Navy could not have asked for a better test to close out the nonconference portion of its men’s basketball schedule.

Coach Ed DeChellis picked up a tough opponent in Lipscomb, the preseason pick to finish as runner-up in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Bison came to Annapolis seeking the best start in program history during the NCAA era.

The Midshipmen received just the type of challenge they were expecting, falling behind early and having to play catch-up most of the way.

Junior guard Garrison Mathews and junior forward Rob Marberry led the way as Lipscomb took it to Navy from start to finish to earn a 73-64 win on Thursday night at Alumni Hall.

“It was a tough and gutty effort, and it has to be if you’re going to beat Navy,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “That’s a good team that is playing with a lot of confidence. I thought our guys were well prepared and played really hard. We’re really pleased to get out of here with a win.”

Mathews made 8 of 11 field goals and 8 of 9 free throws in scoring a game-high 27 points for Lipscomb (9-4). Marberry, a 6-foot-7 left-hander, did most of his damage low in draining 8 of 11 field goals and netting 19 points. Junior forward Matt Rose added 12 points for the Bison, who made 19 of 26 free throws.

“Lipscomb, as I tried to portray to our players, is a very good basketball team. I really believe that would be an upper level Patriot League team,” DeChellis said of the visitors, who lost to Alabama and Tennessee when both were ranked and also fell at Texas. “I’m proud of our team. I thought we fought hard. We just didn’t play very smart basketball, very crisp basketball.”

Senior guard Bryce Dulin scored 15 points for Navy (9-4), which was trying to match its best start since the 1998-99 season. Senior forward Tom Lacey notched his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Midshipmen, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Senior swingman Shawn Anderson, Navy’s leading scorer, was limited to nine points on 3-of-12 field goal shooting. Starting point guard Hasan Abdullah also managed only nine points on 2-for-11 field goal shooting for the Midshipmen, who committed 17 turnovers in the contest.

Loyola Maryland 66, Drexel 62: The Greyhounds (2-8) won for the first time in a month, stopping a five-game losing streak.

Chuck Champion led Loyola with 21 points, while Isaiah Hart scored 10 and Reed River added nine. Cam Gregory had eight points and 16 rebounds.

Kurk Lee Jr. (St. Frances) paced the Dragons (6-7) with 20 points.

Women

Colorado State 60, Morgan State 44: Annie Brady had 18 points and 17 rebounds and the host Rams (8-3) held the Lady Bears to 27.4 percent shooting to earn their third straight victory.

Lexus Spears led Morgan State (6-6) with 12 points as the Lady Bears shot just 4-for-26 from 3-point range and 17-for-62 from the field. Spears added a team-high eight rebounds and Tykyrah Williams scored 11 points.

UMES 66, UMBC 43: Bairesha Gill-Miles scored 19 points and Keyera Eaton added 16 to lead to the host Hawks (3-8) over the Retrievers (1-11).

Janee’a Summers and Laura Castaldo each scored nine points for UMBC.

Towson 70, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 44: Daijha Thomas scored 13 points in 17 minutes off the bench to lead the Tigers (2-7) over the Lions (5-5) at the Las Vegas Classic.

Nukiya Mayo and Mary Cuevas each had 11 points and Raine Bankston added 10 for Towson, which faces Radford today at 3 p.m.

Baltimore Sun staff contributed to this article.