Navy Men Stifle Army to Earn Hoops Star

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Austin Benignipaced five Navy players in double figures with his 27-point outburst during an 81-63 victory by the Mids (23-6, 15-1) over Army (11-18, 5-11), Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y.  

The game served as the annual Star Game between the two service academy programs.  The victory by the men's team coupled with the win by the Navy women's team earlier in the day clinches the 2025-26 Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA, for the Mids.

"Obviously proud of the guys," said Navy head coach Jon Perry.  "This is always a great environment.  We welcome that, and are really happy we had some fans come up and support us.  Can't say enough about our senior and junior classes.  They have been in these games, they have been in these moments, these experiences.  Anytime we can win the big three statistics –– defensive field goal percentage, rebounding and turnovers –– we usually have a good result."

Navy used a 10-0 run to take a 21-10 lead with 10:50 left in the first half.  The teams spent the next five minutes trading points, then Navy used a 15-3 run to take a 43-22 lead with a 95 seconds remaining before intermission.  The Black Knights scored the last five points of the frame to make it a 43-27 Navy lead at the break.

Navy shot 52.2 percent from the field in the first half and held Army to a mark of 34.6 percent.  There was a big difference at the foul line as the Mids were 15-18 and the Black Knights 6-7.

Army carried its momentum from the end of the first half into the start of the second as the margin quickly dwindled to 43-32, 46-38 and then 48-40 with 13 minutes showing on the clock.  The Black Knights were 3-16 (18.8%) from the three-point line in the first half, but made three triples during that 16-5 run in the opening moments of the second half.

After an exchange of turnovers and an Army missed shot, the Mids sent the ball inside to Aiden Kehoe and he was fouled.  Play stopped due to the under-12 media timeout, and when it resumed Kehoe went to the foul line.  He was 0-4 from the free throw line in the opening minutes of the second half, but he calmly swished both attempts on this opportunity.  

Army missed a shot and the ball went out of bounds with possession going to Navy.  Benigni was almost immediately fouled when play started again.  The Mids were already in the bonus and he walked 75 feet to the other end of the floor and made both foul shots to make the score 52-40 with 11:30 remaining.  Team captain Mike Woods thwarted the next Army offensive opportunity with a blocked shot –– Navy finished with five blocks –– and gabbed the resulting defensive carom. The Mids brought the ball over halfcourt and soon Cam Cole was fouled.  He too made both free throws to stretch the lead to 14 points.  The Black Knights went to the foul line themselves on their next possession, but Jace Holloway missed both attempts.  

Donovan Draper snared the board after the second miss.  He would miss a three-point shot on the other end of the floor, but Jinwoo Kim gathered in the offensive board and he fed Benigni who immediately drilled a three-point basket.  That gave the Mids a 9-0 run over the course of four possessions and a 57-40 lead with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Navy soon took a 65-45 lead with 6:30 still to play.  Army was able to slice the deficit down to 13 points at 69-56, but Cole drained a three-point basket, Kehoe grabbed a defensive rebound and Benigni made two more free throws to stretch the gap to 18 points at 74-56 with just over three-minutes still to play.

"Jimwoo Kim and Aiden Kehoe really calmed us down in the second half when Army went on its run," said Perry. "Jinwoo hit a big shot and also got an offensive rebound that led to a basket and Aidan had a couple of massive offensive rebounds and stickbacks, and then made two really big free throws after the timeout."

The lead was at least 15 points over the remainder of the game.

Army entered the day leading the Patriot League with an average of 10.7 three-point field goals made a game, while Navy ranked 10th with an average of 6.3 treys.  The Black Knights finished just under their average by making 10 and the Mids narrowly surpassed their average with seven.  However, Army made only 29.4 percent of its long range attempts (was shooting 41.5% from beyond the arc on the year) and Navy converted 46.7 percent of its three-point shots (was making 35.0% on the season).

"Defense wins championships, defense wins games," said Perry.  "Two years ago I don't know if we as a program were all bought into defense as much as we are now. When you get to be an older group I think you understand how important it is.  I thought early in the game ... Army shoots a lot of threes and runs a great offense and they get you in a lot of different rotations.  It takes some tenacity and a will to keep rotating and rotating and rotating.  It takes five guys to do that."

Navy shot 47.7 percent from the floor overall and Army made 37.7 percent of its attempts.  The Mids made just one more field goal than the Black Knights, 21-20, but Navy was 32-40 (80%) from the free throw line and Army was 13-17 (76.5%).

Navy also held a 36-24 lead on the glass and, despite grabbing only one more offensive board than Army (10-9), scored 14 second-chance points while it gave up only eight.  Also, Navy led Army 11-1 in fast break points.  

Benigni was 3-4 from three-point land, 6-12 from the floor overall and 12-12 from the free throw line in scoring his 27 points.

"He (Benigni) is our point guard," said Perry.  "He understands his role, he sets the table for others and then in big moments he steps up and does what we need him to do."

Kehoe notched his sixth double-double in a row –– the last Mid to have as many as six in a row was David Robinson –– with 16 points (6-7 from the field) and 11 rebounds (five offensive) while also swatting four blocks and dishing out three assists.

"We have kind transitioned back to old school basketball by playing a lot of high-low stuff," said Perry. "I think that is a credit to our staff and trying to put our players in the best position they can be to have success.  Aidan works his tail off.  His development from a freshman to now is a credit to him.  He has a desire to be really good."

Kim also made a trio of triples on his way to scoring 13 points and also chipping in seven caroms.  Draper tallied 10 points, six rebounds and four assists and Cole scored 10 points with his big three-point basket and a 7-7 effort from the free throw line.