EASTON, Pa. –– A season high for points scored in the second half allowed the Navy (6-10, 3-2 Patriot League) men's basketball team to come away with an 85-77 victory over Lafayette (4-12, 1-4) Wednesday night at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton Pa.  Four Mids scored in double figures in the game, with John Carter Jr. (Fr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) leading all Mids with a career-best 18 points.
 
"It was the second half," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "I thought we played much better defense.  Credit Lafayette in the first half.  They were getting loose and knocking down some threes.  We bagged the zone and went straight man-to-man defense.  Our guys did a good job of guarding.  And we didn't foul as we did in the first half."
 
Navy jumped out to a 17-9 lead seven minutes into the game, but Lafayette started to convert from three-point range and took a 21-19 lead at the 8:10 mark.  The lead would change hands four more times over the remainder of the half which ended with Lafayette holding a 34-32 lead.
 
Navy's leading scorer on the season George Kiernan (Sr., Hinsdale, Ill.) played just the first six minutes of the game before picking up two fouls after not attempting a shot and scoring just four points.  Carter picked up some of the slack as he totaled eight first half points after having scored 11 through the first four league games this season.
 
The teams were within a few points of each other early in the second half until Lafayette took a 50-45 lead on a 10-2 run.
 
Navy answered with each of the next five and 18 of the next 23 points to take a 63-55 lead with 7:46 left to play.  Lafayette quickly sliced that four-point margin in half, then Kiernan drilled his third three-point field goal of the second half to give the Mids a 66-59 advantage. 
 
Lafayette would close to within three points at 67-64 with 5:49 left on the clock.  Navy scored the next five points –– all on free throws –– then Hasan Abdullah (Sr., Birmingham, Ala.) added a jumper to push the run to seven in a row and increase the lead out to 74-64 with three minutes showing on the clock.  Navy would go 9-12 from the foul line over the remainder of the game to seal the victory.
 
The Mids set season highs for both points scored in a half (53 in the second half; previous high was 49) and points scored in a game (previous high was 83).  Navy shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half and 49 percent for the game.  The Mids also were 9-19 from three-point land, which allowed them to keep pace with the 10 triples made by Lafayette. 
 
"They (Lafayette) like to push the tempo," said DeChellis.  "But I have confidence in our guys that they can play different ways and win.  We scored 85 points; that's good for us to see."
 
Another key statistic in the game was Navy going 22-28 from the foul line, which was in contrast to the 13-15 effort by the Leopards.  The second half alone saw the Mids go 16-22 from the stripe and the Leopards convert all nine of their free throw attempts.
 
The Mids also held a 37-29 advantage on the glass, and turned the ball over just two more times than Lafayette did (12-10).
 
Carter was 8-8 from the free throw line in the second half, which helped him better his previous career high of 17 points.
 
Kiernan ended the game with three triples and 15 points, Evan Wieck (Jr., Amarillo, Texas) posted 14 points on 6-8 shooting from the field and Abdullah contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.  Additionally, Cam Davis (So., Battlefield, Mo.) and Greg Summers (Fr., Ocoee, Fla.) each scored eight points.
 
"He (Carter) made some big shots in the first half," said DeChellis.  "In the second half, he made some plays.  He is still learning.  He and Greg are two freshmen who are just learning.  They are just going to get better and better as the year goes on, which is good for us."
 
 
Navy will next be in action Saturday when the Mids play a 2:30 p.m. game at Army.  The game will be televised nationally by the CBS Sports Network.