ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– Lehigh carried its late-first half momentum into the start of the second half to build a lead that the Navy men's basketball team could not cut into during a 69-61 victory by the Mountain Hawks (7-12, 5-2 Patriot League) over the Mids (12-6, 5-2), Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

"I'm not making any excuses," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. "We have to play better, both offensively and defensively.

"Lehigh played well.  I thought it would be a tough game coming in.  They are pretty athletic on the perimeter.  We had a hard time guarding them.  They made some shots."

Navy held several five-point leads in the early part of the game and led for over 11 minutes of the first half, but Lehigh went into halftime with a 34-30 lead.  The Mids took 13 more shots than the Mountain Hawks (38-25), but ended the half with one fewer made field goal (14-13) thanks to the visitors shooting 56 percent from the field and the home team shooting just 34.2 percent.  Navy also held a 10-1 edge on offensive rebounds, but each team ended the half with two second-chance points.

Navy had a 27-23 lead with just under four minutes left in the first half, then Lehigh closed the frame on an 11-3 run to take the four-point advantage after 20 minutes of play.

Lehigh's Evan Taylor was 6-6 from the field in scoring 14 first-half points, while Greg Summers (Sr., Ocoee, Fla.) was 4-5 from the floor in totaling nine points for Navy.

"We didn't guard them in the first half," said DeChellis.  "They made layup after layup after layup.  And we didn't make any baskets."

Lehigh quickly extended its lead out to 40-32 less than three minutes into the second half, then stretched the margin out to double figures at 48-37 with just under 15 minutes left in the game.  The Mountain Hawks were 3-3 from three-point range in the opening minutes of the half, while the Mids were 2-8 from the field overall during the same span.

The score was soon 52-39 when the Mids started to chip away at the deficit.  An 8-2 run drew Navy to within 54-47 8:35 remaining.  Daniel Deaver (Jr., Falls Church, Va.) accounted for back-to-back baskets then, after a Lehigh jumper, Tyler Nelson (Jr., Monroe, N.C.) had a tip-in and Austin Inge (So., Greensboro, N.C.) scored to make it a seven-point game.

Navy was able to winnow the difference down to six points at 55-49 and 58-52, with the latter coming on a John Carter Jr. (Sr., Spring Hill, Tenn.) basket with 3:36 left.  The teams traded free throws on the ensuing two possessions to make the score 60-54 with 2:50 left and 61-55 with 2:04 still to play.  Lehigh saw its next trip down the court end without a shot following an offensive foul with 1:45 remaining.  Carter drove to the basket on Navy's next offensive opportunity, but his shot in traffic was thwarted and Lehigh grabbed the carom before Tyler Whitney-Sidney was fouled with 1:14 remaining.  He made both foul shots to expand the margin to 63-55.  

The Mids were one shot on done on their next three possessions.  Navy was forced to foul after each, and Lehigh was 5-6 from charity stripe during that stretch to take a 66-55 lead with 56.1 seconds left.

Navy did a great job of giving itself extra opportunities to score throughout the night, but struggled to convert.  The Mids totaled just five points after the 16 offensive rebounds they grabbed, and scored just seven points after the 14 turnovers it forced.  Conversely, Lehigh accrued eight second-chance points on seven offensive boards and produced five points after the six Navy turnovers.

"We get it, and as I tried to tell them during timeouts, we're trying to put 10 pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sack," said DeChellis.  "Everybody is trying to jam it in there.  Nothing was fluid, nothing was the offense."

The Mountain Hawks also were 20-31 (64.5%) from the foul line in contrast to the 8-18 (44.4%) effort by the Mids.  Navy additionally attempted 23 more shots than Lehigh, but made just three more field goals.  The Mids were 24-70 (34.3%) from the field and the Mountain Hawks were 21-47 (44.7%).

Summers with 12 points, Carter with 11 and Deaver with 10 were the three Mids to score in double figures.  Additionally, Nelson just missed a double-double with 10 rebounds and nine points.

Navy will be home Saturday when it plays host to Army at 1:30 p.m.