Austin Benigni leads the way as Navy men’s basketball beats William & Mary, 77-65
Navy men’s basketball could not have asked for a better test to close out the nonconference portion of its schedule.
William & Mary brought a talented, veteran team loaded with transfers to Alumni Hall for a Saturday matinee. The Tribe’s rotation featured players from Penn State, Providence, Pittsburgh, South Florida and Vanderbilt.
The Tribe presented quite a challenge, and the Midshipmen responded with perhaps their best performances of the season to date.
Point guard Austin Benigni scored a career-high 28 points and also dished off five assists to lead Navy to a 77-65 victory. Forward Donovan Draper notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Midshipmen, who were playing their first game in nine days.
“I thought it was a really good test for our team. William & Mary is a good basketball team. They’re long and athletic and have guys that can score. I think they’ll win a lot of games in their league,” Navy coach Ed DeChellis said. “I thought we played pretty well and did the things we had to do to win this game. I’m really proud of our guys.”
Benigni, who shot 8-for-12 from the field and 12-for-12 from the free throw line, provided strong floor leadership. The 5-foot-10 sophomore was aggressive driving the ball to create plays for himself and others.
“We put [Benigni] in ball screens in the middle of the floor and he did a good job of getting into the point,” DeChellis said.
“That’s pretty much what I’m here — to pick apart the defense and find weaknesses,” added Benigni, whose toughness and tenacity set the tone for the entire team. “The coaches put you in spots where they expect you to score.It was kind of a game in which everything came together.”
Draper, a former Navy football player who joined the basketball team this season, was 8-for-13 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. After being held to single digits in four games to start the season, the 6-5 sophomore has reached double figures in five of the past seven contests.
“[Draper] is an athletic dude and is powerful. We try to create some lanes for him to drive downhill. He’s really rebounding the ball well,” DeChellis said. “Benigni and Draper played great offensively. They both made some big shots.”
Senior guard Austin Inge contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists for Navy (4-7), which used a pair of impressive second-half runs to take control of a back-and-forth contest.
Sophomore guard Chase Lowe scored 19 points and junior swingman Gabe Dorsey netted 18 for William & Mary (5-8), which shot 39% from the field for the game. Junior forward Caleb Dorsey, who like his younger brother is a Westminster native, totaled 14 points and eight rebounds for the Tribe.
Navy did a superb job defending beyond the arc as William & Mary shot 6-for-24 from 3-point range. Draper had four of the 11 steals for the Midshipmen, who forced 16 turnovers.
“I thought overall it was a great defensive effort. I thought we did a really good job defending the three,” said DeChellis, who was pleased his team held its own on the boards (William & Mary had a 35-33 rebounding advantage) against a taller, longer opponent.
Junior guard Lysander Rehnstrom hit a 3-pointer and made three free throws after being fouled on an attempt from beyond the arc to spark a 12-0 run that put Navy ahead to stay. Inge also made a three while Draper capped the spurt by finishing a fastbreak layup as the Mids transformed a one-point deficit into a 53-42 lead with 9:55 left in the second half.
Gabe Dorsey responded with a personal 9-0 run to help William & Mary rally within two. Draper scored off a driving layup then drained a 3-pointer from the corner as Navy answered with a 10-0 run that put the game away.
Benigni thought the turning point came when Draper rose high to outjump three William & Mary players for an offensive rebound then quickly delivered a pass to forward Mitch Fischer for an uncontested layup.
“That was a huge play,” Benigni said.
It was a grind-it-out defensive struggle up until the two Navy runs that proved decisive. There were nine ties and 19 lead changes until Rehnstrom’s triple put the Mids ahead to stay
“We’re a young team that is still trying to figure it out, but I thought they grew up today,” DeChellis said.
A layup by sophomore forward Mike Woods gave Navy a 29-28 halftime lead. It was a back-and-forth first half featuring six ties and 11 lead changes. Benigni scored 11 points to pace the Midshipmen, while Gabe Dorsey netted 10 to top the Tribe.
Navy completed the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 4-1 home record and went winless in six road contests. DeChellis noted the Midshipmen “played some pretty good teams” on the road, notably George Washington and Youngstown State.
“We came in here thinking we gotta get a win going into conference [play],” Benigni said. “We’ve played a pretty tough schedule. Going through those battles has prepared us for the conference.”
Navy begins Patriot League play with two home games — Wednesday against Boston University and Saturday versus three-time defending champion Colgate before heading to Holy Cross on Jan. 10. The Red Raiders were picked first in the preseason poll, while the Crusaders and Terriers were predicted to play fourth and fifth.
“We’ve certainly got a challenging start to Patriot League play,” DeChellis said.
Patriot League opener
Boston University at Navy
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: 1430 AM