Entering this season, Colgate was the only men’s basketball program to compile a 17-1 record since the Patriot League expanded to 10 schools in 2013.
That is no longer the case.
Navy added its name to that exclusive list, and it was somewhat fitting that it capped a dominant run through the conference by beating the Raiders.
Senior center Aidan Kehoe notched a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds as Navy led pretty much from start to finish in dispatching Colgate, 85-69, before an announced crowd of 2,428 at Alumni Hall. Senior point guard Austin Benigni totaled 15 points and a career-high nine assists for the Midshipmen (25-6, 17-1) who continue to add more laurels to an already historic season.
Senior forward Donavan Draper had another strong all-around floor game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals for Navy, which will carry a 13-game winning streak into the postseason. Junior guard Cam Cole came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points for the Mids.
“It’s special. These guys have worked really hard from Day 1. Those guys got together and set a lot of goals. A lot of them were lofty. So far, they’ve accomplished every one,” Navy coach Jon Perry said.
Among the primary goals for the regular season were winning every Patriot League home game and not getting swept by any opponent. Check and check. To accomplish those goals, the Mids wanted to lead the league in the key defensive and rebounding categories as well as assist-to-turnover ratio. Check, check and check.
“Because we checked the box on all those, you get this type of result. It just shows you when a group of people come together and they have a mission and that’s what they’re working toward every day, they can really do special things,” Perry said. “It doesn’t happen if you don’t have a group of seniors who lead by example and bring it every day. Most importantly, they’re sacrificing and always putting the team first.”
Colgate has been the class of the Patriot League for most of the past decade, capturing five tournament titles since 2019. The Raiders compiled a 17-1 conference record in 2023, setting a standard that would be difficult to match.
Navy equaled that mark and Perry was at a loss when asked what it meant.
“I’m not sure I can put that into words. It might take some time to process that. It’s a credit to the staff, the players and everyone supporting this team,” he said.
“It’s really cool and shows how hard we’ve worked and how consistent we’ve been,” Benigni said. “We’ve had the same mindset every game of just trying to go 1-0.”
Navy’s winningest seasons came at the height of the David Robinson era — 30-5 in 1985-86 and 26-6 in 1986-87. Robinson, the future Hall of Fame center, led the Mids on a magical run to the Elite Eight in 1986 and another Colonial Athletic Association championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 1987.
Navy, which had already captured its first outright Patriot League championship since 1998, now must win three more games to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999.
Navy will play the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between eighth-seeded Bucknell and No. 9 Army in Thursday’s quarterfinals at Alumni Hall. The Midshipmen will remain at home for as long as they remain alive with the semifinals scheduled for March 8 and the championship game for March 11.
“We talk about now we’re in the death zone. We got the one seed and that’s great, but now we’ve got to win three games,” Kehoe said. “Our focus is going to continue to go 1-0. We’ll focus on Thursday and do everything we can to win that game. We understand that what we’ve done before doesn’t matter now.”
Senior guard Kyle Carlesimo scored 20 points to lead Colgate (17-14, 11-7), which will be seeded third for the Patriot League Tournament after losing a tiebreaker to Lehigh (15-16, 11-7). Sophomore guard Ben Tweedy added 16 points for the Raiders, who lost in overtime to the Midshipmen on Cotterell Court two weeks ago.
“You’ve got to give Navy credit for being very consistent with its effort and play. I didn’t think we played with the requisite fight early, which was disappointing because that’s what happened in Hamilton,” Colgate coach Matt Langel said. “Navy has a great group of veteran players and is seven strong. I certainly tip my cap to them because they’re playing great basketball.”
Colgate was without its best player and leading scorer in junior guard Jalen Cox, who did not make the trip due to a concussion. Langel, who led a remarkable run in which the Raiders lost just six Patriot League games over the course of four straight seasons, applauded Navy for going 17-1. Along the way, the Mids 11 conference contests by double digits.
“A lot of respect for what they’ve done. They won the games, most of them convincingly. Jon and his staff did an incredible job of maximizing their strengths,” Langel said. “The best compliment I can give them is that they have great synergy. They’re better together.
Kehoe notched his eighth straight double-double and 18th of the season. The 6-foot-10, 246-pound pivot dished off five assists for good measure. Meanwhile, Benigni set the Navy career record for free throws made with 606, one more than Robinson.
It was Senior Day in Annapolis and Perry had a slight dilemma. Navy has six seniors and only five could start. Team captain Mike Woods solved the problem by volunteering to come off the bench so Draper could start.
“That shows the type of humility we have within the program,” said Perry, who was committed to starting Cam Cormany and Sam Krist, the only two seniors that are not part of the regular rotation and play sparingly.
Krist provided a big spark early by scoring seven points in less than 2 ½ minutes to start the game — making a tough inside shot then draining a pair of 3-pointers from the corner.
“There are a lot of emotions with Senior Day and I was really excited for Cam Cormany and Sam Krist to get the start,” Perry said. “The ball found Sam and he took great shots, gave energy and got the bench into it.”
Krist, who had played just 50 minutes in 14 previous appearances this season, is known for making threes to stretch the defense as a member of the scout team.
“We know what Sam is capable of because he does that in practice all the time. To see him do it in a game was really cool. I was really happy for him,” Benigni said.
Draper totaled 10 points, five rebounds and three assists as Navy took a 47-40 halftime lead. Eight different players reached the scoring column for the Mids, who shot 57% from the floor and led for all but 49 seconds of the first half.
Draper made a layup and two free throws to bookend a 10-0 run that gave Navy its largest lead of the half, 36-19 with 7:05 remaining. Cole and Benigni drained back-to-back threes during that stretch.
“We always want to start the game strong, especially defensively. We were able to get some stops and turn those into scores,” Kehoe said of jumping out to the big lead.
Carlesimo scored 15 points — all on 3-pointers — to lead Colgate, which finished the first half strong by outscoring Navy 22-11 the rest of the way. Wright added 10 points for the Raiders, who got zero bench points in the first half.
Carlesimo swished a 3-pointer to start the second half and cut the deficit to four, the closest Colgate had been since just over three minutes into the game. The Raiders would get within two, but were never able to tie the contest.
It went back-and-forth until just past the midway mark of the first half with Navy still clinging to a six-point lead with 8:43 to go. That is when the Mids delivered the knockout punch.
Cole hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cap a personal 7-0 run as Navy outscored Colgate, 21-2 to take a commanding 80-61 lead with 4:33 remaining in the game.
“That’s experience,” Perry said of the decisive stretch. “Cam Cole had a really big second half and we got out into transition. We’ve been trying to get better in transition and it’s starting to show a bit.”
Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at [email protected], 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.