ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Austin Benigni scored 32 points and made two foul shots with 3.8 seconds remaining to account for the final points in a 71-69 victory by the Navy men's basketball team (7-9, 3-2) over Lehigh (4-12, 1-4), Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.  

"I'm really proud of our team," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "We didn't play very well (Saturday) at Lafayette and it was a tough couple of days of practice.  I thought the game tonight, the second half especially, was about grit.  I thought our team had grit and determination.  They made plays when we needed."

The score was tied 10 times in the first half.  The teams were knotted at 22 when Lehigh went on a 5-0 and 11-2 run to take a 33-24 lead with just under three minutes remaining.  Benigni scored eight points in the rest of the half and his running mid-range jumper with two seconds left on the clock tied the score at 35 as the teams went into the locker room.

Lehigh was 1-10 from three-point range in the first half but was 13-18 (72.2%) in its two-point attempts.  The Mids were 3-11 (27.3%) from three-point land but were 8-13 (61.5%) from the foul line.  The Mountain Hawks held a 26-14 lead in points scored in the paint.

The Mountain Hawks quickly scored the first five points of the second half as part of a 12-3 run to begin the frame that gave them a 47-38 lead.  Lehigh started the second half 4-7 from the field while the Mids were 1-7 in shooting and committed four turnovers to begin the half.

Lehigh extended its lead to 11 points at 52-41, but the Mids rattled off the next 10 points to close to within 52-51 with 8:45 remaining.  Mike Woods accounted for six of those 10 points.  The Mids then tied the game at 55-55 on a Nyles Howard dunk.  The score was knotted again at 59-59, then a basket and a foul shot by Mitch Fischer gave Navy a 62-61 lead with 4:56 showing on the clock.

The Navy lead grew to 66-61 after a basket by Donovan Draper and a pair of free throws by Mike Woods.  Lehigh cut the margin down to 66-63 with a pair of foul shots at the 2:22 mark, but it returned to five points (68-63) when Draper scored on a layup while being fouled.  He missed the foul shot with 1:57 remaining.

Back came the Mountain Hawks in a hurry and they answered with a pair of free throws with 1:51 left to play to again make it a one-possession game at 68-65.

The Mids had to call timeout as they had trouble inbounding the ball. Once play resumed they were successful at getting it in play, and ran a patient offense to take time off the clock.  Eventually Benigni tried an off-balance shot that missed the mark, but Draper was there for the carom and he was fouled.  Draper could only make the second of his two attempts from the line, with his make extending the lead to 69-65 with 1:20 still to play.

Lehigh again hurried the ball down the court and missed a shot, but Dominic Parolin was there for the putback to make the score 69-67 with 1:04 left to play.

The Mids inbounded the ball and again took their time.  Navy eventually had to rush a shot off that fell just short of the rim with about 27 seconds left.  The Mountain Hawks advanced the ball down the court and soon Parolin was fouled with 7.6 seconds showing on the clock.  He made the first shot, then Navy called timeout.  Parolin converted his second attempt, as well to tie the game for the 14th time.

Austin Inge inbounded the ball to Benigni, who started down the right side of the floor and he just kept going on that half of the court all of the way to the basket.  He was fouled on a drive to the hoop with the clock showing 2.7 seconds.  After a quick review, the clock was reset to 3.8 seconds.  The delay didn't faze Benigni as he made both foul shots to end the game 8-10 from the charity stripe.

"We stayed with what we knew," said Benigni of Navy's final play.  "Going into it, we knew what we were going to run.  Jack Medalie set a great screen on my man to get me free.  I was downhill, which was kind of rolling for me all night.  I just got to the rim and forced the refs to make a call."

The Mountain Hawks inbounded the ball, but the entry pass only reached the high post area on the Navy offense end of the court.  A second pass toward halfcourt went into traffic and the Mids were able to knock it free as the game clock expired.

Navy forced 13 second-half turnovers and scored 15 points after those Lehigh errors.  Conversely, the Mountain Hawks scored just seven points after the five second-half turnovers committed by the Mids.  Navy also flipped the script from the first half as it held a 24-18 edge in second-half points scored in the paint.

Navy shot 44 percent from the field in each half and limited Lehigh to a 45-percent effort over the final 20 minutes.

"The first half," said DeChellis, "we didn't guard them the way we wanted.  We went to the zone in the second half and it was much better for us."

Benigni totaled 32 points, Draper notched another double-double has he posted 14 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Woods scored a career-best 16 points and snared rebounds, four of which were on the offensive end.

Navy will play host to Army Saturday at 1:30 p.m.  The Army-Navy women's game will tip at 11 a.m.  Both games will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.