HAMILTON, N.Y. -- The Navy men's basketball team battled back from a 15-point, second-half deficit to tie the game only to see Colgate score the last four points of a 79-75 victory by the Raiders (12-16, 9-6) over the Mids (10-18, 7-8), Wednesday night at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y.

"I thought it was a really hard-fought game tonight with both teams really scrapping and fighting," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "Defensively, I don't think we were very good in the first half.  We were much better in the second half.  

"This game came down to plays.  There was a play here and a play there in the second half, and we missed free throws which really hurt us.  We had more baskets than Colgate did, which was the same story when we played Colgate back at our place in early January.  Then we made more baskets but didn't get to the free throw line.  Tonight we did but missed crucial free throws which could have put us up a point or two.  That's the story of the game."

Navy's offense couldn't keep up with Colgate's in the first half as the Raiders took a 45-35 lead at the break. Colgate scored on eight of nine possessions in taking an early 23-14 lead.  The Raiders built a 45-33 lead before a basket by Austin Benigni just prior to the end of the half made it a 10-point game at the break.

Colgate shot 64.3 percent (18-28) from the floor in the first half, a mark which bettered the healthy 46.7 percent (14-30) tallied by Navy.

"It was a really fast (paced) first half," said DeChellis.  "We kept them out of transition; they want to score in transition.  I thought we kept them in the halfcourt.  We ended up having more points in the paint (38-34 for the game).  It seemed in the first half they were scoring in the paint (26-14 in favor of Colgate) and getting layups."

The Raiders returned their lead to 12 points at 49-37 in the early part of the second half.  Navy answered and soon a three-point play by Aidan Kehoe made it a 50-45 game with over 16 minutes still to play.

Colgate slowly took a 63-48 advantage with just under 12 minutes left on the clock.  The margin between the teams remained in double figures for all but 18 seconds for the next seven minutes.  The Raiders held a 73-61 lead with 4:53 left when Jordan Pennick made a layup while being fouled on the next Navy possession.  He missed the free throw, but a Donovan Draper steal quickly returned the ball to the Mids.  Draper scored on a putback on the ensuing offensive opportunity to make it a 73-65 game with four minutes remaining.

Jeff Woodward was fouled on the next Colgate possession and made one of his two attempts from the line.  Benigni scored on a drive through the lane and the score was 74-67.  A turnover returned the ball to Navy.  Pennick was fouled on the other end, but he missed the front end of the bonus and Colgate grabbed the carom.  Woodward was eventually fouled again, and he again made just one foul shot (75-67, 2:47).

Benigni quickly hit a jumper while being fouled, and he converted the three-point play to draw Navy to within 75-70 with 2:47 still to play. Colgate had two shots on its next possession, but came away without any points.  On the other end, Jinwoo Kim was fouled after getting an offensive rebound and while in the act of shooting.  He made the first shot and missed the second to make it a four-point game (75-71, 2:16).

Colgate would miss a three-point shot on its next trip down the floor.  Benigni grabbed the defensive carom and eventually fed Pennick for a three-point basket to make the score 75-74 with 100 seconds left to play.  Draper forced a steal to give the ball back to the Mids, then he was fouled with 1:15 remaining.  He also would make only one of his two foul shots, with that make tying the game at 75-75.

Colgate sent the ball inside to Woodward, who was fouled with 58.2 seconds left.  He made both attempts from the charity stripe to break the tie.  Benigni drove down the lane on the other end of the floor, and his twisting attempt around Woodward missed the mark.  The Raiders grabbed the defensive board with 43 seconds left and called timeout.

Navy elected to play defense when play resumed instead of fouling, and eventually Nicolas Louis-Jacques scored on a challenged shot with 24 seconds left that pushed the Colgate lead to four points.  A late three-point attempt by Benigni was grabbed by Colgate Sto close out the game.

Navy made seven three-point field goals and 30 field goals in all to better Colgate's six treys and 28 field goals.  The difference was at the foul line where the Raiders were 17-21 and the Mids were 8-16.  This included a 12-15 showing by Colgate in the second half and a 6-13 effort by Navy.

Navy may have made more field goals, but Colgate held an advantage in shooting percentage of 54.9%-49.2%.

Colgate held a slight advantage on the glass, 32-28, with Navy holding a 9-5 lead in offensive boards.

The Mids committed only seven turnovers and forced the Raiders into 10.

"I am proud of our kids," said DeChellis.  "We were down and they never flinched; they just came fighting back.  Our team is starting to believe. I think we are as good as any team in the league and hopefully our guys are starting to think that.

"It was just a good game, a good game on the road.  I'm proud of our guys.  We had a chance to win.  We just missed some free throws at crucial times."

Pennick scored 18 points to lead the Navy offense, with Benigni totaling 14 points and seven assists.  Mike Woods was 5-6 from the floor in scoring 11 points and Draper added nine points, six rebounds and two steals.

Woodward was 7-11 from the floor and 9-12 from the foul line in scoring a game-high 23 points for Colgate, which improved to 6-1 in Patriot League home games this season.

Navy will play host to Holy Cross Sunday at 2 p.m. to start the final week of the regular season.