Navy Midshipmen Men’s Basketball Suffers First Patriot League Loss

The Navy Midshipmen men’s basketball team had hoped to extend their Patriot League winning streak to three wins against Holy Cross.

Dec 15, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Navy Midshipmen forward Donovan Draper (11) shoots the ball against Virginia Tech Hokies forward Tobi Lawal (1) during the second half at Cassell Coliseum. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The Navy Midshipmen saw its undefeated start in Patriot League action come to an end with a 70-59 loss to Holy Cross on Wednesday at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.

The Midshipmen (5-11, 2-1 in Patriot) were the only undefeated team left in conference action before falling to the Crusaders (10-6, 2-1).

Holy Cross built an eight-point halftime lead but Navy made a run at it early in the second half. The Midshipmen quickly tied the game with an 8-2 run in the first three minutes, capped by Lysander Rehnstrom’s 3-pointer.

Navy and Holy Cross traded baskets and ended up in one more tie before the Crusaders took over the game for good. Holy Cross went on an 11-0 run, which included a pair of 3-pointers by Joe Nugent. That run gave the Crusaders a 53-42 lead with 13:37 left.

Navy was never able to make it a single possession game after that.

Holy Cross shot well for the entire contest, firing 53.7% from the field, 50% from the 3-point line and 66.7% from the free-throw line. That included 10 3-pointers.

Navy shot just 39.7% from the floor and only 25% from the 3-point line (7-for-28). The Midshipmen also shot just 20% from the free-throw line, going 2-of-10.

Still, Navy led the game for more than nine minutes in the first half and led by as many as seven points.

Aidan Kehoe had another great game for the Midshipmen, as he scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Donovan Draper added 12 points and nine rebounds. Draper was named the Patriot League men’s player of the week on Monday.

Carnegie Johnson scored 10 points for the Midshipmen and Austin Benigni added nine points, along with a team-high six assists and three steals.

Nugent paced Holy Cross with 21 points and nine rebounds. Caleb Kenney added 18 points, along with eight rebounds and four assists. DeAndre Williams scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds. Max Green added seven points, six rebounds and four rebounds.

The win added to Holy Cross’ lead in the series to 48-30, with a 38-27 lead over Navy in Patriot League games. The Crusaders are 26-10 at home against the Midshipmen. Navy had won the last three games in the series and the last three games in Worcester before Wednesday.

Navy remains on the road this week as they will face Loyola (MD) on Saturday at 5 p.m. eastern.