If you want to be a contender in the Patriot League, you’ve got to beat the last place team on your home floor.
Navy men’s basketball turned in a lackluster effort Saturday and suffered an embarrassing loss to a struggling Loyola Maryland squad that came in with just three wins all season.
Sophomore guard Deon Perry tied a career-high with 30 points as Loyola pretty much led from start to finish in beating Navy, 74-70, before an announced crowd of 2,024 at Alumni Hall.
Sophomore guard Garrett Brennan also reached a career-high with 15 points for Loyola (4-17, 2-6), which shot 45.7% from the field and made 23 of 29 free throws. Junior forward Milos Ilic totaled 11 points and eight rebounds for the Greyhounds, whose only other Patriot League win also came on the road against Army.
Sophomore point guard Austin Benigni amassed 19 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead Navy (8-11, 4-4), which put forth a subpar performance in two of the categories coach Ed DeChellis considers critical. Junior guard Mac MacDonald added 16 points for the Midshipmen, who did not defend very well and were outrebounded 41-25.
“We lost two of the things that we pride ourselves on — rebounding and field goal percentage defense,” DeChellis said. “Coming into the game we knew we had to be really good at rebounding the ball because of their size, length and physicality. We knew it would be really challenging to keep them off the glass and at the end of the day we didn’t do it.”
Perry made five 3-pointers and took the ball strong to the basket, drawing several fouls and making 9 of 10 free throws. The Mount Carmel graduate also snagged seven rebounds.
“We had no answers for Perry today. We had a real hard time containing him,” DeChellis said.
Benigni and MacDonald were a combined 9-for-29 from the field as Navy shot just 39.3% for the game. That marked Loyola’s top field goal percentage defense of the season. Sophomore forward Donovan Draper, the Mids’ leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, got into early foul trouble and contributed just four points and four rebounds.
“We did not play our best game and we paid for it. The game was moving faster than we were playing today. We were behind the ball,” said DeChellis, who was disappointed his young team continued a trend by not playing well in the first five minutes of both halves.
“I didn’t think we came out of the locker room ready to go. I didn’t feel the passion we need to have when you go into a conference game at home. It’s been an issue and keeps repeating itself. As coaches, we have to figure it out.”
It was a disappointing week for the Midshipmen, who also did not defend well in losing to Bucknell on Wednesday. Navy has two road games this week — at Lehigh and Colgate.
“I tried to get the guys to understand how important this home game was,” DeChellis said.
Perry made three 3-pointers in scoring 13 points as Loyola took a 36-29 halftime lead. MacDonald scored eight points for Navy, which trailed for almost 17 of the 20 minutes.
Junior guard D’Angelo Stines and Perry both made threes to spark a 12-2 run that gave the Greyhounds an 18-7 lead. An old fashioned three-point play by Benigni capped a 9-0 run by the Mids that cut the deficit to 18-16 with 8:49 remaining.
Loyola answered with a 9-0 run of its own with a 3-pointer by Perry restoring the lead to 27-16. Sophomore center Aidan Kehoe scored four of its six points in the final five minutes as the Mids managed to get within seven at halftime.
Perry converted a three-point play then followed with a 3-pointer as Loyola used a 9-2 run to build the lead back to double digits, 45-34, just three minutes into the second half. MacDonald made a 3-pointer, then delivered a beautiful inside feed to sophomore forward Mike Woods for a layup as Navy scored eight straight points to get back within three.
That brief rally was once again extinguished by the Greyhounds, who responded with eight straight points to push the lead back to 11 at the 12:05 mark. It was like that the rest of the way with Navy unable to make enough shots or defensive stops to mount a sustained comeback.
“Overall, I’m pleased with the resolve,” Loyola coach Tavaras Hardy said. “There were several points in the game when we built the lead up then they made their run back. That happened all throughout and this team has struggled in those moments when it’s not going our way. Today, there were several times when we persevered.”
It seemed like Perry stepped up whenever Loyola needed a basket to stem the Midshipmen’s momentum.
“Deon is incredibly talented. What I liked about a lot of his stuff today was it was the right play to make in the right moment,” Hardy said.
Can this latest win propel Loyola to turn things around? Hardy believes his squad has the talent to do so.
“We’ve talked a lot about focusing on the moment. We can’t go back,” he said. “Our nonconference was not what we wanted. Patriot League, so far, has not been what we wanted. We can’t go back. All we can control is what’s in front of us. I think this team is capable of doing what it takes night in and night out.”
Navy at Lehigh
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: 1430 AM
Loyola Maryland at Bucknell
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Stream: ESPN+