GREENVILLE, S.C. –– A great start to the game followed by being able to answer every run made at them in the second half resulted in the Navy men's basketball team (3-2) defeating Furman (3-2), 77-66, Sunday afternoon at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.

Today's game ended 24 hours after the Mids started their game Saturday against Radford.  Navy defeated Radford, 47-33.  The Highlanders had lost to Furman Friday night.  The Paladins entered today's game averaging 92.0 points a game this year and had won 22-consecutive regular season home games against non-conference foes.

"I am so proud of our team," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "Our defense was great all weekend and today we played well offensively. It was our best game of the season so far.  Playing back-to-back games is challenging, but our guys were resilient.

Navy took the lead for what would prove to be for good when Richard Njoku (Sr., Washington, D.C.) made a layup to put the Mids in front 9-8 at the 15:09 mark of the first half.  John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) scored baskets on the ensuing two Navy possessions, then Njoku scored again the next time down the court.  Greg Summers (Sr., Ocoee, Fla.) followed with a jumper to give the Mids five baskets in as many opportunities.  Summers would score again a short while later to close out a 12-0 run and make the score 19-8 with 11:41 left in the half.

Furman chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within seven points 23-16 with 7:33 left on the clock.  Baskets by Sean Yoder (Jr., Dublin, Pa.) and Tyler Nelson (Jr., Monroe, N.C.) in a span of 40 seconds stretched the margin back out to double figures at 27-16.  The Mids soon took a 32-20 lead, but settled for a 38-31 cushion at halftime.

Navy shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half, but after Daniel Deaver (Jr., Falls Church, Va.) scored on the opening possession of the second half, the Mids missed their next seven shots from the floor.  That drought allowed the Paladins to close to within three points at 40-37.  

Carter scored 14 first-half points and he was the one to end the lull in the second half as his jumper made it a two-possession game at 42-37. It was back down to a one-possession margin following a basket and made foul shot by Furman on the other end of the court.

Nelson made a layup to make the score 44-40, then he grabbed a defensive rebound and scored again for the Mids to push the margin out to 46-40 with 12:43 remaining.  Furman's Alex Williams scored immediately for the Paladins, but Carter drilled a triple on the next Navy possession to return the Mids to their seven-point halftime advantage at 49-42 with 12:10 remaining.

A Garrett Hien triple for Furman made the score 49-45, but that was followed by a Summers layup, a Deaver layup and another Summers layup over the course of the next three possessions.  The latter basket by Summers took the advantage out to 55-45 with 9:19 remaining.  The Paladins, who won at Louisville nine days ago, quickly made consecutive three-point baskets to make it a four-point game at 55-51 with 7:32 still showing on the clock.

Starting with a Yoder basket on the next Navy opportunity with the ball, the teams would exchange scores over the next four minutes as the difference hovered between five and seven points until a Jaylen Walker (Jr., Allen, Texas) triple from the top of the key made it a 68-60 Navy lead with 2:46 left.  A Furman trey on its next offensive possession took it back down to a 68-63 score with 2:30 remaining.

The Mids then sent the ball inside to Njoku who converted as the clock ticked just below two minutes.  Furman's Mike Bothwell lost his footing on a drive to the basket and as he did so sent the ball out of bounds underneath the hoop.  Navy inbounded the ball after the stoppage and again placed it in the hands of Njoku who scored to push the advantage out to 72-63 with 1:25 showing on the clock.  A missed triple by Furman was followed by the Paladins being forced to foul twice to reach the bonus for the Mids. The ball was in the hands of Carter the second time Furman fouled.  He walked to the other end of the court and made both attempts to make the score 74-63 with just 57.5 seconds still to play.

After the rough shooting start to the second half, Navy closed the frame by making its last six shots from the floor and ended the half shooting 63 percent from the field.  

Furman ended the game shooting 44 percent from the field, a mark that included a 9-30 (30%) effort from three-point range.  And though the Paladins held a 10-0 advantage in second chance points scored, the Mids still held a 34-25 lead in rebounding.

Carter and Summers were each 7-11 from the field as the former scored 21 points and the latter accrued 15 points.  Njoku was 7-7 from the floor in totaling 14 points and Nelson made 4-6 shots in scoring eight points to go along with his team-high six rebounds.

Navy will play host to Washington (Md.) Wednesday at 2 p.m.