ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Junior Cam Davis (Battlefield, Mo.) hit a pair of clutch baskets for Navy (10-7, 4-2 Patriot League) in the final 30 seconds of the Midshipmen's 68-66 victory over Lafayette (11-6, 3-3 Patriot League). Davis put Navy ahead by a point with a two-point basket with 21 seconds left in the contest, then with 10 seconds to play and the Mids down by a one, Davis pushed Navy ahead once again and knocked down the eventual game-winning three-pointer to secure Navy's second-straight league victory.
 
Davis finished with a game-high 23 points, with 16 points coming in the second half. The junior guard also tallied a career-high seven rebounds, while finishing 9-of-17 from the floor and he went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Daniel Deaver (Fr., Falls Church, Va.) recorded his second-straight game in double figures with 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds to finished tied for a game-high. John Carter Jr. (So., Spring Hill, Tenn.) was the final Mid to reach double figures after he put up 10 points on Saturday. 
 
"Our kids found a way to win, they hung in there and I thought we were much better defensively in the second half," head coach Ed DeChellis said after the game. "I like this team and I like this group of kids. They give us a good effort, they find a way to win and now they get some confidence."
 
In a back and forth start, the two teams traded the lead six times in the first half and the score was also tied on six different occasions. After Lafayette scored the first four points of the game, Navy countered with the next eight points to grab its largest lead of the first half at 8-4 with 16:19 left opening period.
 
After Deaver converted on a free throw with 6:26 left in the half to tie the game at 23, the Leopards went on a 6-0 run to grab a 29-23 advantage, which was their largest first-half lead. Navy was unable to tie the game or regain the lead throughout the remainder of the half and Lafayette took a 38-33 lead at the break.
 
The Leopards shot 48.1 percent from the floor in the half, compared to 38.7 percent from the Midshipmen. Both teams shot over 35 percent from three in the first half with Navy making 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and the Leopards were 5-for-13. Leo O'Boyle led all players in the first half with 15 points, which was a new personal best for the freshman.
 
Trailing out of halftime, Lafayette stretched its lead to six points for the third time but Navy came back with an 11-0 run to flip a 42-36 deficit into a 47-42 lead with 13:14 left in the game. The Midshipmen's five-point lead was their largest of the night, but right after Navy's run, the Leopards rebounded with six-straight points to regain the lead.
 
The seesaw game from the first half returned for the final 10 minutes of the game as the lead changed hands 10 different times over that span. In total, the game featured 17 lead changes and eight ties throughout the 40 minutes.
 
Facing a three-point deficit with two minutes to play, both teams went cold from the floor for the next 90 seconds as the next basket came from Greg Summers (So., Ocoee, Fla.) with 33 seconds to play. On the ensuing inbound and Lafayette holding a 64-63 lead, Navy's full-court press nearly forced a five-second call from Lafayette, but the Leopards called a timeout to maintain possession. However, out of the timeout, Lukas Jarrett's errant inbounds pass gave the Midshipmen the ball with 32 seconds to play.
 
After the turnover, Davis rose over the 6-8 frame of Myles Cherry for a mid-range jumper and hit the shot to give Navy the 65-64 advantage with 21 seconds to play. After the made basket, Lafayette sprinted down the floor and a Cherry fastbreak layup put the Leopards ahead, 66-65, with 18 seconds to play. The fast-paced final seconds of the game continued with Davis bringing up the ball up the court with Navy down one. After working around a screen from Deaver, Davis hit the go-ahead three-pointer over Cherry once again to give Navy a two-point lead with nine seconds to play.
 
On the final possession of the game, Tryone Perry drove from the top of the three-point line looking for the game-tying layup, but as his shot was blocked by Davis, Deaver was called for a blocking foul after having a foot in the restricted area. Perry missed his first free throw attempt with three seconds left. Following a Navy timeout, on the second free throw, Perry's missed attempt was batted back out to the right corner and Perry heaved up a last-second shot but fell short as Navy walked away with a 68-66 victory.
 
"We tried to keep the ball out of [Justin Jaworski's] hands and I thought it was close to four or five seconds," DeChellis commented about the final seconds of the game. "We went back at it and they [Lafayette] tried the weak side entry and the ball went out of bounds. 
 
"Cam was able to make a big shot again and he is playing with a lot of confidence offensively and it is good to see."
 
After being outrebounded 18-16 in the first half and only having four offensive rebounds, Navy won the rebounding battle, 42-36, and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. The Midshipmen collected with 16 second-chance points -- 13 coming in the second half -- and tallied 14 points off of Lafayette's nine turnovers. Navy turned the ball over just five times for a new season-low.
 
With his 23 points on Saturday, Davis now has four 20-point games in six Patriot League contests to up his season average in league games to 18.8 points per game. Cherry led the Leopards in scoring with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting and he led the team with seven rebounds.
 
Navy is back on the road Wednesday night for its final regular-season trip to Massachusetts as the Midshipmen take on Boston University at 7 p.m. from Case Gym with both teams tied for second in the Patriot League standings.