ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Jaylin Andrews made a three with 12:06 left in regulation after the top-seeded U.S. Naval Academy had closed to within a point, and the basket counted as three of his team-high 17 points as the ninth-seeded Greyhounds led wire-to-wire in a 76-68 victory in the Patriot League Championships quarterfinals.
 
Andrews led four Greyhounds in double-figures as Santi Aldama had a double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. Alonso Faure matched his career-high with 13 points off the bench, and Cam Spencer had 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
 
Loyola, which reaches the Patriot League Semifinals for the first time joining the conference in 2013-14, will play the winner of a Saturday afternoon game between the U.S. Military Academy and American University on Wednesday, March 10.
 
The Greyhounds never trailed, and the game was tied just once at 3-3 in the opening minute.
 
An Aldama putback off his own miss with 4:44 to go before halftime, giving the Greyhounds their first double-digit lead of the game, 34-23. Andrews scored off the dribble with 39 seconds left in the half, and Loyola got a defensive stop on the other end, and the Greyhounds went to the locker room with a 40-28 advantage at the break.
 
Spencer made a three on the first possession of the second half, but Navy then scored the next six points to get within nine, 43-34, on two Greg Summers free throws.
 
Andrews scored in the paint to momentarily break up the Navy run, but a Daniel Deaver layup at 15:39 got the Midshipmen within four, 45-41, at the end of a 13-2 run.
 
Golden Dike and Aldama scored in the paint to rebuild the lead to eight, but seven-straight by Navy made it a 49-48 Loyola lead on a Greg Summers layup with 13:22 on the clock.
 
The teams combined for three turnovers and each had a shot blocked over the next minute-plus, but then Andrews hit the key three to give Loyola two-possession cushion at 12:06.
 
The Midshipmen misfired on the offensive end, and Loyola settled its offense. A loose ball out of bounds went the Greyhounds way, and Kenneth Jones threw to Faure on the right wing where Faure was wide open for a three that he made to put the Greyhounds ahead 55-48.
 
Just over a minute later, Navy got back within four on a Christian Silva three, but Faure grabbed an offensive rebound and scored at 9:06. He was fouled and made the free throw to set the margin back to seven.
 
Greg Summers, who led all players with 21 points, scored in transition for Navy at 6:41, and it was again a four-point Greyhoudns lead, 61-57, but Aldama converted off a Spencer feed eight seconds later, and he scored again at 5:51 to put the advantage at eight.
 
Jaylen Walker knocked down a Navy three with 2:45 on the clock, pulling the Midshipmen within three, 67-64 before Andrews scored in the paint at 2:14.
 
Neither Navy, nor Loyola would score for more than 90 seconds after that basket. Aldama came up with a  steal off a driving Summers, and Spencer sent an outlet to Faure for another and-one that made it a 72-64 advantage with 39 ticks on the clock.
 
Navy twice cut the margin back to six, but Jones and Spencer had answers offensive, and Loyola held on for the win.
 
Loyola had its best shooting game of the season, scoring 76 points and making 58.2 percent of its shots against a Navy team that led the Patriot League entering the game by holding opponents to just over 66 points per game. The 58.2 percent is tied for 16^th best in school single-game history.
 
The Greyhounds also had a 34-26 advantage on the boards. In addition to Aldama's 12, Spencer, Andrews and Golden Dike each had five.