ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A nearly six-minute scoring drought late in the second half during which the Navy men's basketball team (5-13, 2-3 Patriot League) committed five turnovers allowed Colgate (7-11, 4-1) to build enough of a separation from the Mids in a 73-66 victory by the Raiders, Wednesday night at Alumni Hall.

"With about seven minutes to play, it was a pretty good game," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "We turned it over four-straight times.  That was the game.  We had three turnovers to that point and then it was an avalanche.

"The No. 1 key on our board was to take care of the basketball.  The No. 2 key on our board was to take care of the ball.  That's how important it is."

Colgate used a 10-0 run to take an early 16-8 lead.  Navy drew to within two points at 16-14 but the Raiders responded and soon took a 23-14 advantage.  The Mids slowly chipped away at the deficit and closed to within 31-30 with 2:19 left before halftime.  The Raiders held a 33-32 lead at intermission.

Cam Cole made a trio of three-point field goals on his way to scoring 11 first half points to miss tying his career high for a game by just one point. 

An Austin Benigni triple gave Navy a 37-36 lead early in the second half.  Colgate's Nicolas Louis-Jacque drained back-to-back three-point field goals to start a quick 8-0 run that gave the Raiders a 44-37 lead.  Navy climbed to within three points at 44-41 only to see Parker Jones quickly hit back-to-back treys to make the score 50-41 with 14 minutes left on the clock.

The Raiders opened the second half 4-5 from three-point range while the Mids were 4-11 from the floor overall.

Navy made one more surge at Colgate as a 7-0 run capped by a three-point field goal by Jordan Pennick made the score 57-55 in favor of Colgate with just over nine minutes still to play.

Cole promptly stole the ball to end the ensuing possession.  After a Colgate foul, the Mids gave the ball to Donovan Draper in the halfcourt offense.  He missed a game-tying 13-foot jumper from the right side of the floor.  Colgate gathered in the defensive carom and scored the next eight points to build a 65-55 lead with 4:35 left on the clock.

Navy committed five turnovers and was 0-5 from the floor between Pennick's triple and the next Navy basket which came from Aidan Kehoe off of an offensive rebound at the 3:52 mark.

The Mids made it a six-point game and winnowed the margin to five points at 71-66 with 25.2 seconds left.  The Raiders were 6-11 from the foul line in the last 80 seconds to seal the victory.

"I don't think we played poorly," said DeChellis.  "But when the game was on the line, we didn't make the plays we needed to make."

Navy made more field goals than Colgate, 26-24, while the Raiders led 10-7 in three-point field goals made and were 15-25 from the foul lone while the Mids were 7-11 from the stripe.

"We shoot 40 percent; they shoot 43," said DeChellis.  "We shoot 39 percent from three; they shoot 39.  Free throw line, we fouled them at the end.  But we missed the one at a critical time."

Navy held a slim 41-38 edge on the glass, each team had eight turnovers and Colgate led the Mids 7-2 in blocks.

Benigni led Navy with 25 points and eight assists, Draper posted 11 points and 11 rebounds and Kehoe snared 13 boards to go along with six points.

"It was great for Cam," said DeChellis of Cole who finished with a career-high 14 points.  "He has put a lot of time into his shot, and we needed someone to come in and shoot tonight."

Colgate's Jeff Woodward was 7-9 from the field and totaled 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five blocks.

Navy will take to the road for a Saturday game at Bucknell.