ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The reserves for the Navy (13-11, 7-6) men's basketball team provided their biggest boost of the season as they dug the Mids out of a 13-0 deficit at the start of the game and sparked them to a 60-59 victory over Bucknell (9-17, 5-8), Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.
 
"First of all," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis, "I am very, very proud of my guys.  That has been a tough week in a lot of ways.  The guys all have six-week exams and it is really challenging.  Energy levels were really down.
 
"I thought our bench won us the game.  In the first half they did a great job, in the second half they did a great job."
 
The Bison connected on five of their first seven attempts from the field to take that early lead.  Andrew Funk alone was 5-6 in scoring all 13 points for Bucknell.  On the other end of the court, Navy was a collective 0-8 from the floor during that same span. 
 
Only one time since play-by-play records have been available since the start of the 1983-84 season had the Mids fallen behind by more than 13 points at the start of a game.
 
Dave Kasanganay (So., Charlotte, N.C.), Sean Yoder (Fr., Dublin, Pa.) and Tyler Nelson (Fr., Monroe, N.C.) entered the game following a Navy timeout with the Mids trailing 11-0.  Nelson and Kasanganay scored the first two baskets of the game for the Mids, then Richard Njouku (So., Washington, D.C.), who stepped onto the court with the score 13-2, made two field goal that were sandwiched around a Nelson triple to make the score 15-11.  Cam Davis (Jr., Battlefield, Mo.) became the first Navy starter to score when he made two free throws to slice the four-point deficit down to 15-13 with 10:55 remaining.
 
"The guys came in off the bench and got us back in the game," said DeChellis.
 
Bucknell soon expanded the lead back out to nine points at 24-15, but Navy closed to within one point, 28-27, at halftime.
 
After the start to the game for the respective teams, Navy shot 10-22 (45.5%) from the field and Bucknell was 7-19 (36.8%) over the remainder of the first half.
 
A total of 12 Mids took to the floor in the first half.  That was more than had played in any Patriot League game this season. 
 
Davis scored the last four points of the first half, then made a triple to start the second half and give Navy its first lead of the game at 30-28.  The Mids held a 9-4 edge on the offensive glass in the first half, then picked up three offensive boards on their next possession that ended with John Carter Jr. (So., Spring Hill, Tenn.) drilling a three-point field goal to push the lead out to 33-28 and cause the Bison to call timeout.
 
The lead would change hands six more times over the next 10 minutes of play that was capped by a 6-0 run by Navy that gave it a 49-45 lead with seven minutes remaining.  The Mids eventually took a 56-50 lead with 3:07 remaining.  Navy had a chance to extend the cushion on its next possession but Njoku was called for a loose ball foul after a missed shot by the Mids.  That led to a pair of Bucknell free throws that cut the margin down to 56-52 with 2:13 left.
 
Njoku was fouled 15 seconds later, but made just one of his two attempts from the line.  That was followed by a jumper from John Meeks of Bucknell that made the score 57-54 with 94 seconds still to play.  Njoku was involved in the next Navy possession as he shook loose from his defender and scored on a layup while being fouled to expand the lead out to 59-54 with 1:08 left on the clock.  However, he missed the free throw and the ball was gathered in by the Bison.  That led to Walter Ellis making a jumper for Bucknell to pull it to within 59-56 with 46.5 seconds remaining.
 
The Mids advanced the ball over halfcourt and called timeout with 40.5 seconds still to play.  Navy ran some time off the clock after inbounding the ball.  Davis then had his shot blocked and the rebound went to Bucknell.
 
The Mids played great defense on the ensuing possession and forced Funk into a challenged three-point shot that missed the mark.  Nelson snared the carom and was quickly fouled with 9.2 seconds remaining.  He made the first foul shot to push the lead out to 60-56 –– which was the final score of the first game between the teams this season.  He missed the second attempt, and that led to Bucknell connecting on a triple just prior to the final horn sounded.
 
Navy outscored Bucknell 60-46 in the last 35 minutes of the game.
 
"It didn't start out real well," said DeChellis, "but after that we gave up 46 points in 35 minutes.  We did a good job defensively after that.
 
"It was a slugfest; it was back and forth, just like it was up there."
 
The previous largest deficit Navy had overcome to win a game this season was 12 points (Jan. 2 vs. Lehigh).  Also, the last time the Mids won a game after trailing by at least 13 points was two years ago when they trailed American 13-0 at the very start of the game.
 
Tonight's victory gave Navy its first regular season sweep of Bucknell since 2010, and extended the winning streak in the series for the Mids to three games.  Navy was 1-19 against Bucknell in the 20 games played prior to this current run of success.
 
The Mids scrapped their way to a 14-6 advantage on the offensive glass, many of which aided their going 14-20 from the foul line in contrast to the 3-6 effort from the charity stripe for the Bison.  Navy also held a 23-13 lead in points scored after turnovers. 
 
Navy's bench players combined to shoot 8-13 from the field and score 21 points.  That is the highest scoring total for the reserves in a game against a Division I opponent this year (previous high was 19).  Those seven players also snared 16 of Navy's 36 rebounds and committed just three turnovers.
 
Individually, Nelson and Njoku were each 3-3 from the field with Nelson scoring eight points –– to go along with seven rebounds –– and Njoku seven points –– to go along with three blocked shots.  Kasanganay added four points and Jaylen Walker (Fr., Allen, Texas) scored two points.
 
Davis led all players in the game with 22 points.  Today's effort came after he saw his 13-game streak of scoring in double figures end with nine points Saturday at Colgate.  Carter added 10 points and Greg Summers (So., Ocoee, Fla.) totaled seven rebounds, six assists and five points.
 
Funk led the Bison with 20 points, but scored just seven points in the last 35 minutes.
 
Navy will be home Saturday for its penultimate home game of the regular season when it plays host to Boston U. at 4 p.m.