Austin Benigni established a new career-high by scoring 32 points to lift Navy men’s basketball to a thrilling 71-69 victory over Lehigh Wednesday night at Alumni Hall.
None of those points were more important than the final two.
Benigni calmly swished two free throws with 3.8 seconds left to provide the winning margin. Lehigh had just enough time to score a tying or winning basket, but senior guard Jalin Sinclair was stripped while trying to launch a desperation shot from just shy of mid-court.
“I’m really proud of our team. I thought the game tonight, especially in the second half, was about grit. I thought our team showed great grit and determination,” Navy coach Ed DeChellis said. “Our young guys made plays when they needed and found a way to win tonight.”
With the score tied with 7.6 second left, Navy ran a play designed to get Benigni going to the basket which worked to perfection.
Benigni took an inbounds pass from the end line, got a nice pick from 6-foot-6, 224-pound forward Jack Medalie and dribbled full speed into the frontcourt. No Lehigh defenders stepped up to stop the ball and Benigni got all the way to the rim where he was fouled by Ben Knostman.
“We knew what play we were going to run. Jack set a great screen on my man to get me free and I was able to get downhill,” Benigni said. “I got to the rim and forced the refs to make a call.”
Lehigh head coach Brett Reed noted it was poor defensive execution by his squad, which was supposed to have a defender cut off Benigni.
“We did not want him to get a running start. Unfortunately, we had an individual player who made a really costly choice,” Reed said.
Benigni took the ball strong to the hoop all game, making 11 of 18 field goals on the way to surpassing his previous career-high of 28 points, set earlier this season against William & Mary.
“We just put the ball in his hands with some middle ball screen stuff and let him try to drive it and see if he could get to the rim. We thought that was our best offense,” DeChellis said.
Sophomore forward Mike Woods pounded the offensive glass and scored most of his career-high 16 points on layups as Navy improved to 7-9 overall and 3-2 in the Patriot League. Sophomore forward Donovan Draper posted his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Mids, who had been 1-5 in games decided by single digits this season.
“You see the growth of the guys coming together those last two or three minutes and putting their foot down and saying we’re going to get this win,” Benigni said.
Senior forward Dominic Parolin came off the bench to score 20 points to lead Lehigh (4-12, 1-4). Junior guard Tyler Whitney-Sidney scored 14 points for the Mountain Hawks, who are now 1-8 in games decided by single digits.
Navy forced 15 turnovers in the second half with many turning into points on the other end. Lehigh shot a sizzling 72% on two-point attempts in the first half against man-to-man defense, so DeChellis switched to a zone and employed more full-court pressure.
“In the first half we didn’t guard them the way we wanted. We gave up too many points in the paint. We went to the zone in the second half and that was much better for us,” he said. “The zone was more active then we put the press in front of it to try to give them a different look and take some time off the clock. We knocked some balls free and it was important.”
DeChellis welcomed back senior guard Austin Inge following a three-game absence because of injury but in turn learned that he would be without junior guard Mac MacDonald because of illness.
MacDonald’s absence forced DeChellis to go deeper on his bench with a pair of plebes — Nyles Howard and Jordan Pennick — seeing their most extensive action since early in the season. Cam Cole, another freshman, was also pressed into the rotation.
“Our freshmen did a really nice job off the bench. Nyles came in and kept some balls alive. Pennick came in and got a couple steals,” DeChellis said.
Parolin scored eight points to spark an 11-2 run that gave Lehigh its largest lead at 33-24 with 2:50 remaining in the first half. The Mountain Hawks made 8 of 9 field goals during the 2 ½ minute stretch that began with the game tied at 22.
Benigni drained a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, then made a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to bring the Mids even at 35.
Sinclair scored a pair of baskets off runners in the lane as Lehigh outscored Navy, 14-4, to start the second half. Parolin had six points during the run, which gave the Mountain Hawks a 49-39 lead at the 12:59 mark.
Navy struggled offensively during that stretch, making just 1 of 8 field goals and committing four turnovers.
The Midshipmen finally found some life and it started on the defensive end by forcing multiple turnovers in a short stretch. Woods scored six points on layups to spark a 10-0 run that cut an 11-point deficit down to one. Woods grabbed a tough offensive rebound and converted the putback to make it 52-51 with 8:44 left on the clock.
“We were down by 11 and said we needed to get some stops. We started turning [Lehigh] over and getting into transition,” Benigni said. “That definitely played a huge part in bringing us back in that ballgame.”
Reed called timeout to settle his troops and Whitney-Sidney promptly drained a 3-pointer to halt the rally. There were two ties before a three-point play by junior forward Mitch Fischer gave Navy a 62-61 lead with 4:56 remaining in the game.
Draper scored off a driving layup and Woods made two free throws as the Mids increased the advantage to five with just under two minutes to go. However, the Mountain Hawks outscored the home team 6-1 to tie the score at 69 on two foul shots by Parolin with 7.6 seconds left.