ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Navy men’s basketball player Austin Benigni (Fr., The Woodlands, Texas) earned a pair of accolades on Monday as he was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week for his sport and the Naval Academy Athletic Association (NAAA) Athlete of the Week, presented by Northrop Grumman.
He is the first Mid to earn the league rookie-of-the-week laurel in three seasons.
The freshman reserve guard led Navy in scoring on the week with an average of 15.0 points per game in games last week at West Virginia and at Towson. He was a combined 11-17 (64.7%) from the field and 7-8 (87.5%) from the foul line and drew 12 of the 29 fouls committed by Navy’s opponents on the week.
Benigni first scored 20 points in an 85-64 loss at West Virginia. He was 8-10 from the field and 3-4 from the foul line against the Mountaineers. Benigni then scored 10 points in Navy’s 71-69 overtime win at Towson. He was 3-7 from the floor and 4-4 from the foul line against the Tigers. Benigni made two of his free throws with 59 seconds left in overtime to give the Mids a 71-66 lead.
Navy will be back on the Alumni Hall Sunday when the Mids play host to Washington (Md.) at noon.