WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Jordan Pennick made four three-point field goals and scored a career-best 16 points in a 71-65 victory by the Navy men's basketball team (12-17, 8-10) over American (16-15, 10-8), Saturday afternoon at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C., in the regular season finale for each team.

The victory gives the Mids a four-game winning streak heading into Tuesday's Patriot League Tournament first round game against Loyola.  The seventh-seeded Mids will play host to the 10th-seeded Greyhounds at 7 p.m.  The teams split the 2024 season series.

"Really proud of our team," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "We knew it would be a very tough, physical game.  American is a very good team.  They came out and kind of punched us around early in the first half, then we came around and got our legs back underneath of us and made some plays down the stretch to win the game.

"We have won four in a row now, which is always a good thing when you are heading into the tournament.  Really proud of our kids."

Navy led for nearly 18 minutes of the first half and took a 32-30 lead into the locker room.  This was despite the Mids not attempting a foul shot in the half and the Eagles going 5-6 from the stripe.  Nearly half of American's point total (14) came following the seven turnovers committed by the Mids.

The Mids extended their lead to 37-30 in the opening minute of the second half, but American scored the next nine points to take a 39-37 lead.  An Aidan Kehoe hook shot tied the game at 39 with just over 16 minutes still to play.

The game remained close until the Mids built a 50-44 lead, but the Eagles responded and tied the game at 50-50 with 7:38 on the clock.

A short while late, a Donovan Draper basket and foul shot gave the Mids a 60-59 lead.  After a missed shot by the Eagles, Austin Benigni scored on a jumper.  Draper then recorded a steal and eventually scored on a layup on the other end of the floor to make the score 64-59 with 3:41 still to play.  American's Matt Rogers drilled a three-point basket to make it a 64-62 game, then Draper found Pennick for a field goal to make the score 66-62 with just under three minutes remaining.

A missed triple by the Eagles was followed by a turnover from the Mids.  American's Greg Jones gathered in an offensive board and he was fouled with 2:10 showing on the clock.  He missed the front end of the bonus, with Navy grabbing the carom.  The ensuing possession for the Mids ended with a steal by the Eagles, which led to Pennick fouling Elijah Stephens with 1:42 on the clock.  He missed the first attempt from the line but made the second to make it a one-possession game at 66-63.

Benigni was fouled above the three-point line on the next Navy possession, sending him to the charity stripe for two shots.  After missing his first effort he made the second with 95 seconds remaining.  Navy again fouled Stephens on the other end of the floor and this time he made both shots to make the score 67-65 with 1:22 left on the clock.

Navy couldn't find an open shot in the early part of its next possession.  Instead, Benigni pulled the ball out and waited for the clock to tick down before starting to drive down the lane. He found Aidan Kehoe open once in the lane and flipped him the ball.  Kehoe made the basket while being fouled with 55.4 seconds left.  He would miss the foul shot with Navy in front, 69-65.

Rogers missed a three-point shot for the Eagles, with the carom bouncing back over halfcourt where American grabbed it.  The Eagles would call timeout with 38.5 seconds remaining on the game clock.  When play resumed, Stephens started to drive down the right side of the court.  Austin Inge was guarding him and on a move by Stephens he bounced the ball off himself and out of bounds with 34.2 seconds still to play.  That led to American calling a timeout.

Navy inbounded the ball to Benigni and he was fouled with 32.1 seconds left.  This time he made both attempts to push the advantage to 71-65.  Another missed triple by American was knocked out of bounds off of the Eagles with 17.9 seconds remaining.  The Mids inbounded the ball to Mac MacDonald, who was fouled with 16.6 seconds to go.  However, he missed both foul shots to keep the margin at six points.

Rogers tried another triple for the Eagles and it missed the mark with the rebound being knocked out of bounds by Navy with 5.8 seconds still to play.  After an American timeout, the Eagles missed a shot with Pennick grabbing the ball.  He had it shaken loose, however, and sent it out of bounds with just seven-tenths of a second remaining.

Navy converted on 9-16 (56.3%) of its three-point shots this afternoon and forced American into a 4-22 (18.2%) effort from beyond the arc.  That helped the Mids outshoot the Eagles, 55.6%-43.1%, overall.

"I think we have guys who can shoot," said DeChellis, "we just haven't shot the ball well.  We just keep encouraging them.  If you are open, don't think about it, shoot it.  If we make shots, we are a harder team to guard.  We made some today which was really helpful.

"Defensively we have been much better (during the winning streak).  We changed some things up five or six games ago.  That continues to work for us and we are scoring just enough to win.  The biggest thing as a coach is you are always trying to give your team confidence.  But we have to have good things happen.  We prepare them, we work them hard, they are a great group of guys and now we are playing with a level of confidence.  That can come and go, but this group right now believes we are playing well.  It is a team thing, not one guy."

Navy entered the day ranked 10th nationally in turnover margin with a mark of +4.1, but the Mids committed twice as many turnovers (16) as they forced (8).  Navy did win the rebounding column in the box score, 29-27, and totaled more free throws (12-16) than American (11-15).

Pennick had made four three-point field in the first 17 games of league play and seven all season long prior to today's 4-5 effort from long range.  His 16 points well surpassed his previous high of nine.  Pennick also added six rebounds to tie a career best.

Benigni was 11-12 from the foul line in scoring 16 points.  He scored in double figures in all 18 league games this season to better the previous school high of 16 set last season by Daniel Deaver.  Benigni also dished out five assists today.

Completing the trio of Mids who scored in double figures was Draper with 14 points, while Kehoe added eight points and seven rebounds.