Annapolis, Md. (November 26, 2022)—Mount St. Mary's saw its two-game win streak snapped in a75x-59 loss at Navy on Saturday.  Jalen Benjamin led the Mountaineers with 12 points while Dakota Leffew added 10 in the loss. 

Navy broke the game open early in the second half, stretching an 11-point lead to a 51-30 with just under 14 minutes remaining.  The Mountaineers (3-4) cut the deficit to 59-44 after a Benjamin baseline jumper, Navy sealed the win with the next six points to re-establish the 21-point advantage with 6:12 left in the game.

Benjamin scored a team-high 12 points for the Mountaineers, the first time this season he has been held under 17 points in a game.  Leffew's 10-point effort gives him six double-figure scoring games this season.  George Tinsley added nine points and six rebounds while Frantisek Barton had eight points off the bench.  Dola Adebayo and Jedy Cordilia each posted career highs with seven and six points respectively in the game.

Tyler Nelson led Navy with 18 points, hitting 7-of-8 from the field and all four of his three-point attempts.  Daniel Deaver chipped in 14 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals while Kam Summers added 14 for the Midshipmen.
Navy shot 51.6 percent from the floor (32-of-62) in the game and was 8-of-24 (.333) from three-point range.  The Mountaineers shot 48.0 percent (24-of-50), but were just 2-of-10 (.200) from beyond the three-point arc.

In the first half, Leffew and Tinsley connected on early three-pointers with Navy holding a narrow 9-8 advantage at the first media timeout.  After a 6-0 Navy run, the Mount responded with buckets from Leffew and Tinsley to make it 15-12.

The Midshipmen (5-1) took control of the first half with an 12-to-2 run to take a 27-14 advantage after an Austin Benigni jumper with just under eight minutes left in the half.  The Mountaineers were able to get back into the game with a quick 8-0 run to make it 27-22.  Benjamin had four points in the run that was capped by a Leffew basket.  Navy again answered with a 6-0 run to stretch the lead back to double digits en route to a 35-24 lead at the break.

Benjamin led the Mount with eight points in the opening half while Tinsley and Leffew added seven each.  Jefferson was limited to three minutes in the first half due to three fouls.  The Mount was held to 10-of-26 (.385) shooting while being outrebounded, 21-to-12 while Navy connected on 15-of-31 (.484) from the floor in the half.

Navy now holds a 13-to-7 lead in the all-time series with the Mountaineers with wins in each of the past four seasons.

Up next, the Mountaineers open Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play at Saint Peter's on Thursday, December 1.  Tip-off for the Mount's first-ever MAAC game is set for 7:00 p.m.