ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A 25-0 run broke open what was a close game and led to a 97-64 victory by the Navy men's basketball team (2-2) over Washington (Md.) College (2-1), Friday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

Both offenses were clicking in the early going as the lead changed hands several times and the field goal percentages for each team were well above 50 percent.  Soon Washington scored five points in a row to take a 24-23 lead with 9:35 left in the first half.  

"Corey Begley has done a great job as head coach at Washington," said Navy head coach Jon Perry.  "Three or four of those guys have been with him for several years, and their guards are really talented.  I expect them to have a good year."

Navy responded by scoring the next 25 points to build a 48-24 lead with just over two minutes still to play before halftime.  The Mids were 7-11 from the field and 7-7 from the foul line during the spurt, while Washington was 0-12 from the field and 0-2 from the charity stripe.

"Our shot selection on the offensive end," said Perry as to the key to the run, "but it all started on the defensive end.  We decided to start guarding them a little bit.  We changed our defensive coverage on ball screens and really started to pressure the ball.  There were five guys on the floor who put a pole in the ground and we decided to start guarding."

The 25-0 run is tied for the longest in school history.  The Mids also ran off 25 points in a row two years ago against Washington.

Navy led by as many as 24 points in the first half and took a 48-30 lead at the break.  The Mids would lead by at least 20 points over the final 12 minutes of the game.

Navy was 34-57 (59.6%) from the field on the night and finished 8-18 from three-point range (44.4%).  The Mids recorded 24 assists on their 34 made field goals.  Washington shot 24-59 (40.7%) from the floor and was 10-32 (31.3%) from beyond the arc. The Mids also were 21-28 (75%) from the foul line in contrast to the 6-9 (66.9%) effort by the Shoremen.

Navy controlled the glass as it held a 44-19 edge in rebounds.

Six Mids scored in double figures led by a career-high tying 20 points from Aidan Kehoe who also added nine rebounds.  Donovan Draper neared a double-double as well as he finished with 13 points and nine rebounds and also dished out six assists.  

Jinwoo Kim made a trio of three-point field goals in scoring 14 points, Mike Woods tallied 12 points and five assists, Austin Benigni finished with 11 points and Cam Cole was 3-4 from three-point land in scoring 11 points.

"We have to continue to work on our ball screen defense, we have to continue to work on our gaps and our one-on-one defense and just starting the game with the defensive intensity that we need," said Perry on takeaways from tonight.  "That is something we have to continue to get better at, and we will.  

"We read a book over the summer called Legacy and part of that is staying 'blue' and keeping a blue head.  I thought even when it was a game early in the first 10 or 12 minutes, we stayed blue and didn't lose our head.  We kept our composure and they actually came together, were connected and that's when we went on our run.  At one point we had 12 defensive stops in a row, which was really good.  I am proud of the guys for that."

Navy now heads to Tobacco Road for a Tuesday night game at North Carolina.
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