As hard as Navy’s men’s basketball players try to spin their game against Army as just another one on the Patriot League schedule, it’s the furthest thing from the truth.

Navy (14-12, 7-4) is in contention for the conference’s regular season title, as the Midshipmen are just 1 1/2 games behind American (17-10, 9-3) for first place following a 72-66 win over Holy Cross on Wednesday. But Navy also is playing for something else against the Black Knights (11-14, 4-7) on Saturday afternoon at 2 in front of a national television audience on CBS: a star. The game is the 108th meeting in the rivalry, but it’s the one in which the winners receive a star to wear on their letter jackets to signify victory.

“We know what the environment is, we know what this game means to our institution,” Navy coach Billy Lange said. “I just don’t want our emotions to get in the way of our execution which has helped us in this stretch. We’re going to play hard and whatever we’ve got to do, we’ve got to do.”

Navy heads to the U.S. Military Academy with more momentum than it has had at this point in a season in nearly a decade. The Midshipmen have won four straight league games for the first time in seven years. They also are coming off their first sweep of Holy Cross since 2000. The last time Navy qualified for the NCAA Tournament was 1998, when it won its last Patriot League title.

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The winner of the Patriot League regular season title is guaranteed a berth in the National Invitation Tournament if it doesn’t win the conference tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s hard to understand how to be a champion without having been a champion,” Lange said. “I thought we have always played with great intensity, but this year we are becoming more poised and focused. We’re now playing with some older guys, we got more experience and it is just part of the maturation process of the program.”

Army enters Saturday’s game having lost three straight, including 49-40 defeat at American on Wednesday. The Black Knights are in last place in the Patriot League, but defeated Navy, 69-67, in Annapolis on Jan. 27 when Chris Harris missed a three-pointer in the final seconds. Senior guard Jarell Brown averages 19 points per game to lead Army, which has lost 24 of the last 27 Star games.

“We’re always struggling with making sure we’re not looking ahead and taking it one game at a time,” Navy senior guard Greg Sprink said. “That’s all I try to preach to the team. It’s just another league game.”

rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com