ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Aidan Kehoe and Donovan Draper each posted double-doubles as the Navy men's basketball team (19-6) improved to 11-1 in Patriot League play with an 82-73 victory over American (13-12, 6-6), Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

The 11-1 start in Patriot League play matches the best 12-game record for the Mids in any of their 45 seasons of being in a conference.  The 1999-2000 Navy team finished its 12-game Patriot League slate with an 11-1 record, and the unbalanced and abbreviated COVID season in 2020-21 saw the Mids also start with an 11-1 record on their way to a 12-1 mark.

Additionally, Navy's 1985-86 and 1986-87 teams each started their respective Colonial Athletic Association seasons with an 11-1 record as both ended CAA play with a 13-1 record.

"I thought it was a great Patriot League game," said Navy head coach Jon Perry.  "You had two teams who were throwing punches back and forth. They (American) shot the ball really well from three.  That's a credit to them.  I thought we responded in the second half.  We rebounded the ball better, we were able to get the ball inside a little more and we had just enough defensive rebounds down the stretch."

A close early part of the first half saw the score tied for the fourth time at 20-20.  After an exchange of baskets, Navy scored the next eight points to take a 31-23 advantage with five minutes left in the half.  The Eagles promptly drained three of their six first-half three-point field goals over the remainder of the frame to close to within 39-35 at the break.

Both teams shot the ball very well in the first 20 minutes as the Mids connected on 50 percent of their shots and the Eagles made 46.4 percent of their field goal attempts.

Kehoe was 5-5 from the floor and 4-5 from the foul line in the first half to finish with 14 points and six rebounds.

Navy took a 43-37 lead in the beginning stages of the second half, but American made three-point field goals on each of its next three possessions to take a 46-43 lead a little more than four minutes into the half.  That resulted in a Navy timeout.  When play resumed, the teams scored on each of their next two offensive opportunities to make the score 50-47 in favor of the Eagles.

Jinwoo Kim hit a three-point basket to tie the score, then a little more than one minute later Cam Cole scored to give Navy a 52-50 lead with 12:30 still to play.  Geoff Sprouse hit another triple for the Eagles to place them in front 53-52.  A traveling violation on the Mids gave the ball back to the Eagles, but Draper ended their possession with a steal that he took all of the way to the rim for a basket while being fouled. He converted the three-point play opportunity and gave Navy a 55-53 lead with 11:26 left on the clock.

Neither team scored for almost three minutes until a Cole three-point basket made the score 58-53.  Sprouse missed a three-point shot for American, with Draper grabbing the defensive board.  Navy sent the ball inside to Kehoe, who scored while being fouled.  His made free throw capped a 9-0 run that gave the Mids a 61-53 lead with 7:22 on the clock.

I thought Cam Cole's three was big in the second half," said Perry.  "It gave us a little juice; we were a little flat.  They made some runs at us.  (American head coach) Duane (Simpkins) does a great job.  He has really talented kids, and they were well prepared for us."

It soon was a five-point game at both 61-56 and 62-57.  Draper hit a jumper on Navy's next possession, then an American missed shot followed by an offensive rebound and then a steal by Draper resulted in an empty possession for the Eagles.  Draper was eventually fouled and he made one of his two free throws to make the score 65-57.  Cole next blocked an American shot in the lane, with Draper scooping up the carom.  Draper then drilled a three-point basket to push the lead to 68-57 with 3:29 left to play.

Navy was 12-14 from the foul line over the rest of the game to seal the victory.

American made 12 three-point field goals (on 35 attempts) to tie the season high allowed by the Mids this season and shot 34.3 percent from beyond the arc as part of a 45.8 percent shooting effort overall.  Navy was 6-13 from three-point range (46.2%) and shot 56 percent from the field, which is new season high for the Mids

"I am really happy with our assist numbers," said Perry, of 21 helpers on 28 made field goals.  "They just keep going up and up. That shows a belief and a connection within the team."

Both teams grabbed 31 boards while Navy committed nine turnovers and forced 12.  The Mids held a 19-5 advantage in points after turnovers.

Individually, Kehoe registered his 12th double-double of the season and the 20th of his career with 22 points and 10 rebounds.  He was 8-10 from the floor and 6-10 from the foul line to record his seventh 20-point double-double of the year.  Draper finished with an impressive statistical line of 18 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks.  He was 6-8 from the floor and 5-7 from the charity stripe in posting his second double-double of the season and 16th of his career.

It was the first time a pair of Mids had tallied a double-doubles in the same game since Kehoe and Draper did so during a Navy victory over American on Jan. 2, 2025.

"Donovan Draper stepped up for us with multiple big plays, whether it was on the offensive end or the defensive end," said Perry.  "Aidan Kehoe was Aidan Kehoe.  I don't know how he does it; he makes a lot of plays for us on both ends in his 37 minutes of playing time."

Navy had dropped a 65-51 decision at American when the teams met back on Jan. 12.

"They kind of blitzed us in the first half the first time we played them," said Kehoe of the difference in the two games.  "We dug a hole for ourselves that we couldn't get out of."

Navy has a short turnaround as it next will play Monday night at Bucknell in a game that will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.