Black Knights Face American Saturday in Road Test

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army heads back on the road Saturday for its first meeting of the season against American.

This contest is slated for a 2 p.m. tip in Bender Arena and will be carried live on CSN+ and the Patriot League Network with Bram Weinstein and John Feinstein on the call.

The Black Knights are coming off their first overtime game of the year on Wednesday in which Army dropped a 79-76 decision to the Raiders. The Cadets struggled in the opening period but were able to outscore Colgate 43-34 in the second half to force overtime. Unfortunately, the Raiders prevailed by three ending Army's impressive comeback just shy. The Black Knights sit with a 1-4 mark in Patriot League play and hold a 7-10 overall record.

American, much like Army, is youthful in its roster. The Eagles are 1-4 in conference as well and post a 4-12 overall mark. American dropped a 76-66 decision at Boston University (who are undefeated in league play) during its last outing Wednesday. The Eagles are currently riding a three-game losing skid, with their last win a 67-64 overtime victory at Colgate on Jan. 2.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV • CSN+
VIDEO • Patriot League Network
RADIO • Army West Point Sports Network
WBNR (1260 AM, Beacon, N.Y.)
WLNA (1420 AM, Peekskill, N.Y.)
AUDIO • Knight Vision
LIVE STATISTICS • www.AUEagles.com
TICKETS • www.AUEagles.com
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MBB
GAME NOTES • Army | American

ABOUT THE EAGLES
    Sophomore Delante Jones recorded a team-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor during American's last game at Boston U. Rookie Mark Gasperini chipped in 19 points as well to close out the Eagles in twin figures. Senior Charlie Jones led American on the boards with nine, while first-year Sa'eed Nelson handed out a team-best five assists and collected four steals.
    Overall three players are averaging double-digit scoring with Nelson's 16.2 points per game leading the way. That mark is currently third in the league behind Lehigh's Tim Kempton (21.6 ppg) and Lafayette's Matt Klinewski (17.6 ppg). Delante Jones and Gasperini are also posting 12.4 and 11.8 points per outing, respectively. Charlie Jones is tops on the team with 5.1 rebounds per contest, while Gasperini follows closely with 4.8 boards.

LAST TIME OUT
    Army fell just shy of an impressive comeback on Wednesday night, dropping a 79-76 overtime decision to Colgate in Christl Arena. After facing a 31-22 halftime deficit, the Black Knights rallied to outscore the Raiders 43-34 in the second period to force overtime. Unfortunately, Colgate halted the Army rally and recorded the 14-11 advantage in the extra period to secure its second win in Patriot League play. John Emezie, who finished with a game and career-high 20 points, highlighted the Cadets comeback with the game-tying 3-pointer with 16 ticks remaining in regulation. That bucket closed out a 13-2 run for the Black Knights over the final two minutes, which tied the score at 65-65 and ultimately pushed the contest into overtime. The Raiders threw up one last off-balanced shot with three seconds remaining but Sean O'Brien's attempt fell short.
    Colgate quickly jumped out to the 68-65 edge one minute into the extra period when O'Brien drained his second trey of the game. A Luke Morrison jumper pulled Army within one before the two teams exchanged buckets making it a 70-69 visitor's advantage with 3:08 left to play. Unfortunately, Colgate added on with an 8-2 run to take a 78-71 lead with 23 seconds on the clock. Jacob Kessler ended that rally with 3-pointer to make it a four-point game at 78-74 with 18 ticks remaining. After two missed free throws from the Raiders, Emezie stepped up and drained two on the opposite end of the court after being fouled. But that would be as close as the Cadets would come however as Jordan Swopshire converted on 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to ultimately complete the win.
    Emezie added a team-high six rebounds and four assists to close out his impressive night. Morrison and rookie Tommy Funk chipped in 13 points, while Matt Wilson and Kessler recorded 12 and 10 points, respectively.

    American suffered a 76-66 defeat on the road at Boston U. on Wednesday evening. The Terriers were hot from the outside connecting on 12-of-18 from three. Delante Jones led the Eagles with 21 points and Mark Gasperini added 19. Charlie Jones nearly recorded a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.
    American struggled early on but battled back throughout the contest cutting the deficit to four (61-57) off free throws by Charlie Jones with 5:16 left to play. The Terriers opened the contest with a 20-4 lead knocking down four three-pointers during the run. AU responded with a 12-0 run to lower the deficit to 20-16 after a tip-in by Delante Jones. BU came back with a 9-0 run and regained a double-digit advantage until American cut it to seven before the break, 31-24. In the second half, AU never gained a lead or secured a tie, but played a well-balanced 20 minutes. AU shot 40 percent from the floor and made 14-of-17 free throws.

A WIN OVER AMERICAN WOULD...
    Hand Army its eighth win of the season and make it five-straight victories over the Eagles. It would also hand the Cadets their second win of the early Patriot League season, pulling them to 2-4.

ARMY VS. PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS
    The Black Knights are 264-379 all-time against current members of the Patriot League. Of the nine other schools in the league, Army has faced Navy (125 times), Colgate (120 times) and Lehigh (105 times) the most. Army leads three series against Patriot League schools in Colgate (61-59), Lehigh (63-42), and Loyola (5-3). The Cadets have also competed against American (10-26), Boston University (8-14), Bucknell (21-52), Holy Cross (21-62), Lafayette (27-44) and Navy (48-77).

SOPHOMORE SWAG
    Jordan Fox has really emerged as a leader for the Black Knights. He currently leads Army and is 13th in the Patriot League averaging 12.9 points per game. What's more impressive though is how he's scoring. The sophomore has converted on 78 of his 169 attempts from the floor. That's good enough for .462 percent shooting. Things don't stop there, as Fox is second in the conference with a .413 mark from behind-the-arc. He is averaging 1.9 treys per outing, which is 12th in the league. In addition to that, Fox leads the team with a .811 percentage from the charity stripe. The Jackson County, Ky., native is first in the conference with a 2.5 assists-to-turnover ratio, recording 84 assists to just a league-low 34 turnovers. And lastly, Fox has posted double figures in 11 of Army's 17 contests.

EFFICIENCY IS KEY
    Strong shooting and the ability to spread the ball around are both keys to Army's success. The Black Knights' 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio is second the Patriot League, while their 15.9 assists per game and 44.0 field goal percentage rank second and four, respectively. With no one truly dominating the ball offensively, it is helping to create open looks for shooters on the outside, where the Cadets are second in the conference with 9.6 made 3-pointers per game. That mark also has them tied for 23rd in the NCAA.

NEXT UP
    The Black Knights return home for a midweek tilt with Holy Cross on Wednesday. That contest is slated for 7 p.m. in Christl Arena and can be viewed live on the Patriot League Network with Rich DeMarco on the call. The Crusaders are Lehigh on Saturday before traveling to West Point four days later.

Army West Point Athletics

Black Knights Face American Saturday in Road Test

Players Mentioned

John Emezie

Jordan Fox

Tommy Funk

Jacob Kessler

Luke Morrison

Matt Wilson

Related Videos