Navy men’s basketball puts together complete performance to beat Coppin State, 75-52
Navy men’s basketball put together its most complete game of the season Sunday against Coppin State. The Midshipmen defended and rebounded at the level coach Ed DeChellis demands. For the first time this season, they also played at a pretty high level offensively.
Junior guard Mac MacDonald scored 12 points to lead a balanced attack as Navy blew out Coppin State, 75-52, before an announced crowd of 950 at Alumni Hall. Midshipmen sophomore forward Donovan Draper notched his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Sophomore point guard Austin Benigni had a solid all-around floor game with 11 points, six assists, six rebounds and two steals for Navy (2-4), which won its second game in five days, leading this one for most of the final 36 minutes.
“It’s a young team that is starting to figure it out as far as how hard they have to play and what they have to do to be successful,” DeChellis said. “We’ve had a lot of growth over the past week, both offensively and defensively. I like the direction we’re going.”
Senior combination guard Austin Inge totaled nine points, four assists and two steals for the Mids, who have won four of six meetings with the Eagles.
Senior forward Justin Winston scored 14 points to pace Coppin State (1-8), which shot 30% (15-for-49) from the field and committed 20 turnovers. Graduate student forward Toto Fagbenle totaled 13 points and five rebounds for the Eagles, who beat the Mids in Baltimore last season.
“I thought we were really good defensively. It was our best defensive effort from start to finish,” DeChellis said. “They took hard shots because we didn’t let them drive and get to the basket. I thought we did a really good job of being where we were supposed to be. We played good gap defense and took their driving angles away.”
Navy shot a season-high 47% from the field for the game. The Midshipmen scored 32 points in the paint and got another 24 off turnovers thanks to 14 steals that led to fast breaks.
However, DeChellis sees plenty of room for improvement, especially in the half-court offense.
“Offensively, we have work to do. We have to work on decision-making, we have to work on finishing around the basket, we have to work on our 3-point shooting,” he said. “We’re starting to play with more offensive pace and we’re starting to see where we should cut and where we should deliver the ball.”
DeChellis was pleased that Navy finished with a 37-31 advantage on the boards considering Coppin State’s overall height and length. MacDonald had a career-best six rebounds, while Kam Summers came off the bench to corral four caroms.
“They’re a very athletic team and I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the glass,” DeChellis said. “I’m proud of our team. It was a good defensive effort, a good rebounding effort and we made just enough shots to maintain some breathing room.”
Benigni and Draper both scored eight points on the strength of a combined 10-for-15 free throw shooting as Navy took a 36-23 halftime lead. MacDonald drained a 3-pointer from the corner and had a tap-in to spark a 19-0 run that transformed a 6-4 deficit into a 23-6 lead for the Midshipmen.
Coppin State endured a miserable 10-minute stretch in which it went 0-for-10 from the field and committed 10 turnovers.
A fastbreak layup by Woods gave Navy its largest lead of 18 points at the 2:48 mark, but Spurlock made a pull-up jumper in the lane and a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to cut the Coppin deficit to 13 at intermission.
Inge swished a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half to start an 8-2 run that quickly restored the Navy lead to 19 points (44-25) at the 16-minute mark. The Midshipmen alternately increased or maintained that advantage the rest of the way.
First-year coach Larry Stewart pointed out that Coppin was without starting point guard Zahree Harrison, who got injured against UMBC. Freshman Aa’Reyon Munir-Jones started in Harrison’s place and was not very productive in 11 1/2 minutes of action.
In addition to being without its floor leader, Coppin was beset by early foul trouble on several starters. Stewart said he had to shorten the rotation and used several reserves earlier than normal.
“It’s a learning process. These guys are still learning how to win, how to play with each other,” Stewart said. “Navy just played way better than us. They protected the basketball and got downhill on us. We couldn’t keep guys out of the paint.”
Navy plays at George Washington on Tuesday and at Quinnipiac on Friday. The Midshipmen are still seeking their first road win.
“This is a hard week. We have two hard road games. We have to figure out how to win on the road,” DeChellis said.
Navy at George Washington
Tuesday, 7 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: 1430 AM