Lafayette vs Navy Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/5/25

The Lafayette Leopards and the Navy Midshipmen meet Sunday in college basketball action from Navy Alumni Hall. Here’s a Lafayette vs Navy prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Lafayette vs Navy pick. We will examine:

The Lafayette Leopards’ recent form and player performance

The Navy Midshipmen’s recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Lafayette Leopards

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Navy Midshipmen

Recent betting trends in games played between Lafayette and Navy

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Lafayette vs Navy game

Lafayette Leopards Betting Preview

The Leopards didn’t start out the 2024-25 season very well. Lafayette beat only Pennsylvania in their first five games. Otherwise, it was losses to Villanova, La Salle, Cornell, and Rhode Island in that stretch. The Leopards got it going with a 4-1 run over the next five though, taking out Rosemont, Long Island University, Niagara, and Mercyhurst alongside an overtime loss to Binghamton. Following three more losses in succession to George Washington, Portland, and Stonehill, the Leopards finally got back into the win column versus Boston University.

Matched up against the Terriers on Thursday, the Leopards had a pretty decent first half, powering out a 31-23 advantage. Lafayette kept the Boston U offense tamped down in the second on a 29-23 run and took the victory in the end 60-46. Topping the team in scoring was Alex Chaikin with 14 points, six boards, and one steal. Andrew Phillips added 12 points with five rebounds, and Justin Vander Baan also finished in double-figures with 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Tops off the bench was Malik Rasul with five points and eight boards.

Navy Midshipmen Betting Preview

Over on the Navy side, their season got off to a pretty rough start as well. The Midshipmen beat Harvard by five points in their second outing of the year but otherwise fell to Saint Joseph’s, Rider, Campbell, and Quinnipiac in their first five appearances. Navy would then beat Washington College MD and Pennsylvania in the next pair but hit a losing streak versus Elon, Maine, NJIT, Virginia Tech, Coppin State, and William & Mary over the next six outings. Navy got back on track in their latest outing versus American University, however.

In the game against American on Thursday, the Midshipmen got their first blowout win in over a month. Navy held a 42-29 advantage by halftime and nearly replicated that in the second with a 39-29 run for an 81-58 victory in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Aidan Kehoe with 20 points, 11 boards, and eight assists. Donovan Draper also doubled up in the win with 17 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and two steals. Austin Benigni added 16 points and four assists, while both Jordan Pennick and Jinwoo Kim chipped in with nine points apiece.

Why the Navy Midshipmen will win

• Lafayette has lost eight of its last nine road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Navy has won each of its last four home games against the Patriot League.
• Navy has won the first half in each of its last four games against the Patriot League at Alumni Hall (Annapolis).

Why the Lafayette Leopards will win

• Navy has lost each of its last six day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Lafayette vs Navy Prediction

I’ll stay with Lafayette I suppose. This one’s something of a coin flip, though. The Leopards are certainly going to need to shoot better here than they did against Boston—unless they can show up with the same kind of defense. Lafayette hit just 32.1 percent from the field in that victory but also notched a 43-41 rebounding edge and had just four turnovers. Holding the Terriers to just 32.7 percent shooting also helped immensely. Lafayette has been below 66 points in four straight games now (a 1-3 run), so they’re going to need to slow this game down in order to stay in control.

As for Navy, they had a much-needed strong showing in their last outing versus American thanks to a nice 54.5 percent shooting from the field and a 38-28 rebounding edge. Navy has 72 or more points in three of the last four games, but they’re just 1-3 in that time. I like Lafayette to keep this one tight and low-scoring, but if Navy is shooting well the Midshipmen could easily run away with it as well.