WORCESTER, Mass. -- Mac MacDonald drilled seven three-point field goals on his way to a career-best 35-point night in an 80-70 victory by the Navy men's basketball team (6-8, 2-1) over Holy Cross (3-13, 0-3), Wednesday night at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.

The result was Navy's first road win of the 2023-24 season (now 1-6), but also the team's seventh-straight Patriot League regular season road victory dating back to the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

"Really proud of our guys," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "I thought we played well in spurts.  I don't think we played the perfect game, but we had a lot of guys contribute tonight.  We made big free throws down the stretch when we had to.  Really proud of the team to win our first road game in the league.  Happy for the guys.  We are starting to grow up as a team, and that's exciting to watch."

Navy struggled offensively at the start of the game as it fell behind, 22-11, with a little more than seven minutes left in the half and 25-13 with six minutes showing on the clock.  The Mids tied the game at 28-28 with two minutes remaining on MacDonald's fourth three-point field goal of the half.  Navy then took a brief 29-28 lead before the teams went into halftime with Holy Cross in front, 30-29.

MacDonald ended the half 4-5 from three-point range and 7-11 from the floor overall to total 19 points.  That first half tally bettered his career high for a game of 17 points.

Navy fell behind, 35-29, in the opening 100 seconds of the second half, but took a 44-42 lead following a pair of free throws by Mike Woods with 12:54 left on the clock.  The lead changed hands several times over the next few minutes.  The Mids soon went on a 5-0 run to take a 53-49 lead with 7:26 remaining to play.  The advantage became seven points at 62-55 with 4:37 left.  

Holy Cross cut it to a four-point game at 62-58 and then 64-60.  MacDonald scored on a layup on Navy's next possession (66-60) then, following a steal by Donovan Draper and a media timeout, MacDonald made his seventh triple of the game while being fouled with 1:55 showing on the clock.  He converted the four-point play to push the advantage to 70-60.   

"We were in a timeout right before (the possession when he had the four-point play)," said MacDonald.  "We had a designed play with an audible from the bench at the last second.  I came over the top of the screen and I heard the call, which meant I was to come off another screen.  I came off it, saw daylight and let it go.  That was a huge shot for us to get the lead up to 10.  Just happy it went in."

The Mids were 10-10 from the foul line over the remainder of the contest to seal the victory.

Navy has now overcome 12-point deficits in each of its two Patriot League wins this season.

"We didn't start the game well again," said DeChellis.  "I have to figure it out; they have to figure it out.  We surely have talked about it enough.  They did a good job and found a way to win the game.  Down the stretch the last four to five minutes we make plays, made free throws and made big shots."

Free throws were a key difference in the game as Navy was 25-30 from the foul line and Holy Cross was 5-7.  That balanced out the Crusaders making more field goals (28-24) and three-point field goals (9-7) than the Mids.

Also aiding the Navy effort was it forcing 15 turnovers and committing just four.  Ten of those 15 turnovers were the result of Navy steals.  Draper alone accounted for five thefts.  The Mids held a 20-5 lead in points scored after turnovers, many of which were part of Navy holding a 10-0 advantage in fast break points.

MacDonald ended the game 7-11 from three-point range, 13-20 from the floor overall and 2-3 from the charity stripe.

"Mac had his best night," said DeChellis.  "He was outstanding.  Not only did he make threes, he made layups and scored in several different ways."

The last time a Mid scored at least 30 points in a game was when Daniel Deaver also scored 35 at Holy Cross on Feb. 4, 2023.  The Navy record for the most three-point field goals made in a game is nine, and the school standard for the most in a Patriot League regular season game is eight.  The most recent Mid to make at least seven triples in a game is George Kiernan, who did so on Jan. 26, 2019, also at the Hart Center in Worcester.

"I got a couple of shots to fall early," said MacDonald.  "My teammates have instilled the confidence in me to keep shooting when I am open.  They just kept falling.  I appreciate my teammates for working hard to keep getting me looks and my coaches for drawing up plays to get me the rock.  I am just happy to get the win."

Austin Benigni scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, with Woods scoring 11 of his 13 points in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Navy returns to Annapolis Thursday before leaving Friday for a Saturday (2 p.m.) game at Lafayette.  The Leopards defeated Colgate, 69-64, Wednesday at Colgate to improve to 3-0 in league play.