By admin 
The Marine midshipmen The men’s basketball team got off to a sharp start in Patriot League action with an 81-58 win American on Thursday at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Midshipmen (4-10, 1-0 at Patriot) won just three games in non-conference heading into the showdown.
The Eagles (6-8, 0-1) came into the match having not won any real road games in six tries. The two schools had two common opponents in non-conference: Harvard And Saint Joseph. American lost to both, while Navy defeated Harvard and lost to Saint Joseph’s.
The Midshipmen evened their record in Patriot League openers to 17-17.
American led the game just once, after the Eagles made a pair of free throws less than a minute into the game. Navy’s Aidan Kehoe answered with a tie-breaker, then Jinwoo Kim drained a 3-pointer as the Midshipmen went on an 8-0 run.
From there, Navy slowly but surely ran away with the game, building a 10-point lead after 10 minutes and consistently maintaining it.
The Midshipmen were helped immensely by shooting 55% from the field, including a 5-for-14 night from the 3-point line and a 70% clip from the free throw line. American made nine three-pointers but shot just 38% from the field.
Navy also had a clear lead on the glass, 38-28, and outscored the American, 40-24, in the paint.
Nearly everyone saw time for the Midshipmen, with Kehoe leading with 20 points. He also had a double-double with 11 rebounds. Donovan Draper also had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, along with a team-high eight assists. Austin Benigni added 16 points with four assists.
Colin Smalls led American with 18 points, including four three-pointers. Matt Rogers added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Navy and the Americans have been longtime rivals in the Patriot League, as the Midshipmen completed their 34th season in the league. But this is the first time since American joined the league 24 years ago that the two teams have met in the conference opener.
It was also a bit of a surprise that the Navy won this way. Historically, the Midshipmen and Eagles have tended to play tighter affairs. On Thursday, 13 of the last 19 meetings were determined by single digits.
Navy now leads the overall series, 54-52, but still trails the American in Patriot League play, 30-19. The Navy has only had to deal with Army West Point more often in the program’s history.
Navy returns to Alumni Hall for a Patriot League showdown with Lafayette on Sunday at 2 p.m.