ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Daniel Deaver (Falls Church, Va.) and Sean Yoder (Sr., Dublin, Pa.) combined for 38 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as the Navy (14-11, 7-6) men's basketball team rallied to defeat Bucknell (10-16, 3-10), 71-65, Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.  The win was Navy's third in a row and halted a two-game winning streak for Bucknell.

"I thought we were really good defensively in the second half," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "Our three-quarter court press knocked a couple of balls free and we got some easy baskets that kind of turned the momentum in the game."

The Mids struggled at the start of the game as they missed 10 of their first 11 shots from the field in falling behind 9-3.  The Bison built an 18-10 advantage before Navy clawed back and tied the game at 25-25 and took a 28-26 lead.  Bucknell eventually closed the frame on a 9-1 run to take a 37-32 lead into the locker room.

"In the first half," said DeChellis, "we didn't run them off the three-point line as we needed to (Bucknell made six three-point baskets).  We made some egregious mistakes defensively, which was frustrating.  We missed some shots around the basket."

The triumvirate of Yoder, 11 points; Deaver, 10; and Tyler Nelson (Sr., Monroe, N.C.), 10, accounted for all but one of Navy's 32 points in the half.

Bucknell had another good start to the second half as it took leads of 43-35 and 48-41.

The Mids started to apply some pressure and that led to some breakouts for easy baskets.  Navy scored 11 of the next 13 points to tie the game at 48-48 and take a 52-50 lead.  The Bison drilled a three-point basket to briefly take a 53-52 advantage, but that was followed by a 13-2 run by the Mids that gave them a 65-55 lead.  

Bucknell chipped away and drew to within six points at 68-62 with 2:19 still to play.  The Mids drained nearly the entirety of the 30-second shot clock before Patrick Dorsey (Sr., Raleigh, N.C.) was fouled while scoring after making a nice move to shake free along the baseline.  He converted the three-point play opportunity to extend the advantage out to 71-62 with 1:49 showing on the clock.

The Mids held a 12-2 advantage in points scored after turnovers in the second half and a 30-16 edge in points scored in the paint. Navy also shot 58.6 percent from the floor after halftime and limited Bucknell to a 42.9-percent effort.  

The shooting numbers for the game were nearly identical between the teams as the Mids shot 46.9 percent and the Bison 45.6 percent.  However, Navy made 30-64 attempts and Bucknell was 26-57.  The Bison stayed in the game with the three-point shot as they made 10 triples to seven for the Mids.   

Navy forced 14 turnovers and committed just six in the game, which led to the Mids holding a 20-6 advantage in points scored after turnovers.

"In the second half," said DeChellis, "we were more crisp.  Defensively we were much better.  They (Bucknell) have been playing very, very well and shot the ball well.  We shot it just about the same.  We just made a couple of more plays in the second half.

"The shooting numbers kind of look the same.  We just had 20 points off of turnovers.  They turned it over and we turned it into points."

Deaver was 10-15 from the field in scoring his 20 points and added six rebounds and six assists, an effort that came one game after he totaled 35 points and 16 boards at Holy Cross.  Yoder made a trio of three-point field goals in scoring 18 points to go along with five caroms and five assists. Nelson ended the game with 14 points and four rebounds.

"Deaver and Yoder were really good tonight," said DeChellis.  "Both were really good offensively and scored the ball.  And Tyler made a big shot there late in front of our bench.  Those guys, tonight, they were the guys.  I keep telling them they only have so much time to do this.  The sand is coming through the hour glass and it will run out shortly."

Navy returns to Alumni Hall Saturday when it plays host to Army at 1:30 p.m. in the annual Star Game between the teams.   The two women's teams will precede the men's game at 11:00 a.m.  Both games will be aired on the CBS Sports Network.