CLINTON, S.C. -- Aidan Kehoe scored 19 points and the Navy men's basketball team led by double figures for the last 26 minutes of a 76-55 victory over Presbyterian, Monday night at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C., in the season opener for both teams and the first game for Jon Perry as the head coach of the Mids.

"I thought we did a lot of great things," said Perry. "Really excited to see those guys play someone else.  We have been at this thing since August 20.  We were ready to play someone else.  I think (Presbyterian head coach) Quinton Ferrell does a great job with his team.  Excited about the first win.

Presbyterian held a 12-11 lead with 12:30 left before intermission, but from there would make just one field goal over the rest of the half.  Navy took 16-12 and 23-14 leads before going into the break with a 37-17 advantage.

"I don't know if it was anything special that we did," said Perry of the defense in the latter part of the first half.  "As the half went on we settled in defensively.  We started to make some adjustments in the timeouts.  That's a credit to the staff and the guys executing the game plan."

The Mids had good offensive balance in the opening 20 minutes as seven of the nine players who took to the floor made at least one field goal.  Kehoe was 5-6 from the floor to help Navy to a 48.4 percent (15-31) effort from the field.  Conversely, the Blue Hose were 7-26 (26.9%) from the field, which included a 0-12 showing from three-point range.

Presbyterian was able to shave two points off of the 20-point halftime deficit early in the second half, but Navy put the game away with a 12-1 run that gave it a 60-30 lead with 11 minutes to go.  The margin remained at least 20 points for the remainder of the contest.

Navy improved upon its first half field goal percentage as it shot 50 percent (12-24) from the floor after halftime to end the game with an overall mark of 49.1 percent.  Presbyterian started to find its shot in the second half as it connected on 52.2 percent (12-23) of its attempts, which included a 3-9 showing from three-point land.  The Blue Hose made 38.8 percent of their field goal attempts for the game.

Navy won the rebounding battle, 34-31, and scored 19 points after the 15 turnovers it forced while Presbyterian tallied eight points after the eight turnovers committed by the Mids.

Kehoe finished the game having made nine of his 11 field goal attempts to score 19 points.  That left him one point shy of tying his career high.  

"Everything," said Perry's response when asked about what Kehoe did well.  "He scored inside, pitching it out and reposting when he needed to.  Jonah Pierce is a handful and for Aidan to play 34 minutes and guard on that end and do a great job on Pierce and hold him to only five points and then be an anchor for us on the offensive end was great."

Jordan Pennick made a trio of triples on his way to scoring 13 points while Austin Benigni added 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.  Rounding out the starting five were Donovan Draper with eight points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists and Jinwoo Kim with seven points, six rebounds and three assists.

Perry served the last 12 years as an assistant at Navy to former head coach Ed DeChellis, who was in attendance at tonight's game.

"It is just an honor to serve the staff and serve the players daily," said Perry.  "They make it fun and rewarding.  I think I have the best job in the world and I think the Naval Academy is the best place to be."

Navy will open the home portion of its season Friday when it plays host to Yale at 8:30 p.m. in the second game of the 12th annual Veterans Classic.  Game one starts at 6 p.m. and features Tulsa against Rhode Island.  Both games will be televised by the CBS Sports Network.