ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After being honored before the game in a Senior Day ceremony, team captain Austin Inge tallied seven points in the last five minutes of the game to help the Navy men's basketball team seal a 76-66 victory over Holy Cross, Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.  The win by the Mids (10-17, 6-10) was their second in a row and gave them a season sweep of the Crusaders (9-20, 6-10) for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.

Navy also moved into a tie with Army and Holy Cross for seventh place in the Patriot League standings with two games remaining on the docket.

"It was a great win for us," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "I thought our kids made plays and did some good things, especially down the stretch.  I thought our defense was just good enough to win the game.  I thought our guys gave a good effort.  It was a good game.  We controlled the game.  We had the lead for 33 minutes, and we led for the whole game Wednesday at Loyola.  I think we are playing a little better.  Guys are making some shots, which is really important.

"Happy for our guys.  It hasn't been easy.  But they just keep fighting."

"It feels good to win in general," said Inge when asked about winning on Senior Day.  "Just finding a way to win is what matters."

Navy used a 14-4 run to take an 18-11 lead midway through the first half.  The Mids would lead by as many as 11 points in the opening stanza before taking a 37-28 lead at the break.

Mac MacDonald, who scored 35 points in this year's game at Holy Cross, was 3-4 from three-point range in scoring 12 points in the half.

Navy was able to push the advantage back to 11 points at 48-37 in the early stages of the second half, then it was a 51-39 lead with 14:24 left on the clock.  The Mids soon built a 59-46 cushion midway through the frame.

Holy Cross chipped away at the margin and drew to within seven points at 61-54 and made it a 66-60 game with four minutes showing in the clock.

Inge promptly banked in a three-point basket late in the shot clock on the ensuing Navy possession.  

"That was a little senior day magic," said a laughing Inge.  "I was just glad I made the shot and extended the lead."

The Crusaders made one free throw on their next trip down the court (69-60), then Inge scored on a drive down the lane to make it a 71-61 game with 2:37 left to play.  

Holy Cross made a basket and foul shot on its next offensive opportunity (71-64, 2:17), then a layup by Austin Benigni was waved off as it occurred just after the shot clock expired with 1:43 on the game clock.  The Crusaders missed a three-point shot on their next possession, with Benigni grabbing the carom.  The Mids hustled the ball over the timeline and let the play clock tick down before calling timeout with 1:09 on the game clock and nine on the shot clock.  Navy didn't emerge with a great shot when play resumed, but Holy Cross was whistled for a foul on the attempted rebound with 1:01 still to play.  Mitch Fischer stepped to the free throw line and made both attempts to push the lead to 73-64.

A missed shot by the Crusaders was followed by Inge being fouled with 48.9 seconds left.  He made one of his two foul shots to make it a 10-point game.

Navy made one more field goal than Holy Cross, 24-23, but was 9-16 from three-point range (for a season-high 56.3%) and 19-28 from the foul line to better the 6-18 three-point shooting and 14-18 foul shooting by the Crusaders.

The Mids also recorded a 45-36 lead on the glass, which included a 15-8 advantage in offensive boards.  That allowed Navy to produce a 19-7 lead in second chance points.

"The numbers let you win," said DeChellis.  "Assists-turnovers, we win that; rebounding, we win that; and then field goal percentage, we won by three-tenths of a point.  Anytime we win all three of those categories, we win (the game)."

Benigni led Navy with 20 points and Inge added 10 points after totaling eight points over the last three games.  Additionally, Aidan Kehoe posted seven points and six rebounds and Donovan Draper finished with eight rebounds and two points.

Navy will close its regular season with games Wednesday at home against Lafayette and Saturday at American.