ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– A career-high 25 points by Cam Davis (Jr., Battlefield, Mo.) helped the Navy men's basketball team (7-5, 1-0) rally from an 11-point first-half deficit to defeat Lehigh (3-10, 0-1), Thursday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.  The game served as the Patriot League opener for both teams.
 
"We didn't do a lot of the things we need to do, but we found a way to win the game," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.
 
Lehigh went on a 12-0 run midway through the first half to take a 24-13 lead on its way to building a 28-16 advantage.  Navy answered with the next 11 points and closed to within 30-29 at halftime.
 
"The first 12 minutes of the first half, we didn't play Navy basketball the way we were supposed to," said Davis, "but the last eight minutes we went on a run and got it to within one at the half."
 
The Mids continued that spurt with back-to-back triples to start the second half and take a 35-30 lead.  The second of two treys came from Davis and closed out a 19-2 run by Navy.
 
"I thought we played the first 12 minutes the way we practiced yesterday; not well … lackadaisical … bad decisions," said DeChellis.  "And then with about eight minutes to go, I thought we played pretty good at the end of the first half and got it back to one (point).  In the second half we came out of the gate well and took the lead and never really gave it up."
 
Lehigh tied the game at 40-40, then bench players Tyler Nelson (Fr., Monroe, N.C.) and Daniel Deaver (Fr., Falls Church, Va.) accounted for the next five Navy points to give the Mids a 45-42 lead.  The Mountain Hawks held the Mids without a made field goal for the next six minutes, but success on the defensive end of the court and at the free throw line kept Navy in front until Davis hit a jumper that pushed the lead out to 52-48 with 4:46 remaining.
 
After a pair of foul shots by Lehigh cut the margin in half, Davis hit another jumper with 3:28 left on the clock.  Both teams misfired on their next two respective possessions, then John Carter Jr. (So., Spring Hill, Tenn.) made two free throws to make the score 56-50 with 2:27 left.  Carter hit a jumper on Navy's next possession to make it a seven-point game, but back-to-back jumpers by Lehigh sandwiched around a Navy turnover made the score 58-55 with 34 seconds left.
 
Forced to foul, Lehigh sent Greg Summers (So., Ocoee, Fla.) to the foul line and he made both attempts with 31.2 second still to play.  He went back to the free throw line after a missed triple by Lehigh, and this time he made one of his two shots to push the lead out to 61-55 with 24.7 seconds remaining.  Lehigh missed another three-point shot, with the errant carom gathered in by the Mids, after which Evan Wieck (Sr., Amarillo, Texas) was fouled.  He made one shot from the stripe to increase the Navy lead out to 62-55 with 9.8 seconds remaining.
 
"I thought we played well with holding them to 58 (points)," said DeChellis.  "They were averaging a heck of a lot more than that (65.9 points).  I was pleased with that."
 
Navy was 17-23 from the foul line, including 14-19 in the second half.  In contrast, Lehigh was 7-8 from the free throw line for the game.  Both teams made nine three-point field goals and the Mountain Hawks held a slim advantage in field goals made (21-19).  The shooting percentages for the teams were within six-tenths of a percentage point from one another.
 
The Mids, who had been outrebounded in just one game this season (28-26 by Virginia on Sunday), won the rebounding battle this evening, 35-29.  This included a 24-12 advantage on the glass in the second half.
 
Davis was 5-7 from three-point land and 7-10 from the floor in all to go along with a 6-7 performance from the free throw line to tally his career high.  Carter made 5-6 foul shots to join Davis in double figures with 10.  Additionally, Summers totaled five assists, five rebounds and four points.
 
"John Carter was not shooting the ball real well, but he came down and (on defensive) made a really big play diving for the ball," said DeChellis.
 
Navy's bench players tied a season high against a Division I opponent with 16 points.  Leading the way was Sean Yoder (Fr., Dublin, Pa.) with nine points, Deaver with five and Nelson with two.
 
"I thought out bench helped us tonight," said DeChellis.  "Yoder helped, Deaver helped us, Nelson helped us." 
 
The Mids hit the road for their next two games, Sunday at Holy Cross and Wednesday at Bucknell.