ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A stout defensive effort by the Navy men's basketball team carried the Mids (6-14, 3-4 Patriot League) to a 62-47 victory over Boston University (9-11, 3-4 Patriot League), Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.
The 47 points scored by the Terriers were the fewest allowed by the Mids to a Division I opponent this season, bettering the 58 points American was held to on Jan. 2, and were the second-fewest points scored by Boston against Navy in the 26 games played between the teams (45, 2023).
"We have been in every game and just haven't played well down the stretch," said Navy head coach
Ed DeChellis. "I told our guys at halftime that we were in the same situation at Bucknell; we believe in you and you just have to make plays one play at a time. One on offense, one on defense.
"Proud of our guys. We put ourselves in a real tough spot with losing some close games. They were able to practice pretty well the last few days and found a way to win tonight."
It was a slow start to the game offensively for both teams. The score was tied at 12-12 when Navy went on a 5-0 and 10-2 run to take a 22-14 lead. Boston closed to within five points at 22-17 and 24-19, but the Mids closed the frame on a 9-0 run to take a 33-19 advantage at the break.
Navy was 6-10 from three-point range in the first half and Boston was 7-22 from the floor overall.
Austin Benigni scored 12 first half points for the Mids.
The Mids opened the second half with back-to-back triples to extend their lead to 39-19. Boston ended a 7:56 scoring drought with a field goal at the 16:34 mark of the second half.
The Terriers soon found a rhythm and quickly drew to within 11 points at 46-35 with 12:15 showing on the clock. Navy regained a 49-35 lead, but Boston scored the next seven points to make it a 49-42 game with 8:10 still to play. The then Terriers had a possession to cut into the lead even more but missed a shot.
The teams traded free throws over the next few minutes to keep the margin at seven points (51-44, 5:39 left). Benigni made a field goal, Boston made one foul shot and
Cam Cole scored off of a great pass from
Donovan Draper to give the Mids a 55-45 lead with 4:30 showing on the clock.
Neither team scored again until Benigni made a pair of foul shots to push the lead to 12 points with 1:45 still to play. The Terriers immediately cut it back to 10 points, but Navy would close the game by going 5-6 from the charity stripe to secure the victory.
Boston ended the evening missing 12 of its final 13 attempts from the floor.
After shooting nearly 53 percent from the field in the first half, Navy cooled off to just 36.4 percent (8-22) in the second half to total a 43.9 percent effort in the game. Boston shot essentially 31 percent in each half. The five starters for the Terriers were a combined 7-30 from the floor (23.3%).
"I thought defensively we were very good," said DeChellis. "I thought we rebounded the ball and beat them on the glass. We told our guys that if you defend and rebound we will have the chance to win games. We will make enough baskets to be successful.
"We needed to guard Michael McNair. He can really shoot the ball. I thought our guys did a nice job of pushing out on him. He was 0-8 from the floor and 0-4 from three. That hasn't happened in our losses. We let guys who we were trying to focus on beat us."
The Mids gained ground on the Terriers at the foul line as Navy was 17-23 in free throws and Boston was 10-16, though numerous opportunities came down the stretch when the Boston was forced to foul. The Mids also held a 35-29 lead on the glass. The Terriers forced Navy into 16 turnovers –– eight in the second half –– and committed 14 –– three after halftime.
Benigni was 11-12 from the foul line for the game and ended the night with 21 points. Joining him in double figures were
Jordan Pennick and
Jinwoo Kim with 13 points apiece. Additionally, Draper tallied eight rebounds and
Aidan Kehoe had seven.
Navy will play Sunday at Army in a 3:30 p.m. game to be aired on the CBS Sports Network.
