Navy and Air Force Battle In A Rivalry Game At Alumni Hall

By: Ethan Hennessy

Annapolis Maryland

Navy renewed the series with their second biggest basketball rival on the hardwood when the Air Force Falcons from the Mountain West Conference traveled to Annapolis to play the midshipmen on Sunday afternoon. This was the first time the teams had faced off since November 27^th 2005.

Air Force capitalized on a 4-minute Navy scoring drought and took a 9-6 lead into the under-12 media timeout of the first half. Navy briefly took the lead back around the 6:45 make, but thanks to a Wesley Celichowski reverse layup the Falcons retook the lead. Both teams were flexing their defensive muscles in the first half as scoring was hard to come by.

After the two teams went back and forth exchanging the lead in the final minutes of the first half it was Air Force who took a 25-24 lead into halftime. The first half played into Air Force’s strength as they are one of the slowest paced teams in the country. The first half showcased the defensive toughness that is signature with a service academy rivalry game.

Air Force used a 7-0 run over the course of a minute and 37 seconds to jump out to a 37-28 lead with twelve minutes to go. After both offenses sputtered for the majority of the game Air Force finally seemed to be gaining momentum.  

Austin Benigni hit a three pointer with 8:07 to go which was the Midshipmen’s first three pointer in over 26 minutes of game time. Benigni then followed that up with another three, driving layup, and a three pointer to cap off a personal 11-0 run. The Midshipmen had their largest lead of the game to that point as they found themselves up 47-41.

The midshipmen were able to keep the Falcons at arm’s length for the final few minutes. Jinwoo Kim shot an elbow jumper with 55 seconds remaining in the game that beat the buzzer and touched every part of the rim. This put the midshipmen up by nine, but a Lucas Hobin corner three-pointer gave the Falcons life with 42.4 seconds to go.

Navy took the victory over their rival Air Force 61-56 and sang second at Alumni Hall. Austin Benigni contributed 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Aidan Kehoe won the big man battle and was a key contributor for the Midshipmen contributing 10 points and collecting a game high 15 rebounds. Both teams shot an identical 21-53 from the field. Air Force was led in scoring by Kam Sanders. Navy coach John Perry said he had a lot of respect for Joe Scott, his staff and the Air Force Academy. He hopes the series can continue. He is proud of the Annapolis community for coming out and supporting both programs. He said this is what Navy vs. Air Force is supposed to be.

Navy will continue their homestand when they host Coppin State on December 19^th. Air Force will open up Mountain West play against the San Diego State Aztecs on December 17^th in Viejas Arena.