PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Erik Reynolds II scored 18 of his game-high 29 points in the second half as Saint Joseph's battled back from a 12-point deficit to defeat the Navy men's basketball team, 70-63, Monday night at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia.  The game served as the season opener for each team.

"I am really proud of our team," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "I thought we played well in the first half and the first 12-15 minutes of the second half.  Reynolds just really got things going in the second half."

Navy had a great start to the game as it raced out to an 11-0 lead after just three minutes.  Saint Joseph's drew to within four points at 20-16 with just over nine minutes left in the half, but a layup by Donovan Draper and a triple by Lysander Rehnstrom pushed the advantage back out to nine points at 25-16.  The margin fell to three points at 31-28 before the teams went into their locker rooms with the Mids in front, 33-28.

Navy had another strong beginning to the second half as it built a 44-32 lead less than four minutes into the stanza.  Seven of those 11 points came from Austin Benigni and the remaining four came from Aidan Kehoe.

The Mids would hold a 10-point lead at 47-37 with 13:05 left in the game.  The Hawks proceeded to go on a 19-2 run to take a 56-49 lead with just over five minutes still to play.  Reynolds accounted for nine of those 19 points for Saint Joseph's.

Navy climbed back into the game when a Benigni triple winnowed the margin down to four points at 59-55 with four minutes remaining.  It soon was a three-point game at 64-61 with 1:42 left following a pair of foul shots by Benigni.  Xzayvier Brown made a three-point shot for the Hawks on the other end of the floor to stretch the gap out to six points (67-61) with 1:14 left.  Benigni made one free throw with 1:02 showing on the clock, then the Hawks were 3-4 from the foul line over the remainder of the game to close out the scoring. 

"Defensively," said DeChellis, "I thought we were pretty good most of the night.   Offensively, we had too many shots blocked at the rim.  We were trying to focus on driving the ball and kicking it out and we didn't do that down the stretch.  We had some shots blocks and that led to some transition baskets."

Saint Joseph's held a 6-0 advantage in blocks in the second half and an 11-3 lead for the game.  

Navy made more baskets than Saint Joseph's, 24-20, while the Hawks led, 8-6, in three-point field goals made.  Saint Joseph's was 22-29 from the foul line in contrast to a 9-11 effort by Navy.

The Mids held a 14-5 advantage in offensive boards, which resulted in a 14-1 lead in second chance points, and totaled a 39-35 overall edge on the glass.  Navy also was on the better end of turnovers as it committed 13 and forced 17.  

Individually, Benigni finished the game with 23 points with 18 coming in the final 20 minutes of play.  Kehoe contributed 12 points and nine rebounds and Jordan Pennick scored 11 points.  Matching Kehoe's rebounding total was Draper.

"I think they are a really good basketball team," said DeChellis of the Hawks who played in the 2024 NIT, "but I think our guys learned a lot tonight.  I am very proud of them, and we will continue to get better.  We have improved in the last two weeks and now we have to continue to show improvement."

Navy will open its home season Friday when it plays host to the 11th edition of the Veterans Classic.  Game one features Boston College vs. VCU with the Mids facing Harvard at 8:30 p.m.