EASTON, Pa. -- Aidan Kehoe filled the box score with 16 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and four steals as the Navy men's basketball team (18-6, 10-1) gradually built a double-digit second-half lead and went on to post a 65-50 victory over Lafayette (7-17, 4-7), Wednesday night at the Kirby Sports Center.

Navy also started the 1999-2000 and 2020-21 Patriot League seasons with 10-1 records.

The Mids improved upon its season-long defensive numbers that at the start of the day had them ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense and 35th in defensive field goal percentage.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first half, which ended with Navy in front 26-24.  Navy was 12-33 (36.4%) from the floor, which included a 1-8 effort (12.5%) from three-point land, while Lafayette was 9-26 (34.6%) overall from the floor and 2-15 (13.3%) from beyond the arc.

"I think in the first half both teams were really dialed in defensively," said Navy head coach Jon Perry.  "(Lafayette head coach) Mike McGarvey does a great job preparing his team.  We got their best shot tonight.  For us, we did a really good job of guarding Caleb Williams and Andrew Phillips in the first half (3-14 shooting, 10 points)."

Navy opened up a 32-26 lead in the early moments of the second half only to see Lafayette knot the score at 34.  The Mids scored 11 of the next 13 points to build a 45-36 lead with 7:50 left on the clock.  Donovan Draper opened the run with a pair of field goals and ended it with a pair of free throws.

Lafayette needed all of 80 seconds to whittle the lead down to 45-43 with 6:33 still to play.  Draper hit a jumper on the next Navy possession, then a Lafayette offensive foul gave the ball back to the Mids.  Austin Benigni followed with a jumper in the paint to make it a 49-43 lead. Benigni then recorded a steal and had a runout toward the basket.  He was stopped before reaching halfcourt on an intentional foul by Mark Butler, which gave him two foul shots and the Mids the ball.  He made both free throw attempts and then hit a jumper to complete a four-point possession that stretched the cushion to 53-43 with 5:16 left on the clock.

After each team had an empty possession, Lafayette made two free throws and then Benigni hit another jumper to keep the margin at 10 points (55-45) with 4:10 remaining.  Kehoe grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end of the floor, then snared an offensive rebound and scored on the putback to make the score 57-45 with 3:21 showing on the clock.

The lead stayed in double figures for the rest of the game.

Navy held Lafayette to roughly the same field goal percentage in the second (10-26, 38.5%) as it did in the first, but the Mids improved their own marksmanship after halftime to 57.7 percent (15-26).

"I thought we did a better job in the second half of getting the ball in the paint," said Perry.  "Our spacing was better and we were able to go more high-low.  When we needed to make plays down the stretch, Aidan had some big offensive rebounds, Draper had a steal in transition and made free throws and Austin made some really nice passes and plays.

"I liked our shot selection and sometimes you just aren't making baskets.  But what I really liked was our defensive intent and intensity. We just continued to guard and rebound.  That is what wins you games on the road sometimes."

Neither team had much success from the three-point line as the Mids were 1-12 (8.3%) and the Leopards were 6-30 (20%).  Navy also snared 36 rebounds and committed nine turnovers while Lafayette finished with 31 boards and 13 turnovers.

Navy held advantages of 44-22 in points scored in the paint, 18-6 in points after turnovers, 9-0 in second-chance points, 8-2 in fast break points and 20-3 in bench points.

Kehoe, who leads the NCAA in field goal percentage, was 7-8 from the floor and added a 2-5 showing from the foul line.  He scored (seven points) after each of his four offensive rebounds. The seven assists set a new career high and his four steals were one short of tying his career best.

"It was nice to see Aidan with seven assists and showing poise against the double team," said Perry.  

Draper finished with a game-high 17 points with 13 of them coming in the final 20 minutes of the game.  He also tallied seven boards, two assists, two blocks and one steal.

Benigni was 2-7 from the field in scoring four points in the first half but was 4-6 from the floor and made all four of his foul shots in totaling 12 of his 16 points after halftime.  He also recorded five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Lost in much of the flashier numbers in the box score was Jordan Pennick finishing +21 in the plus / minus statistic.  

"Pennick and Jinwoo Kim were two of the keys to the success of our defense tonight," said Perry.  

Navy will be back in Alumni Hall Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against American.