WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb (0-7) men's basketball team opened day one of the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic on Wednesday afternoon with an 84-51 loss at the hands of Navy (4-3).

Jacob Hogarth and Jacob Hudson led the Runnin' Bulldogs with 11 points each while Navuan Peterson added six off the bench for Gardner-Webb. The Dawgs shot 37% from the floor after knocking down 19-of-51 shots, including 4-for-25 from distance.

Navy outrebounded the Runnin' Bulldogs by a 40-23 margin while shooting better than 50% from the field (29-57). Aidan Kehoe led all scorers with 20 points.

Ace Talbert drilled a three to knot the score at 3-3 early in the first half but the Midshipmen used a 17-6 run while jumping ahead by double-digits. That advantage grew to as many as 16 points (39-23) before GWU used a 6-2 run down the stretch to trail at the break, 41-29.

Navy scored eight of the first nine points to begin the second half, ballooning the lead to 49-30 just under four minutes in. Hudson finished a fast break with a dunk, trimming the deficit to 55-41 but that was as close as the Dawgs drew, eventually falling in the contest.

Gardner-Webb returns to the court Friday afternoon, taking on Southeastern Louisiana at noon in day two action of the tournament.