The order of the day at the Naval Academy was: "Get the ball inside."
The Midshipmen followed it to perfection in the first half against Bucknell at Alumni Hall when they made 15 of their 17 baskets within five feet of the hoop with forward Wes Cooper scoring 16 points.
But the Bison (9-11, 7-1) shut down Cooper in the second half, and Navy needed 12 points from reserve guard Greg Stephens and strong rebounding and defense from center Alex Kohnen to hand Bucknell its first Patriot League loss, 68-59.
The Bison had won their first seven league tests and eight of their previous nine games after starting the season 1-8, and had a chance to win this one, too, when Navy came close to self-destructing in the last four minutes.
The Mids (12-8, 4-4) led 63-55 after Kohnen (nine points, 15 rebounds) hit a layup in a crowd of defenders. But Navy began turning the ball over and missing one-and-one free-throw opportunities, allowing Bucknell to close to 63-59 with 24 seconds remaining.
Two seconds later, Kohnen was fouled on the inbounds play and made the second of two free throws. Sophomore point guard Brian Walker then capped it by converting consecutive steals into layups.
"This was a monumental win for us after going 3-4 the first half of the conference season," said Navy coach Don DeVoe. "Tonight, we played outstanding defense, especially against their top scorer, Brian Anderson."
Anderson, a mobile 6-foot-9 center averaging 12.6 points, was almost invisible in the first half when he was held scoreless and Cooper led Navy to a 40-31 advantage.
But Anderson scored nine quick points in the first four minutes of the second half to pull the Bison into a 42-42 tie. That's when Kohnen, the inconsistent 6-11 junior, stepped front and center.
Kohnen used his bulk and height to frustrate Anderson and grabbed 12 rebounds in the second half.
"I'm an emotional player," said Kohnen, "and tonight we were trying to show Bucknell that they're no better than we are despite their league record. We were making a statement that we'll be tough to beat the second half of the season."
Offensively, Navy struggled from the perimeter. Star freshman Brian Heary was wearing a mask to protect the broken nose he suffered in practice Sunday and managed only four points.
So Stephens, an aggressive 6-3 freshman, came to the rescue. He started a personal nine-point run by hitting a three-pointer to give Navy a 55-45 cushion.
"Stephens made the difference in this game," said DeVoe. "He was on a tear in the second half."
Pat Flannery, who has turned around Bucknell's program in his first year, agreed.
"We were concentrating on stopping their physical guys inside -- Cooper and Larry Green, and did a better job of it in the second half," he said. "But obviously we didn't do a good job of stopping Stephens' dribble penetration, and that killed us."
BUCKNELL -- Holden 1-2 1-2 2, Mboya 2-5 1-1 6, Wenk 2-7 5-6 9, Hamer 2-6 1-2 5, Steigerwald 3-4 2-3 9, Welch 3-3 0-0 6, Golden 3-8 2-6 8, Anderson 4-12 4-4 13. Totals 20-47 16-24 59.
NAVY -- Walker 3-8 2-4 8, Hall 1-4 0-0 2, Norris 0-0 0-0 0, Ra. Torgrimson 0-0 0-0 0, Henry 1-2 0-0 3, L. Green 4-7 0-0 8, Hamilton 2-7 0-0 6, Stephens 5-7 1-1 12, Booker 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper 8-13 2-5 18, M. Green 1-3 0-0 2, Kohnen 4-6 1-4 9. Totals 29-57 6-14 68.
Halftime--Navy 40-31. 3-point goals--B 3-9 (Anderson 1-1, Steigerwald 1-2, Mboya 1-2, Holden 0-1, Hamer 0-2). Rebounds--B 27 (Anderson 7); N 37 (Kohnen 15). Assists--B 10 (Holden, Wenk, Hamer 3); N 16 (Walker 9). Total fouls--B 17; N 23. Fouled out--none. Technicals--none. A--1,288.