Army Set For Midweek Tilt With Colgate

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army heads to Hamilton, N.Y., on Wednesday for a midweek Patriot League contest with Colgate to close out its two-game road swing.

The contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip in Cotterell Court and will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network with Eric Malanoski on the call.

The Black Knights are coming off a tough 78-63 loss at Loyola on Saturday. The Greyhounds saw three reach double digits including Andre Walker's game-high 25 points. The Raiders also had three in twin figures with Tommy Funk's 13 points leading the way. The Cadets have yet to string together back-to-back conference victories on the year, and their last string of wins came in three consecutive wins against Fairleigh Dickinson, St. Francis Brooklyn and service-academy rival Air Force.

Colgate currently sits with a 6-6 mark in league play with wins against Lafayette, Army, Boston U., Loyola, American and Navy. The Raiders most recent outing on Saturday was a 55-52 triumph over visiting Navy. That victory marked Colgate's eighth of the season and ended the Mids' eight-game winning streak. The Raiders posted back-to-back conference wins from Jan. 18-21 after defeating Boston U. and Loyola. That's been the only time this year Colgate has strung together two or more wins.

HOW TO FOLLOW
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.GoColgateRaiders.com
TICKETS • www.GoColgateRaiders.com
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MBB
GAME NOTES • Army | Colgate

ABOUT THE RAIDERS
    Colgate is coming off a 55-52 victory over Navy in which the Raiders shot 45.7 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent from behind-the-arc. The Mids finished at 32.8 percent overall and just 19 percent from long range. Two reached double digits for the Raiders with Jordan Swopshire's 13 points leading the way. He finished 4-of-6 from downtown and converted on his only attempt at the free throw line. Sean O'Brien was the only other player to notch twin figures with 10 points in the contest. Sophomore Malcolm Regisford pulled down 11 rebounds to lead all players on the boards, while Francisco Amiel handed out a game-high seven assists.
    On the season, rookie Will Rayman is averaging 14.3 points per game, which is good enough for ninth in the Patriot League. O'Brien isn't far behind with his 12.4 points (13th in league), followed by marks of 9.4 and 8.2 by Swopshire and Regisford, respectively. Regisford leads the Raiders and is fourth in the conference with his 7.4 rebounds per outing. He is also fourth in the league with 0.8 blocks. O'Brien and Rayman are averaging 2.1 and 1.9 treys per contest, which has them sixth and ninth in the league, respectively. O'Brien sits seventh in the conference with his 4.0 assists, while his 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio has him eighth.

LAST TIME OUT
    Army dropped a 78-63 decision Saturday afternoon to host Loyola. It was a back-and-forth affair for the opening six minutes, but the home team eventually rallied and held the 34-25 edge at the break after Andre Walker banked in a fade away 3-pointer with no time remaining in the opening period. That closed out his 18-point first half in which he went 6-of-8 from the floor, 4-of-5 from behind-the-arc and 2-for-2 at the free throw line. The junior finished Saturday's contest with a game-high 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Army tried to rally early in the second half by cutting the deficit to 44-37, but a huge 17-2 run over nearly a five-minute span ultimately handed the Greyhounds their seventh win in conference action.
    Tommy Funk led Army with 13 points followed by Jordan Fox's 12. John Emezie closed out the Cadets in double digits with 10 points. Funk finished 5-of-14 from the floor, 2-of-5 from downtown and 1-for-1 at the charity stripe. Fox went 4-of-10, 1-of-1 and 3-for-4, respectively. Both cadet-athletes handed out a team-high five assists. Mac Hoffman was one board shy of notching his fourth double figure rebounding night. He led the Black Knights with nine, including six on the offensive glass.

