ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Navy (4-1, 1-0 Patriot League) men's basketball team held Bucknell (0-1, 0-1) without a made field goal for the last 12 minutes of the game as the Mids overcame a 17-point, second-half deficit to defeat the Bison, 78-69, Saturday at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. 
 
Navy scored 35 of the game's final 44 points to register its largest rally for a victory against a Patriot League opponent and its third-largest rally for a win regardless of foe in school history.
 
"I have always thought this team had some grit and some determination and they proved that again tonight," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "As I said to them, I was upset with them the first 30 minutes, then the last 10 minutes I loved them because that is who we are.  If we play that way and get after them defensively, rebound the basketball and make some shots, we look like a pretty good basketball team."
 
The Bison, who were starting their season today and drove to Annapolis Saturday morning, scored the first six points of the game (Bucknell started last year's game between the two teams in Alumni Hall with a 13-0 lead only to lose the contest).  Bucknell would go on to lead by six points at 15-9, Navy tied the game at 15 and then the Bison took another six-point lead at 21-15.  The score would soon be 23-19 in favor of the visitors when the Mids went on 9-2 run to take a 28-25 advantage.  That led to a Bucknell timeout, after which the Bison answered with a 10-0 run that gave them a 35-28 advantage. 
 
The teams went into the locker room with Bucknell in front, 37-33.
 
The Bison started the second half by scoring the first five points of the stanza to take a 42-33 lead, then extended their cushion out to 50-39, 58-41 and 60-43 with 12:40 still to play.
 
"You are never in the game; you are never out of it, we kept saying to the team," said DeChellis.  "Just chip away, put the pressure back on them."
 
Luke Loehr (Sr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) drained back-to-back triples for the Mids.  Cam Davis (Sr., Battlefield, Mo.) and Richard Njoku (Jr., Washington, D.C.) soon made back-to-back layups to draw the Mids to within 61-53 with 10 minutes left on the clock.
 
Jaylen Walker (So., Allen, Texas) converted an old-fashioned three-point play with a layup and foul shot to make the score 63-56.  Davis followed with a driving layup, then he too made a basket and free throw to bring the Mids to within two points of the Bison at 63-61 with 6:45 remaining.
 
Navy had several chances to either tie or take the lead over the next few minutes, but finally hurdled the Bison when Njoku made two foul shots that gave the Mids a 64-63 lead with 4:18 left.  Bucknell's Andrew Funk made just one of two free throws on the ensuing Bison possession to tie the game at 64.  Walker followed with a jumper, then Austin Inge (Fr., Greensboro, N.C.) recorded a steal that led to Davis finding Njoku for a dunk that pushed the Mids out to a 68-64 lead with 3:39 still to play.
 
Each team had an empty possession, then Njoku grabbed a missed shot by the Bison to give the ball back to the Mids.  That led to Davis being fouled and his two made free throws with 1:48 remaining gave the Mids a 70-64 lead.  Navy was 6-6 from the foul line and Davis also added a jumper over the last minute of play to seal the victory.
 
From the time Bucknell took a 60-43 lead through the end of the game, the Bison were 0-13 from the field –– including 0-8 from three-point range –– 9-13 from the foul line and committed six turnovers.  Navy during that same span was 10-17 from the floor, 13-14 from the free throw stripe and committed three turnovers.
 
Navy committed more turnovers than Bucknell during the course of the game, 12-11, but the Mids held an 18-5 advantage over the Bison in points scored after those turnovers.  The second half alone saw Navy hold a 9-0 advantage in points after turnovers.  The Mids also finished on the plus side for bench points (31-15), points scored in the paint (32-20) and fastbreak points (9-2). 
 
Each team made 14 first-half field goals, but the Bison were 8-25 (32%) from the field and the Mids were 15-31 (48.4%) from the floor in the second half. 
 
Davis scored 13 of his game-high 26 points during the last 11 minutes of the game.  
 
"I think our defensive intensity was the story of the game," said Davis. "The first 28-30 minutes of the game, they (Bucknell) were very comfortable. 
 
"(Offensively) when your guys come in and hit shots –– Luke Loehr came in and did a great job giving us a spark –– when they start coming in and doing that, everything opens up for everybody."
 
Joining him with double figure points were Njoku –– a career-high 13 –– and Daniel Deaver (So., Falls Church, Va.).  Njoku accounted for five points during Navy's game-ending surge.  Additionally, Greg Summers (Jr., Ocoee, Fla.) totaled 11 rebounds and eight points. 
 
"I thought our younger guys did a great job.  Patrick Dorsey (So., Raleigh, N.C.) off the bench, Daniel Deaver off the bench, Austin Inge off the bench and my gut told me to go with Jaylen Walker the last eight minutes and he had some nice plays," said DeChellis.  "I thought our bench really propelled us the last 10 minutes of the game."
 
Bucknell also had three players score at least 10 points in the game.  Andrew Funk led the way with 16, Xander Rice scored 13 and Walter Ellis scored 11.
 
The only times Navy has rallied from larger deficits to win games were a 25-point rally against Bryant (Dec. 6, 2016) and an 18-point rally to Columbia (Dec. 10, 2017).  Navy's previous largest comeback to win a Patriot League regular season game was 15 points on three prior occasions, most recently against Lafayette (Feb. 13, 2016).
 
Navy will travel to Bucknell Sunday for a 6 p.m. game in Lewisburg.  That contest can be viewed live on the CBS Sports Network.