the mix. Football, football, football they chanted in unison to Benedictine (Ga.) Military Academy's stellar wide receiver, a four-year letterman in the sport for a state power. It turns out they were all barking up the wrong sport. "Football was just something I didn't want to do," said Williams, perhaps the most gifted natural athlete on Navy's 23-5 men's basketball team.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Eddie House scored 24 to help Arizona State to an 84-72 victory over Navy before 6,571 in an ASU Holiday Classic first-round men's game.The Sun Devils (7-4) sealed the win by converting 21 of 24 foul shots in the second half. The Midshipmen (8-3), who have lost two of their past four, committed 20 turnovers.Arizona State, which faces Alaska-Anchorage in the championship game today, took an 18-11 lead eight minutes into the game.Chris Williams had 21 points for Navy, which plays Southern Methodist in the consolation game.

BASEBALL (AL) * Boston Red Sox -- Signed Joe Morgan (manager) to a one-year contract extension through the 1992 season.* Toronto Blue Jays -- Placed Dave Stieb (pitcher) on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 23. Recalled Bob MacDonald (pitcher) from Syracuse of the International League.BASKETBALL (NBA) * Denver Nuggets -- Named Tim Leiweke senior vice president.* Minnesota Timberwolves -- Named Chris Wright vice president of marketing and Len Komoroski vice president of sales.FOOTBALL (NFL)

Navy Coach: Don DeVoe, ninth season at Navy (142-86), 28th overall (470-314). Affiliation: Patriot League. 1999-2000 record: 23-6 (11-1 in Patriot League). Radio: WNAV (1430 AM). Arena: Alumni Hall (5,710). Consensus Patriot League favorite: Navy. Starters lost: One. Outlook: Replacing center Sitapha Savane, the core of the team's offense and defense, is a tall order, but otherwise the Midshipmen are well fortified with four starters back, including pre-season league Player of the Year Chris Williams.

COLLEGE PARK - The thought of beating Virginia and helping his team to continue its hard drive toward the postseason will be in the forefront of his mind today, but Maryland senior forward Terence Morris also will feel the past as he prepares to compete for the final time at Cole Field House. Morris' name will be called in a few months on NBA Draft Day, after which he will sign a lucrative contract with a yet-to-be-determined team, after which life will change in ways he probably can't imagine.

The game was little more than a tuneup for this week's Patriot League tournament, but Navy's seniors refused to take it lightly. With Robert Reeder scoring a career-high 19 points and Michael Cunningham falling just a point short of his career best, the host Midshipmen enhanced their hold on second place in the league with a 75-59 romp over Lehigh yesterday that will carry them into postseason play on a high note. Navy (17-11, 9-3) was already guaranteed of a quarterfinal tournament matchup with Army, which arose from the cellar yesterday to surprise first-place Holy Cross, 78-75.

The year was different, but the story was the same at yesterday's Baltimore City wrestling championships at Northwestern High School. Patterson, a four-time defending champion, made it five straight. The Clippers won in convincing fashion, outdistancing second-place Poly by 76 points. Northern was third, 59 points behind Poly. "So many kids move in and out of our area, that its hard to keep the program at this level," said Patterson coach Troy Stevenson. "Our kids push each other in the [wrestling]

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Maryland Terrapins were hoping to bounce back from the most stunning loss of the Gary Williams era last night. Instead, ninth-ranked Maryland got bounced out of University Hall by No. 11 Virginia, which used a 19-5 run in the second half to pave the way to a 99-78 whipping of the Terps. The Terps (14-6), who lost their second straight game and have a two-game losing streak for the first time since going 1-2 in the season-opening Maui Invitational, finished the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule with a 5-3 record.

Ten months ago, Navy couldn't do anything right against Lafayette in the biggest game of the Patriot League basketball season. Last night-when they finally met again-the Midshipmen hardly did anything wrong. Navy's 89-67 victory at Alumni Hall certainly didn't compensate for a lopsided loss to the Leopards in the conference's championship game last March, but it continued to serve notice that this season's title express has to run through Annapolis. There was no waiting around by the Midshipmen.

Preseason prognosticators made Navy the favorite in the Patriot League men's basketball race and last night the team showed why. The Midshipmen gave a stern lesson to a young Bucknell squad after 10 minutes and romped to an 89-67 victory at Alumni Hall to serve notice that the ranking wasn't a fluke. Captain Robert Reeder, Chris Williams and sophomore Kyle Barker led the offense as Navy (8-6, 1-0) steadily pulled away in the second half by using its aggressive defense, rebounding might and improved shooting.

Navy capitalized on a suffocating man-to-man defense in the second half and the clutch shooting of acrobatic sophomore forward Chris Williams to squeak past Bucknell, 57-53, in the Patriot League opener at Alumni Hall last night.Trailing 52-47, Bucknell closed to 54-53 on a rebound basket by junior forward Valter Karavanic with 45 seconds remaining. Karavanic was fouled on the play, but missed a chance to tie.Chris Williams, who scored a game-high 24 points, hit two free throws for a 56-53 lead with 22 seconds left.

Navy's basketball team was a consensus preseason choice to regain the Patriot League men's championship this season, but entering tonight's league opener against Bucknell at Alumni Hall, coach Don DeVoe isn't exuding a lot of optimism. "I haven't been really impressed with this Navy basketball team considering the experience we have," DeVoe said. "We haven't played with the confidence I thought we might. No one asked me who the favorite should be. Lafayette [the defending titlist] certainly would have been my pick."

Navy Coach: Don DeVoe, ninth season at Navy (142-86), 28th overall (470-314). Affiliation: Patriot League. 1999-2000 record: 23-6 (11-1 in Patriot League). Radio: WNAV (1430 AM). Arena: Alumni Hall (5,710). Consensus Patriot League favorite: Navy. Starters lost: One. Outlook: Replacing center Sitapha Savane, the core of the team's offense and defense, is a tall order, but otherwise the Midshipmen are well fortified with four starters back, including pre-season league Player of the Year Chris Williams.