With the victory, before 1,913, AU (20-8, 10-3) reached the 20-win mark for the third time in the last four years under Jeff Jones. The Eagles were already locked into the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League tournament. But even with little tangible at stake, it didn’t show in the faces of the Eagles.

“It’s a misconception that when you lock up a seed like that, that [the games] don’t count,” said senior Nick Hendra. “It’s extremely important going into tournament play that you are getting better, every single opportunity you have. Everybody knows, when tournament play starts, it’s winner go home.”

Hendra (11 points, 5 assists) did his part, scoring eight clutch points in the final 2 minutes, 5 seconds. The difference wasn’t big enough to suit Moldoveanu, however.

“To be honest with you, I wanted to win by 40. I wanted to win by 40, 50, much as I can,” Moldoveanu said. “It was a payback game. For me personally it wasn’t about Senior Night. It wasn’t about my last home game. It was about getting these guys back for what they did there.”

AU’s effort wasn’t pretty. The Eagles committed 21 turnovers. But they played hard, hit shots – 52.6 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from the arc (11 of 21) – and shared the ball (15 assists on 20 field goals).

“If we can win by 11 and score almost 70 points with 21 turnovers, it shows how good we can be without them,” said Hendra. “Every time we play Navy it’s a dogfight.”

Junior Troy Brewer (16 points) hit 4 of 8 shots from the arc on a night when junior forward Stephen Lumpkins (4 points, 6 rebounds) got into early foul trouble and took just three shots from the floor in 22 minutes.

AU took control early when it reeled off 15 straight points to assume a 24-11 lead. Three-pointers by Moldoveanu, Brewer and Hendra fueled the surge and the Eagles looked on their way to some lopsided vindication.

But Navy (10-19, 5-8) remained within striking distance behind junior Jordan Sugars (11 points) and freshman J.J. Avila (10 points).

In the second half, the Midshipmen had no answer for the 6-foot-9 Moldoveanu, who scored 11 points in the first 8 minutes, 3 seconds. His traditional 3-point-play gave AU its biggest lead, 50-34. The Eagles were still comfortably in front, 56-42, when Molodveanu hit a pair of free throws with 8:40 left. But that was Navy’s cue to rally.

In a span of 48 seconds, the Mids applied full court pressure and hit a trio of 3-pointers, including two by senior Greg Brown (16 points). Navy twice whittled the deficit to four points, before AU pulled it together behind Hendra.

“It was emotional when I went out there before the game with my parents,” said Hendra. “At the end I hit a couple shots. It’s not the first time I hit a couple shots. They just went in.”

Hendra and Steve Luptak (6 assists) have been part of the Eagles’ three 20-win seasons in his four years.

“It’s a nice mark,” said Jones. “Three out of four years is not bad. We’re proud of that. But I think it’s safe to say we want more.”

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