BALTIMORE, Md. -- Austin Benigni scored 27 points and Donovan Draper posted a double-double in a 69-62 win by the Navy (9-17, 5-10) men's basketball team over Loyola (6-22, 4-11) Wednesday night at Reitz Arena in Baltimore.

Navy scored 48 seconds into the game and never trailed.

"Proud of our guys," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "We have been on a losing streak but they have kept fighting.  The one thing this team has always given me is a great effort.  I thought they gave a great effort again tonight.  We made plays.  Aidan Kehoe came off the bench and gave us big minutes.  We started freshman Jordan Pennick tonight, who played really well in the first half and gave us big minutes.  The young guys came in and played well and then Austin Benigni took control of the game.  

"We had big nights from a couple of different guys.  Our defense was just good enough."

The Mids quickly jumped out to a 17-4 lead just seven minutes into the game.  The Greyhounds drew to within four points at 18-14 and then made it a three-point game at 27-24.  Navy answered with a 9-0 run to regain a 36-24 lead before taking a 43-31 advantage at the break.

Benigni scored 17 first-half points and Kehoe was 5-5 from the floor in scoring 11 points, which nearly doubled his previous career high for a game of six points.

Navy took its largest lead of the game at 48-33 a little more than three minutes into the second half.  The margin remained mainly in double figures until Loyola went on a 12-3 run to make the score 58-53 with just under five minutes still to play.  

A Draper foul shot made it a 59-53 game, but the Greyhounds soon winnowed the margin to two points at 59-57 with 3:11 showing on the clock.

Benigni was fouled and made both attempts from the charity stripe to double the lead to 61-57 with 2:48 remaining.  A Loyola missed shot was followed by a Navy turnover.  Alonso Faure then made a basket in the lane for the Greyhounds to make it a 61-59 game with just under two minutes left.

Navy called timeout with 91 seconds remaining.  The Mids drained the majority of what remained on the shot clock, then Mike Woods had an attempt from the lane blocked with the carom grabbed by the Greyhounds. Navy's defense didn't give Loyola a clean look at the basket, which left the Greyhounds trying a hurried shot from the lane that also came very late in the shot clock and missed the mark.  The rebound bounced around before Benigni came up with it and was fouled with 47.5 seconds left.  He made both attempts to push the lead to 63-59.

Loyola never had the chance to take a shot on its next time down the court due to an offensive foul being called on a screen with 39.9 seconds remaining. Benigni was fouled after receiving the inbounds pass. He made just one of two attempts to make the score 64-59 with 36.2 seconds still to play.

Kehoe registered a block -- his third of the game -- but Loyola grabbed the offensive rebound and Faure connected on a three-point basket to make it a 64-62 game with 17.4 seconds on the clock, after which the Greyhounds called timeout.  Navy again inbounded to Benigni and he was eventually fouled with 11.8 seconds remaining.  Benigni made the first attempt but missed the second.  However, Draper was able to grab the rebound and was fouled with 10.6 seconds left.  He made both free throws to give Navy a 67-62 advantage.

Loyola missed a three-point attempt on its ensuing possession, which led to Pennick grabbing the errant shot and being fouled.  He converted both foul shots to close out the scoring.

"We haven't been in this position," said DeChellis.  "We haven't had the lead like this for the whole game and down the stretch.  We haven't been in a tight game, so we had to make plays.  Benigni made some big free throws and Draper got a big rebound, which is important.  It was nice to see those guys make big plays to win a game." 

Navy shot 41.1 percent from the field in the game and limited Loyola to a 31.3 percent effort.  Loyola was just 5-25 (20%) from three-point land while the Mids were 4-15 (26.7%).  The Mids also were 19-25 (76%) from the foul line and the Greyhounds were 17-22 (77.3%).

Navy was outrebounded by a 41-25 count in the first game of the year between the teams, but was able to dwindle the deficit to 44-39 tonight.  The Greyhounds did hold a 16-10 lead in offensive rebounds, but that resulted in Loyola having only a 14-11 lead in second chance points.

The teams combined for 12 turnovers with Navy committing seven.

Benigni was 7-17 from the field and 13-16 from the foul line to score his 27 points.  Draper posted a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.  He totaled 12 points and six rebounds in the second half.  Kehoe ended the game 5-6 from the field in scoring 11 points while adding four assists, three rebounds and three blocks.

"He (Kehoe) has had days when he has played well," said DeChellis.  "We are just trying to get some consistency. A game like this should give some more confidence that he can go out there and do good things for us.  I am happy for him.  He has worked hard at it."

Navy will play the first of back-to-back home games Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Mids play host to Holy Cross.