BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Austin Benigni (34 points) never left the court and Aidan Kehoe (21 points, 21 rebounds) played all but 59 seconds as the pair combined for 55 points during an 82-79 double overtime victory by the Navy (13-6, 5-1) men's basketball team over Lehigh (7-12, 3-3), Saturday afternoon at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

It was Navy's first overtime game of the season and its first double overtime game since playing Army on Feb. 20, 2016.  Lehigh was playing its third overtime game of the league season and fifth of the year.  It was the first double overtime game for the Mountain Hawks in two seasons.

"That's Patriot League basketball," said Navy head coach Jon Perry.  "It is really hard to win on the road.  I thought Lehigh came out and did a good job of taking up the middle and making Aidan uncomfortable early.  I thought Aidan responded in the second half.  Austin did a really good job of running our team. He was great in timeouts today.  I hadn't seen the leadership from him like that in awhile.  He just took over a timeout a couple of times and said to the guys, 'this is what we need to do; we can do this.'  Especially when we were down early in the second half."

Navy used an early 7-0 run to take a 13-7 lead.  The Mids then were up 18-12 with eight minutes left in the half and soon took a 21-17 lead.  Lehigh tied the game at 21-21, the teams traded baskets and then a basket by Benigni and an offensive board and putback by Kehoe gave Navy a 27-23 lead.  The Mountain Hawks hit a three just before the first half ended to draw to within 27-26 at the break.

Navy held a 27-11 edge on the glass in the half, including a 10-2 lead in offensive rebounds.  The Mids held an 8-2 advantage in second-chance points, but the Mountain Hawks led 9-2 in points after turnovers and 7-0 in fast break points.

The lead changed hands several times in the early part of the second half.  Navy had a series of costly turnovers that led to Lehigh going on a 9-0 run and taking a 42-34 lead with 13 minutes remaining.

Navy battled back from a 46-40 deficit to make it a 46-45 game, then a pair of triples by Benigni and Cam Cole gave the Mids a 51-48 lead with 6:38 showing on the clock.  Lehigh regained a 52-51 lead, then Benigni drilled a three to make the score 54-52 with 3:41 remaining.  The Mountain Hawks took a 56-54 lead only to see Donovan Draper knot the game at 56-56 on a baseline jumper with 1:20 left.

Nasir Whitlock put Lehigh in front, 59-56, following the completion of a three-point play with 64 seconds remaining. Kehoe then grabbed an errant shot on the other end and scored while being fouled with 49.7 seconds left.  He too converted the three-point opportunity to again tie the game.

The Mountain Hawks missed a shot on what would prove to be their final possession of regulation.  Navy snared the board with 18 seconds left and Draper had a good look in the waning seconds that missed the mark.

Lehigh took a 65-60 lead midway through the first extra frame. A three-point basket by Benigni on Navy's next possession brought the Mids to within two points. A missed shot by both teams was followed by Lehigh missing a shot but grabbing the offensive carom.  Benigni promptly stole the ball and took it all of the way to the rim on the other end where he scored and tied the game at 65 with 57.9 seconds still to play.  

Whitlock fed Hank Alvey for a dunk that put Lehigh ahead by two points with 41.6 seconds remaining.  The Mids gave the ball to Benigni and he was fouled with 31.2 seconds still to play.  He calmly made both attempts from the charity stripe to tie the game at 67.

Lehigh ran the majority of the game and shot clock down until Whitlock tried a long and challenged three-point attempt that missed the mark.  Jinwoo Kim was there for the defensive board to extend the game five more minutes.

Kim scored off of an offensive rebound on Navy's first possession of the second overtime.  Lehigh scored on back-to-back possessions, which were sandwiched around a Draper basket that was initially counted on a goaltending call but then was overturned upon a Lehigh challenge which gave the home team the ball.  The Mountain Hawks led, 71-69, after their second basket, then Cole made two free throws with 3:13 left to tie the game again.

Draper blocked a shot by Whitlock on one end, then Benigni hit a jumper on the other to put the Mids in front, 73-71, with 2:42 remaining.  Each team missed a shot, then Lehigh tied the game at 73 on a basket by Joshua Ingram with 1:42 showing on the clock.

The teams traded baskets -- Navy's came after an offensive rebound and score from Kehoe -- to keep the game tied at 75 with exactly one minute left.  Kim hit another jumper with 34.9 seconds left to make it a 77-75 Navy lead.  Lehigh missed a three-point shot, with Benigni there for the defensive board with 17.4 seconds left.  He was fouled with 13.0 seconds remaining.  He missed the first foul shot but made the second to stretch the lead to a still uncomfortable three points at 78-75.  

