LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell (8-11, 4-2) shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and held off a late charge by the Navy men's basketball team (5-14, 2-4) to defeat the Mids, 73-69, Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa.

"It was a similar ending to the game we had the other nights against Loyola and Colgate," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "We just made too many turnovers at crunch time.  We didn't have a lot for the game (12), but they (Bucknell) scored points off of them.  They scored 15 points off of our turnovers and we had three or four of them in a row at crunch time.  Our guys have to figure out, and I have to help them, how to get over that.  They have to continue to play and do the things we have done for 36 minutes.  It was another disappointing result."

There were five ties and six lead changes in the first half.  Bucknell held an early seven-point lead (15-8) but Navy eventually went on an 11-1 run to take a 29-23 lead with just over three minutes left before halftime.  The Mids went into the locker room holding a 36-27 advantage.

The Mids extended their lead to 39-27 in the early moments of the second half.  Bucknell closed to within two points at 39-37, within one point at 45-44 and then took a 51-47 lead.  

Navy tied the game at 51-51 but Bucknell scored the ensuing seven points to take a 58-51 lead with 6:30 still to play. It soon became a 64-56 lead for the Bison with four minutes showing on the clock and then a 69-61 Bucknell advantage with 2:09 remaining.

Back came the Mids with a three-point basket by Austin Benigni to make it a 69-64 game.  Bucknell's Noah Williamson was fouled on the other end of the floor and he made one of two foul shots with 1:19 left to play.  The Mids gave the ball to Benigni, who sprinted down the right side of the lane.  He scored and was fouled on a twisting shot from inside of the lane, a basket that drew Navy to within 70-66 and also made him the 27th player in Navy history to score 1,000 career points.  His made free throw with 74 seconds left made it a three-point game.

The Bison wasted little time on their next possession as they found Williamson who scored on a dunk to increase the margin to five points with 48 seconds remaining.  Benigni again took the attempt when the Mids advanced the ball over halfcourt.  He missed, but Donovan Draper was there for the offensive carom and scored on a putback to again make it a three-point game (72-69) with 41 seconds left.

The Bison called timeout four seconds after inbounding the ball.  When play resumed, the Mids left the play go on without fouling until Williamson was fouled while going for an offensive rebound with 12.8 seconds remaining.  He missed both attempts and Aidan Kehoe grabbed the second errant shot and flipped the ball to Benigni.  

He calmly brought the ball over halfcourt and took an open three-point shot from two steps to the left of the center line.  His shot missed, however, and Williamson grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 1.2 seconds left on the clock.

Williamson walked to the other end of the floor and missed his first attempt before making the second to secure the decision.

"We came in here and thought we had a good plan," said DeChellis.  "We did have one and the guys executed really well in the first half.  In the second half they (Bucknell) shot 60 percent.  That part was disappointing."

The Bison were 15-25 (60%) from the floor after halftime, which included a 4-7 effort from three-point range, and were 12-18 from the foul line.  The Mids were only 10-28 (35.7%) from the field in the second half, made just 2-7 three-point attempts and were 11-14 from the free throw line.

In contrast, Bucknell was 8-23 from the field in shooting 34.8 percent in the first half and Navy was 15-33 for a 45.5 percent shooting effort in the opening frame.

Turnovers hurt the Mids in the final 20 minutes of play.  Navy committed eight turnovers which led to 11 Bucknell points while the Bison turned the ball over only three times and the Mids converted those opportunities into just two points.

Benigni scored 16 of his team-high 23 points in the second half and was credited with a Navy-best five assists in the game.  Draper and Kehoe each fell one-point shy of double-doubles and the former totaled nine points and 10 caroms and the latter accrued nine points and 11 boards.

Navy will be home Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game against Boston U.