Navy Midshipmen Fall to Campbell Camels, Drop Second Straight Game

The Navy Midshipmen men’s basketball team found itself at the mercy of a big second half by the Campbell Camels.

Dec 7, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Navy Midshipmen forward Daniel Deaver (31) talks with Navy Midshipmen guard Austin Inge (0) and Navy Midshipmen guard Austin Benigni (1) during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The Navy Midshipmen men’s basketball team dropped its second straight game, falling to Campbell, 86-66, on Sunday at Alumni Hall.

Navy (1-3) played a tight game with Campbell (3-2) in the first half, with the Camels leading, 38-33. But Campbell ran away with the game in the second half, outscoring the Midshipmen by 15 points in the final 20 minutes to secure the victory.

The Camels had the lead going into the half but made it a double-digit lead for the first time early in the second half on a lay-up by Terren Frank.

Navy cut the lead to six points twice in the half, the second time coming with 16:30 left with a lay-up by Austin Benigni.

After that, Campbell built the lead up to double-digits by the 14:28 mark of the second half and never allowed it to dip down from there.

The Camels built their lead on 50% shooting, along with an 86% clip from the free-throw line, where they made 19 of their 22 attempts.

Campbell's defense forced Navy into 15 turnovers and the Camels scored 20 points off those miscues. Campbell also outrebounded the Midshipmen, 35-33, and outscored Navy 40-32 in the paint.

Navy had a slight edge in bench points, 17-14. But the Midshipmen shot 42% from the field, made just five 3-pointers and was 15-of-24 from the free-throw line.

Aidan Kehoe and Austin Benigni led the Midshipmen with 14 points each. Kehoe shot 7-of-11 from the floor, but neither of them made a 3-pointer. Kehoe also had nine rebounds while Benigni had five assists.

Lysander Rehnstrom added 11 points in 23 minutes for the Midshipmen.

Campbell’s Jasin Sinani led the Camels with 24 points, including a 10-for-11 game from the free-throw line. Frank scored 17 points, while Nate Dorsey scored 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Cam Gregory added 10 points.

Navy is preparing for just one home game this week, as the Midshipman will host Quinnipiac at 5:30 p.m. eastern on Tuesday.

After that it's a four-game holiday week for Thanksgiving, beginning with a home game against Washington College (Md.) on Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.

After that, Navy heads to Philadelphia for the Cathedral Classic, where the Midshipmen will play games against Penn on Nov. 29, Elon on Nov. 30 and Maine on Dec. 1. All games will be at the legendary Palestra.