    Colgate got out to an early lead and held off a late Navy rally to capture a 55-52 victory and snap the Mids' eight-game win streak Saturday afternoon. The Raiders got out to an early 22-9 lead and held off a late Navy rally as the Mids pulled within one in the final minute. Colgate's stout defensive effort held Navy to a season-low 32.8 field goal percentage to hand the second-place Mids their first loss since Jan. 5.
    Junior Jordan Swopshire led the Raiders with 13 points, while classmate Sean O'Brien followed with 10. First-year Will Rayman chipped in nine points. Junior Jordan Robertson and sophomore Malcolm Regisford added seven points apiece to round out a balanced team effort.
    Navy scored the game's first basket, but a Rayman layup, Regisford jumper and seven-straight Swopshire points put together an 11-0 Raider run that gave Colgate an early 11-2 lead with under 16 minutes to play. A pair of Navy free throws halted the Colgate streak at the 15:31 mark, but a monstrous Regisford dunk followed to keep Colgate's lead at nine. The Raiders were still ahead by nine at 18-9 a few minutes later before an O'Brien layup and beautiful Robertson alley-oop stretched Colgate's lead to 22-9 at 9:14 and forced a Navy timeout. Despite a little rally from the Mids, the Raiders were able to carry a 31-23 lead into the locker room.
    The teams exchanged baskets to open the second half, but Navy put together a 13-6 run over a six-minute span to trim the Raider lead down to three at 41-28 with 9:55 to play. An O'Brien jumper sparked a 7-0 Raider run that was capped off by a Robertson trey as Colgate came back to take a 10-point lead at 48-38 with 7:34 on the clock. Navy answered with nine of the game's next 12 points to narrow the Raider advantage to 51-47 with under three minutes to play. Colgate remained ahead by four at 53-49 with 1:02 on the clock before Navy's Bryce Dulin drained a corner three to put the score at 53-52 with 48 seconds to play. Colgate couldn't convert on its next possession, giving the ball back to Navy with 23 seconds on the clock. The Mids missed a pair of attempts before O'Brien corralled a huge rebound and drew a foul. The junior captain made both of his attempts at the free throw line to give Colgate a 55-52 lead with seven seconds to play. The Mids would have one more shot, but Colgate's strong defense prevailed to seal the 55-52 victory.

STARTING FIVE
    Of Army's starting five, four are averaging a .400 field goal percentage or higher with Mac Hoffman's .573 leading the way. Four of the five are also averaging more than 3.5 rebounds, while two are handing out 4.5 assists per game.

A WIN OVER COLGATE WOULD...
    Hand Army its 10th win of the season and make it 11-straight seasons in which the Black Knights have earned 10-plus wins on the year. It would also hand the Cadets their fourth win of the Patriot League season, pulling them to 4-9 in the conference on the year.

ARMY VS. PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS
    The Black Knights are 266-384 all-time against current members of the Patriot League. Of the nine other schools in the league, Army has faced Navy (126 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 (5-4). The Cadets have also competed against American (11-26), Boston University (8-15), Bucknell (21-53), Holy Cross (21-63), Lafayette (28-44) and Navy (48-78).

SHARING THE ROCK
    Two names stand out on the Army team when it comes to sharing the basketball - Jordan Fox and Tommy Funk. Fox currently leads the team and is second in the Patriot League with his 5.3 helpers per game. Funk isn't far behind though averaging 4.5 for sixth in the league, making him the only rookie in the league's top-10. As a team, the Black Knights are 24th in the nation in assists per contest with 16.8.

EFFICIENCY IS KEY
    Strong shooting and the ability to spread the ball around are both keys to Army's success. The Black Knights' 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the Patriot League, while their 16.8 assists per game and .356 percentage from long distance rank first and fifth, 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 first in the conference with 9.6 made 3-pointers per game. That mark also has them tied for 23rd in the NCAA.

BY THE NUMBERS
    Army's current starting five have accounted for 1,054 points and 499 rebounds this season. They are averaging 58 percent of the Cadets scoring and 55 percent of the Black Knights' rebounding. Tommy Funk or Jordan Fox have led Army in assists in every game this season but one (Jacob Kessler - vs. Arkansas State). The Cadets have drained 10 or more 3-pointers on 11 different occasions throughout the season. All season, Army has allowed just one opponent to hit 10 or more treys (vs. Holy Cross).

NEXT UP
    The Cadets are back in Christl Arena on Saturday when they host American at 3 p.m. That contest will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network with Rich DeMarco on the call. The Eagles host Boston U. on Wednesday before traveling to West Point three days later. American currently sits with an overall record of 5-18 and brings its 2-10 conference mark into Wednesday's game with the Terriers.

Army West Point Athletics

Army Set For Midweek Tilt With Colgate

Players Mentioned

John Emezie

Jordan Fox

Tommy Funk

Mac Hoffman

Jacob Kessler

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