A wayward Lehigh inbounds pass forced Whitlock to the sideline where he slipped and went out of bounds with 11.5 seconds remaining.  Kim triggered the ensuing play for the Mids, and his pass from near midcourt was stolen by Whitlock who was fouled with 9.8 seconds left.  He made each attempt to cut the margin down to one point at 78-77.  Kim called Navy's last timeout when he was unable to inbound the ball.  He was able to do so after the break as he gave it to Benigni who stood with the ball until he was fouled with 7.4 seconds still to play.  

Benigni made both attempts to make it a three-point game at 80-77.  Lehigh inbounded the ball to Whitlock, who was purposefully fouled in the backcourt with 3.5 seconds left.  Whitlock made the first free throw, then tried to miss the second but instead he made the offering to move the score to 80-79.  Navy inbounded the ball to Draper, who was fouled with 1.9 seconds left.  Despite getting accidentally hit around the eye on the foul, he made both free throws and it was an 82-79 game.  

The Mountain Hawks tried a long pass on the inbounds play, but it was broken up at midcourt to allow the scant remaining time to tick away.

"You rely on a guy like Austin and you have Aidan and Donovan rebounding any misses," said Perry on how the Mids climbed back into the game. "That's where the rebounding really came into play. And we were able to get to the free throw line.  The staff did a good job of putting our key players into situations where they can help us."

Navy did a great job on the glass as it ended the game with a 54-29 lead.  That included a 19-6 advantage in offensive rebounds, which allowed the Mids to have a 19-6 edge in second-chance points.

The Mids did a better job of taking care of the ball as the game went on.  After committing eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes, the Mids committed eight in the final 30 minutes.  On the whole, though, the 16 Navy turnovers were twice as many as the Mids forced.  That resulted in Lehigh holding a 22-8 lead in points after turnovers and a 15-7 advantage in fast break points.

"Turnovers is something we need to fix," said Perry. "It was a bugaboo for us for the second game in a row."

Both teams were 30-69 (43.5%) from the floor, the Mids were 8-19 (42.1%) from beyond the arc and the Mountain Hawks were 6-29 (20.7%) from long range.  Navy also was 14-20 (70%) from the foul line while Lehigh was 13-16 (81.3%).

"We had good ball pressure," said Perry as to how they limited the three-point shot by Lehigh, "and with some physicality with their screening actions.  We took the three away, however we didn't take the drive away.  That's how Whitlock was getting down into the paint.  But we would rather give up a two than a three.  They had been really hot from three coming into today.  Our guys had really good attention to detail.  Our staff had them prepared."

Beyond the gaudy statistics amassed by Benigni and Kehoe, Draper finished with 10 boards and two blocks, Cole hit a trio of three-point baskets on his way to scoring 11 points and Kim finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

"The rebounding was big for us tonight," said Perry. "Aidan had 21, but Draper came off the bench and gave us 10 and also scored on a big putback. And our guards rebounded; Kim had five defensive rebounds, Austin had three, Mike Woods had four and Cam Cole had three. Everybody was chipping in and understanding that rebounding is important.

"Cam is just an energy bug. Sometimes there are possessions where he is guarding three guys.  I don't know how he does what he does, but he is really athletic and really quick.  And he is a really great teammate.  He made some timely, timely threes.  He and Aidan are building a great relationship where Cam gets it into Aidan and Aidan kicks it back out to Cam.  He is a high IQ guy and understands the vision and getting it into Aidan."

Whitlock had an impressive game of his own as he scored 31 points.

Since box scores became available with the 1951-52 season ...
* Kehoe is the first Mid with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game since David Robinson went for 45 and 21 against James Madison on Jan. 10, 1987.  Additionally, he is the sixth Mid to have at least two career games with 20 rebounds (he had 20 last season at Army).

* Kehoe's 11 offensive rebounds ties the Navy record -- since the statistic began being tracked with the 1986-87 season -- held by Tom Lacey against Bryant on Dec. 6, 2016.

* Kehoe's 21 boards ties him for 11th place in school history and are the most by a Mid in a Patriot League game (his 20 at Army was the record). The last Navy player with at least 21 rebounds was David Robinson in the aforementioned monster game against James Madison.

* Kehoe is the first player nationally this season with at least 21 points, 21 rebounds and four assists against a Division I opponent.

* Benigni is the eighth Mid to play at least 50 minutes in a game and the first since Chris Harris played 55 minutes in a triple overtime game at William & Mary on Nov. 22, 2008.  The previous high for minutes played by a Mid in a Patriot League regular season game was 46 by Jordan Sugars against American on Feb. 24, 2010 (two overtimes).

* His 34 points today ties his career high set last season against Harvard.  Also, his five made three-point field goals sets a new personal high.  

* Benigni's 34 points ties him for sixth place for the most by a Mid in a league game.  He also joins John Clune (1952-54), Don Lange (1952-54) and David Robinson (1985-87) as the only Mids to have at least one 30-point game in three seasons.  The last Mid with at least 34 points was Mac MacDonald who had 35 two years ago at Holy Cross.  

Navy will be at home Wednesday when the Mids play host to Holy Cross.