PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Maine (5-4) opened the second half on a 27-12 run to ease a five-point halftime deficit and then hung on for a 71-66 victory over the Navy (3-6) men's basketball team, Sunday afternoon at The Palestra in Philadelphia.

"I thought we started the game really well," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "I thought we had really good energy and emotion.  The second half, we really tried to emphasize that we needed to come out with the same energy and we really didn't."

Navy used an 11-0 run to take a 16-6 lead with 13:29 left in the half.  Maine cut the margin down to four points at 18-14, but the Mids returned the lead to double figures at 26-15 with 5:49 remaining.  It again was an 11-point lead at 31-20, then the Black Bears winnowed the gap down to three points at 31-28.  An Aidan Kehoe basket just before the buzzer sent the Mids into halftime holding a 33-28 lead.

Kehoe's basket capped an opening 20 minutes in which he totaled nine points and nine rebounds.

Maine started the second half 11-14 from the floor and forced the Mids into five turnovers –– which led to nine points –– while committing only one to jump in front 55-45 with just over 11 minutes showing on the clock.  The Mids were 4-7 from the field in that same span.  Maine's Quion Burns had 13 of those 27 points.

The Black Bears made 10 field goals in scoring their 28 first half points before they made 11 field goals in scoring 27 points in the first nine minutes of the second half.

Maine would soon take a 63-50 lead with 7:36 left to play and held a 65-54 advantage with 6:26 remaining.  A Sam Krist basket with 3:34 on the clock made the score 65-56.  A Maine turnover led to Jordan Pennick hitting a three-point basket to make it a six-point game (65-59) with 2:54 to play.  Austin Benigni grabbed a defensive carom on Maine's next possession, then he made a field goal with 1:56 left which drew the Mids to within 65-61.  

Maine threw the ball away before it could attempt a shot on its next possession.  Benigni missed a three-point attempt for the Mids on their next time down the court, but Donovan Draper grabbed the offensive board and scored on the putback while being fouled with 90 seconds left.  He converted the three-point play opportunity to pull the Mids to within 65-64.

Maine's Kellen Tynes quickly scored on a layup within a halfcourt set to make it a 67-64 game.  Benigni then lost the ball while driving within traffic late in the shot clock on Navy's ensuing possession.  That led to Tynes hitting a jumper on the other end to stretch the margin to 69-64 with 26.7 seconds left.

Pennick had his baseline three-point attempt blocked by Burns, with the loose ball being knocked out of bounds off of the Mids with 19.2 seconds remaining.  Maine inbounded the ball and was able to shave six seconds off the clock before Tynes was fouled with 13.5 seconds remaining.  He made both foul shots to increase the Maine lead to 71-64.

Maine was 17-27 (63%) from the floor in the second half to end the game with an overall mark of 52.9 percent.  Navy was 12-23 (52.2%) from the field after halftime and posted an overall shooting mark of 46.3 percent.

The Black Bears outscored the Mids 17-7 in points after turnovers in the second half as Maine committed just three turnovers and forced Navy into nine.  Some of those 17 points came as part of an 8-0 advantage for the Black Bears in second half fast break points.  Maine ended the game with a 24-13 advantage in points after turnovers despite committing only three fewer turnovers (12) than the Mids (15).

"Our defense in the second half was not very good," said DeChellis. "And then we turned the ball over.  We gave up 24 points after turnovers.  We made some egregious plays offensively, with passing the ball and not catching it.  

"We played hard, just not well.  There is a big difference.  We made silly mistakes at crucial times that really hurt us.  That is the kind of stuff this team has to grow through.  We will continue to work them and point out those mistakes so we get better going forward."

Kehoe posted the first double-double of his career with 16 points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds.  He was 7-11 from the floor and 2-3 from the foul line.

Jinwoo Kim joined Kehoe in double figures with a career-best 13 points.

Navy will play Saturday at NJIT.