WASHINGTON — Navy men’s basketball used the same formula to win two road games and advance to the finals of the Patriot League Tournament.

In games against fourth-seeded Boston University and top-seeded Bucknell, No. 5 seed Navy used tough, physical and aggressive defense to put the home team on its heels. The Midshipmen built big early leads in both games, forcing the Terriers and Bison to play catch-up the rest of the way.

The Mids found themselves on the opposite end of that type of start in the championship game. Compounding a poor start on both ends of the floor was the fact that starting guard Jordan Pennick was ejected early in the game because of a flagrant foul.

Graduate student forward Matt Rogers scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds as second-seeded American led from start to finish in beating Navy, 74-52, before a raucous crowd of 2,578 at Bender Arena.

Graduate student guard Colin Smalls scored 11 points for American (22-12), which captured its fourth Patriot League Tournament championship and first since 2014. Graduate student guard Geoff Sprouse and sophomore forward Matt Mayock contributed nine points apiece for the Eagles, who earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Junior point guard Austin Benigni scored 18 points and dished off four assists to lead Navy (15-19), which was seeking its first Patriot League Tournament championship since 1998. Junior forward Donovan Draper posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Midshipmen, who have now lost in the finals four times since then.

When it was over, the near-sellout crowd at Bender Arena stormed the court to celebrate with the American players and coaches.

Point guard Elijah Stephens drained a 3-pointer on the game’s opening possession to get the home team going. Meanwhile, Navy missed a shot on its first possession, then committed turnovers on the next two in quickly falling behind 9-0.

Rogers made 10 of 17 field goals and 3 of 4 free throws in being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The Eagles shot almost 52% (27-for-52) from the field for the game.

Smalls led a balanced attack with eight points as American took a 37-28 halftime lead. Rogers, Sprouse and Mayock all had six points for the Eagles, who shot a sizzling 58% from the field in the first half.

American led by 12 points on two occasions, the last coming with 49 seconds left after Mayock hit a short jumper. The Eagles scored almost half their points in the paint and led for all but 21 seconds of the half.

Draper scored nine points to lead Navy, which shot 34% from the field in the first half. Kim had eight points and was responsible for steadying the Mids after a shaky start.

Pennick was ejected a minute and a half into the game after replay review showed that he punched American forward Greg Jones in the gut. Moments later, Smalls made a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 9-0 lead with less than two minutes elapsed.

Kim made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to 9-6 at the 16:52 mark and Navy seemed to settle down afterward. Rogers drove down the lane for a thunderous one-hand dunk and Smalls drained a 3-pointer from NBA range just as the shot clock expired to highlight a 9-2 run that gave American a double digit lead (20-10) with 8:35 remaining in the first half.

Rogers hit a pair of lefty half hooks and Jones scored off a driving layup as American took its largest lead of the game, 43-30, just over three minutes into the second half. Rogers picked up his third foul at the 14:21 mark, but stayed in the game and less than a minute later hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Eagles a 51-34 lead.

That followed a triple from Sprouse and a blocked shot on the other end and forced Navy coach Ed DeChellis to call timeout in hopes of halting the home team’s momentum. It didn’t work, as Rogers got loose downcourt for a breakaway dunk and Smalls swished a 3-pointer as the Eagles grew the advantage to 56-38.

The Mids cut the deficit to 13 on three occasions, but could get no closer. Benigni made a pull-up in the lane as Navy made it 60-47 with five minutes remaining, but Mayock canned a 3-pointer and Rogers turned an offensive rebound into a two-handed dunk as American increased the lead to 20 points (67-47) with 3:49 to go.

Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.