ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A 17-0 run in the game's opening minutes paired with a combined 43 points from Aidan Kehoe (10-10 from the floor) and Jordan Pennick (5-8 from three-point range) carried the Navy men's basketball team (12-5, 4-0) past Lafayette (4-13, 1-3), 76-50, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

This is the fourth year in which Navy has started a Patriot League season with a 4-0 record (1997-98, 9-0; 2020-21, 7-0; 2021-22, 4-0).  Also, the Mids have won seven-straight Patriot League regular season games dating back to last season.  The last time Navy won as many as seven league games in a row was when it won seven straight from Feb. 1-22, 2023.  The Mids have won eight-straight games overall this year for the first time since winning nine in a row from Nov. 28, 2020 to Jan. 23, 2021.

"We are not satisfied with being 4-0," said Navy head coach Jon Perry.  "We have to keep improving and keep climbing."

Navy jumped out to a 20-2 lead seven minutes into the game thanks to the Mids going 8-11 from the field and holding the Leopards to a 1-11 effort in the same span. 

"I thought the starters did a really good job of setting the tone early," said Perry  "The staff prepared the team for what Lafayette was doing and we tried to take them out of some of their actions early, which led to us scoring in transition, which led to the 17-0 run."

Austin Benigni hit a jumper to give the Mids the lead at 4-3.  The teams traded empty possessions, then Jinwoo Kim hit a three-point shot to make the score 8-2.  Lafayette had a missed shot, offensive board and shot clock violation on its next offensive opportunity, then Kehoe grabbed an offensive board and scored on the putback.  Both teams missed a shot, the Leopards missed again and Kehoe scored to push the lead out to 12-2.  An exchange of turnovers and a Lafayette missed shot was followed by Pennick hitting his second three-point basket of the afternoon and result in a Lafayette timeout.  Another miss for the Leopards occurred, then Cam Cole made a three-point basket of his own.  The Leopards turned the ball over and Benigni turned it into a layup on the other end to close the 17-0 run for the Mids. 

Navy was 7-9 from the field, including 3-4 from three-point range, during the run.

"A lot of it (the run) was because we were in transition," said Perry.  "The guys are starting to share the basketball. We have been harping the last three weeks on fundamentals and passing and catching with two hands and having vision, seeing before you catch and understanding where the defense is and know that when the ball is penetrated by us everyone has a job on their offensive rotations.  They are starting to play with a really good pace.  Our basketball IQ is improving."  

The Mids went on to take a 27-8 lead with eight minutes remaining.  Navy's offense slowed a bit over the remainder of the half as in an effort to slow down the game, the Leopards fouled Kehoe multiple times as soon as he caught the ball.  He was just 3-13 from the charity stripe in the half.  

The teams traded scoring possessions for most of the rest of the frame and Navy went into halftime holding a 39-20 lead on a three-point basket by Benigni just before the buzzer sounded.

The Leopards made six field goals and six free throws in the half while the Mids were 14-25 from the floor and 5-8 from three-point range.  Navy shot 56 percent from the field and limited Lafayette to 23 percent.  

Navy missed its first shot from the floor to start the second half, but scored on each of its next four possessions to start the half on a 10-3 run and build a 49-23 lead.  The lead grew to as many as 33 points at 63-30 and 71-38.

The Mids shot at least 50 percent from the floor in each half (56%, 50%) and finished the game shooting 52.9 percent.  Navy also was 9-21 (42.9%) from three-point land on the afternoon.  

Lafayette was limited to 23.1 percent shooting in the first half and 30.2 percent for the game.  

Navy held a lead of 41-35 on the glass and, despite finishing with one fewer offensive board (8-7), held an 11-2 advantage in second-chance points.  Navy also turned the ball over 10 times and forced 14, which led to it having a 17-3 lead in points scored after turnovers.

"We rebounded the ball well," said Perry, "we shared the ball well (19 assists), we finished the last four minutes of the first half well and the starters were again really good for us in the first four minutes of the second half."

Kehoe finished the game 10-10 from the field to join David Robinson (12-12, East Carolina, March 7, 1985), Kevin Sinnett (10-10, St. Francis, Jan. 14, 1978) and Evan Wieck (10-10, Holy Cross, Jan. 29, 2020), as the only Mids to finish a game perfect from the floor with at least 10 attempts.  He totaled a career-high 23 points and added 11 rebounds to notch his eighth double-double of the season and his fifth with at least 20 points.  The last Mid to have at least five 20-point double-doubles in a season was Robinson, who had 18 during his 1986-87 senior season.

Kehoe was 18-19 from the field in Navy's two games this week and is 34-39 (87.2%) from the floor in the team's four league games.

"A lot of that (Kehoe's production) comes from the other four guys on the floor," said Perry.  "We are starting to understand spacing better, and that's a credit to the staff and the guys watching a lot of film.  Those perimeter players are starting to understand where they need to be and where Aidan wants to catch the ball.  Our IQ is raising and so is our offensive execution.  That's a credit too to Aidan; he is in the gym and he is working."

Pennick made 7-12 three-point shots in tying a career high with 23 points in Wednesday's win over Bucknell.  He was 5-8 from long range in scoring 20 points this afternoon.

"I think he (Pennick) is just doing what he has always been doing," said Perry, "and the ball is starting to go in.  His teammates are still believing in him, us as coaches are still believing in him and he hasn't given up on his work ethic.  Sometimes when you are not making shots, the easy thing to do is not go in the gym and not work on it.  But that's not who he is; he goes back in and he has a great work ethic, wants to be a good basketball player and do whatever he can to help this team win."

Navy has a quick turnaround as it will play Monday night at American.  The 7 p.m. game in Bender Arena is a rematch of the 2025 Patriot League Tournament final and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.