ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– Daniel Deaver (Jr., Falls Church, Va.) scored 20 of the 41 points posted by players off the bench for the Navy men's basketball team in a 73-55 victory by the Mids (10-4, 3-0 Patriot League) over Bucknell (3-12, 0-3), Friday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md.

"I was really proud of our kids," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "In the second half, we played much better.  I thought we were really sluggish in the first half.  Everything we did was slow and methodical.  I thought we defended much better in the second half."

Neither offense started the game well –– the Bison were 3-11 from the floor and the Mids were 1-9 through eight minutes of the game –– but Bucknell was the first to find a rhythm.  The score was tied at 10-10 when the Bison scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 20-12 lead with 7:23 left in the half.

John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) drew the Mids to within one point as he totaled seven points on Navy's next three possessions to make the score 20-19. The deficit was quickly back to seven points at 28-21, then the Mids ran off the next eight points to take a 29-28 lead with 2:41 remaining in the half.  Patrick Dorsey (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.), who was playing in his first game of the season, made his second three-point shot of the night, Deaver made back-to-back field goals and P.J. Roach (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) hit a jumper from just inside of the top of the key to close out the run.

The half ended with the teams knotted at 32-32.

"We were not in sync at the start of the game," said DeChellis.  "I just didn't feel the energy (we needed).  When the game started, we were flat."

Navy was 9-28 (32.1%) from the field in the first half, which included a 3-15 (20%) showing from three-point range.  Bucknell was 13-31 (41.9%) shooting in all and 3-11 (27.3%) from three-point land.  The Mids stayed in the game thanks to an 11-15 (73.3%) effort from the foul line, which was in contrast to the 3-4 (75%) performance by the Bison.

The majority of those free throw attempts by the Mids came from Carter, as he was 8-10 from the line.  He also added two field goals –– one of which was a triple –– to end the half with 13 points.  On the other end of the court, Andre Screen was 5-6 from the field in scoring a Bucknell-best 11 points.

The Bison took an early 35-34 lead at the start of the second half, but the Mids went on a 15-2 run to build a 49-37 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining.  Four different Mids scored during the run, with Deaver accounting for six points and Carter adding four during the span.

Bucknell drained a three-point basket to make it a nine-point game at 49-40, but that was followed by an 11-2 Navy run that was capped by back-to-back triples from Jaylen Walker (Jr., Allen, Texas) that pushed the advantage out to 60-42 with 6:54 remaining.

"Jaylen made two big threes back-to-back to give us some separation," said DeChellis.  

Navy would go on to outscore Bucknell 37-18 over the final 18 minutes of the game and 41-23 in the second half.

"We just played better in the second half," said DeChellis.  "More energy, we did what we were supposed to do, we guarded the ball screens the right way."

The Mids were much more effective on both end of the court in the second half.  Offensively, Navy shot 63 percent from the field (17-27) and was 4-6 (66.7%) from three-point range after halftime.  Defensively, the Mids held the Bison to 36.4 percent shooting (8-22) and a 2-6 (33.3%) effort from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes of play.  Bucknell held a 20-19 edge on the glass in the first half, but the second half saw Navy hold a 17-9 advantage in rebounding.

The 41 points posted by the Navy reserves is a team high this season against a Division I opponent (the Mids had scored 55 bench points against NCAA Division III team Washington, Md.) and are the most by the Mids against a D1 team since also scoring 41 points at Boston U., on March 2, 2019.

Deaver was 6-6 from the field in the second half an 8-8 from the floor in all.  He is 15-19 from the field over the last two games (he was 7-11 from the floor in scoring 18 points earlier this week against Boston U.).

"Deaver played great tonight offensively with the ball in his hands in the low post," said DeChellis.  

Dorsey was 3-4 from three-point range on the night, scored nine points and added four rebounds, two assists and two steals in nearly 18 minutes of playing time, which was his first game action in 292 days.

"It was great getting Pat back for his first action," said DeChellis.  "He is important to us."

Walker's two triples were part of an eight-point, six rebound effort, and Carter ended the game with 18 points.

Navy takes to the road Monday night for a 7 p.m. game at Lafayette.