ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Dec. 20, 2019) - The Mount St. Mary's men's basketball team surrendered an early first half lead and were unable to recover, ultimately falling to the Navy Midshipmen 59-48 Friday at Alumni Hall. 

Nana Opoku and Malik Jefferson led the Mount with eight points each, and Jefferson led with six rebounds. The team was held to 33.9 percent from the floor - their third lowest total of the season. Omar Habwe provided a spark off the bench with seven points over 20 minutes of playing time. 

The Mountaineers (3-9) held the advantage for the first ten minutes, building a lead as high as six at the 12-6 mark. Navy started chipping away from there, and a trey from Cam Davis gave the Mids a 15-14 lead with 9:39 remaining in the first half. Mount only managed to pull even once at the 16-16 point before Navy took control. Bolstered by an 8-0 run, the Midshipmen took a 31-21 lead into halftime. 

Despite never regaining the lead, the Mountaineers made an effort to come back at the start of the second half. A 7-0 run capped off by a triple from Vado Morse and free throws by Damian Chong Qui cut the deficit to three with 16:46 left. Navy pushed the lead back up to double digits, but the Mount made another run at the midway point. A three-pointer from Habwe and a Chong Qui layup trimmed Navy's lead back down to three inside of eight minutes. That was the closest the Mount would get, and free throws down the stretch gave the Midshipmen a double digit win. 

Navy (6-4) had three players reach double figures in scoring, led by John Carter, Jr. with 17. 

The Mount returns home to battle Coppin State for a 7 p.m. tip-off next Friday (Dec. 27).