LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Five players scored in double figures and the fifth-seeded Navy men's basketball team (15-18) was 19-22 from the foul line in the closing minutes of the game to fend off top-seeded Bucknell (18-15) 83-77, Sunday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa.

Navy advances to the tournament final for the second time in four seasons.  The Mids will play at second-seeded American at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night in an attempt to win their first league title since 1998.

The result:
* ended Bucknell's 10-game home court winning streak,
* was the first time a five seed beat a one seed in the tournament (was 0-11),
* was Navy's first postseason win at Bucknell (was 0-4 vs. the Bison and 0-5 overall),
* and was Navy's second tournament victory against the league's top-seeded team (was 1-10).

"Just really, really proud of our team," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "This is our third-straight road win.  The guys really believe they can do something special, and something special is ahead of us Wednesday night.  The guys played their hearts out tonight."

Navy had a great start to its quarterfinal round victory at Boston Thursday night.  There, the Mids scored on five-straight possessions as part of a 13-0 run that gave them a 15-4 advantage and a lead they would not relinquish.  Navy had another good start today as it went on a 10-1 run to build a 14-5 lead.  The last six points in the run came on back-to-back triples from Donovan Draper.

"We talk all of the time about playing four-minute games," said DeChellis.  "The first four is really important to set the tone.  We wanted to put some pressure on with our defense.  And we scored some baskets.  We had some baskets early which gave us some confidence."

The lead would grow to as many as 11 points at 24-13.  The advantage dipped to three points at 28-25 when a three-point basket by Jinwoo Kim gave the Mids a little breathing room on their way to taking a 34-27 lead.  Bucknell's Noah Williamson, the league's player of the year this season, started to get Navy into foul trouble and himself to the free throw line.  Navy went into halftime nursing a 36-33 lead, but with Draper, Aidan Kehoe and Lysander Rehnstrom all with three fouls.

The Mids held the lead despite Austin Benigni being held to two points on 1-7 shooting.

Navy quickly scored the opening five points of the second half to jump in front, 41-33.  The margin reached double figures at 50-39 and then Navy took its largest lead of the game at 55-43 with 12:40 still to play.

It didn't take long for the top-seeded Bison to erase their deficit.  Bucknell drew to within two points at 57-55 and then used a 5-0 run to take a 60-59 lead with 5:55 remaining.  The teams traded two free throws, then another Bucknell foul shot gave it a 63-61 lead with 4:49 left.

Each team had an empty possession, then Draper drilled his third triple of the afternoon to give the Mids a 64-63 lead.  A steal by Mike Woods returned possession to Navy, with Benigni being fouled. He made both attempts to pad the lead to 66-63.  A missed three-point shot by Bucknell went out of bounds, with Benigni again being fouled while shooting on the other end of the floor.  Another two points from the line made it a 68-63 game with 2:50 left.

Bucknell made a jump shot (68-65), then Draper snared an offensive board and was fouled on Navy's next possession.  He made one of his two attempts to give Navy a 69-65 lead with 2:02 remaining.  A missed shot by the Bison was grabbed by Woods, who gave the ball to Benigni.  He was fouled with 1:33 left and made both shots (71-65).

The sequence over the next two possessions for each team were Bucknell basket, Benigni making two free throws, Bucknell missed shot, Benigni making two free throws.  This made it a 75-69 game with 52.3 seconds left.

Bucknell's Josh Bascoe was fouled while attempting a three-point shot on its next possession, but he only made the last of the three offerings to make it a 75-70 game with 46.6 seconds still to go.  Benigni was fouled at the start of the next Navy possession and he made both free throws to give Navy a 77-70 lead.

The margin remained the same as a field goal by Bucknell was followed by Benigni making two foul shots with 36.2 seconds remaining (79-72).  Precious time ran off the clock as a miss by Bucknell went out of bounds, and then the Mids stepped on the sideline when inbounding to end their next possession with 26.6 seconds remaining.

Draper blocked a three-point attempt, and then Bucknell had another missed shot before scoring with 18.8 seconds left and the score at 79-74. Once again Benigni was fouled and his two made free throws gave Navy an 81-74 lead with 17.2 seconds left.  Bascoe hit a three-point shot for Bucknell (81-77) with 13.4 seconds remaining.  Kim was fouled and he made one free throw with 11.2 seconds remaining to push the lead to 82-77.  A turnover by Bucknell was followed by Benigni being fouled.  He made one of the two attempts to account for the final scoring with 6.7 seconds left to play.

"We lost the lead, but this is a resilient group," said DeChellis.  "They found a way to regroup, get the lead back and then build on and put the game away.

"Give Bucknell credit.  They came back and took the lead.  They have a really good team and are well coached.  They made some big shots and had some guys step up who really haven't shot the ball well and make some baskets.  It is a credit to them.

Five Mids scored in double figures in the game.  Benigni scored 22 second half points to end the game with 24 points.  He was 20-22 from the free throw line after halftime.  Benigni also dished out seven assists.

Benigni set Patriot League records -- tournament as well as overall -- with his 20 free throws and 22 foul shots attempted.  His 20 makes ranks second in Navy history to David Robinson's 21 against Syracuse in the second round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament, and his 22 attempts ties him with Robinson for second place (Robinson had 27 in the Syracuse game).

Jordan Pennick scored 15 points, Draper finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals, Kim tallied 13 points and Woods recorded 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

"Austin made all of his free throws, Mike came off the bench and did an unbelievable job for us," said DeChellis.  "That was really important as we had guys playing with foul trouble.  This team found a way to win.  We are certainly playing our best basketball here at the end of the season."

Navy as a team was 35-42 from the free throw line.  The 35 makes was one shy of tying the Patriot League Tournament record of 36, which is held by Navy against Lehigh in 1995.

Bucknell also took a high number of free throws as it was 19-29.  The Bison made a few more field goals than Navy (25-20) and shot a slightly higher percentage (46.3%-40.0%).  Each team made eight three-point field goals.  Bucknell also held a slim 33-31 edge on the glass.