GREENVILLE, S.C. –– One of the better defensive efforts in school history gave the Navy (2-2) men's basketball team a 47-33 victory over Radford (1-4), Saturday evening at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.

The 33 points scored by Radford, which lost, 81-64, to Furman Friday night, ties the mark for the second-fewest points scored by a Navy opponent in a game since box scores became available with the 1951-52 season.

"I thought our defense was outstanding tonight!" said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. "I am very proud of our efforts."

Navy took a 27-8 lead at halftime thanks to holding Radford to 4-31 (12.9%) shooting from the field, including a 0-8 effort from three-point range, in the first 20 minutes of play.  The Mids held leads of 8-2, 16-4 and 21-6 before taking the 19-point advantage at intermission.

The eight points scored by the Highlanders are the fewest scored in any half by a Navy opponent since the 1951-52 season.  The previous low for a first half was 11 points (Holy Cross, Feb. 7, 2018) and the lowest point total for either half was 10 points (twice, most recently by Haverford, Nov. 29, 1972).  

On the other end of the court, Navy shot a respectable 34.5 percent from the floor (10-29).  The Mids also held a 31-21 advantage on the glass.

Individually, Daniel Deaver (Jr., Falls Church, Va.) scored 10 points on 3-6 shooting from the field and a 4-6 effort from the foul line.  He also added three blocked shots in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Navy maintained a lead of at least 16 points in the second half until four minutes remaining when the score became 42-28.  Back-to-back baskets by the Mids stretched the margin out to 18 points with 2:37 still to play.

Both teams shot 37.5 percent from the field in the second half.  The Mids were 6-16 from the floor after halftime and the Highlanders were 9-24.  

Dating back to the 1951-52 season, the only team to score fewer points in a game against Navy than Radford today was Virginia when the Cavaliers scored 32 points on Dec. 8, 1951.  Penn State scored 33 points against the Mids on Feb. 9, 1974, and the lowest point total by an opponent during the three-point shot era (since 1986-87) was 34 by Holy Cross on Feb. 7, 2018.  

Navy ended the game shooting 35.6 percent from the floor and limiting Radford to an overall mark of 23.6 percent.  The Mids also held a 45-38 edge on the glass.

John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) paced the Navy offense with 13 points and led the defense with four steals.  Greg Summers (Sr., Ocoee, Fla.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Navy will face Furman Sunday at 3 p.m. in a game to be streamed on ESPN+.