The win was Navy's third in a row.

"I am really proud of our guys," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "It was another great defensive effort.  This Lehigh team scored 86 points and beat Lafayette by 40 on Saturday.  We were able to come in here and play really good defense, rebound and we took care of the ball (nine turnovers and forced eight). We kept them out of their transition game (Lehigh had seven fast break points to Navy's eight); they thrive on that."

Neither offense started the game strong, but Navy was the first to find a little rhythm.  Lehigh held a 17-16 lead when the Mids went on a 13-3 run to take a 29-20 advantage.  Navy was held scoreless in the last three minutes of the frame but still went into halftime holding a 29-22 lead.

Aidan Kehoe was 4-5 from the floor in scoring eight points in the half.  Navy reserve players accounted for 13 points as the starters outside of Kehoe were a combined 4-17. 

Lehigh quickly closed to within 31-30 in the early stages of the second half, but the Mids answered with an 11-0 run to take a 42-30 lead with 14 minutes still to play. Pennick accounted for eight of those 11 points.

Pennick added a third triple to help the Mids open up a 51-32 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

Lehigh was able to make it s 12-point game at 60-48, but the Mids scored the next five points and soon built a 68-49 advantage on Pennick's fifth trey.

Navy shot a respectable 42.9 percent (12-28) from the field in the first half, but made 56.7 percent (17-30) of its attempts after halftime.  This includes the Mids going 6-10 from three-point land in the final 20 minutes.  Navy also was 10-10 from the free throw line after halftime     as part of a 13-14 effort for the night.

An injury depleted Lehigh team shot almost 42 percent from the floor after halftime, but didn't have the volume of attempts (10-24) compared to Navy.  The Mountain Hawks were 8-16 from three-point range for the game but were just 8-14 from the foul line.

Navy held a 38-21 advantage on the glass, which included the Mids holding a 6-1 lead in offensive boards.  Additionally, Navy's bench outscored the reserves for Lehigh 24-7.

"Defensively," said DeChellis, "we were really good again.  Our guards are doing a really good job on the opposing team's guards.  That was important.

"Defensively every day, I am trying to impress upon them that we can be a good defensive team.  If we defend and we rebound, we are as good as anybody.  We'll score enough points to win."

Pennick, who was 4-6 from three-point range and 5-8 from the floor in the second half of Sunday's win at Army, was 5-7 from beyond the arc and 6-8 from the field after halftime tonight. He also set a career high for rebounds with his 10 caroms.

Kehoe registered his second-straight double-double and sixth of the Patriot League season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.  Austin Benigni added 18 points and six assists and Carnegie Johnson scored a career-high 13 points in a little more than eight minutes of playing time.

"Overall team effort," said DeChellis.  "We made enough shots in the second half to get some separation.  Jordan hit some shots and Austin was really good the second half. Everybody pitched in.  We had production from everybody."

Navy returns home for a Saturday game against Bucknell at 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall.