Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
8-6 (1-2PL)
Bucknell
8-8 (2-1PL)
Funk Notches Career High Against Bucknell
January 05, 2018 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's basketball team dropped a 83-66 decision to the reigning Patriot League Champions Bucknell here Friday night.
Sophomore guard Tommy Funk led the Black Knights with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. He chipped in a career-best five makes from behind-the-arc to finish 5-of-7 from long range. The Warrington, Pa., native closed out his night a perfect 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
The only other cadet-athlete to reach twin figures in the contest was rookie Tucker Blackwell who posted 12 points.
Jordan Fox handed out a game-high seven assists, and shifted into ninth place all-time in program history with 285 helpers. The junior passed Marcus Nelson's career total of 280.
On the boards, Matt Wilson pulled down a team-best seven rebounds, while Fox followed closely with six of his own.
The game was close for most of the first half with neither side holding more than a four-point edge until the visitors went on a 6-0 run to take a 24-17 advantage with 7:40 remaining in the opening period. Army immediately countered, however, with a 10-4 run of its own to cut the deficit to 28-27 with less than four-and-half minutes to play before the break. That rally was highlighted by two of Funk's five makes from downtown.
From there though Bucknell sparked a combined 26-9 run that began late in the first half and carried over into the first four minutes of the second to extend its lead to 54-34. The Bison were aided by solid shooting early in that second period, going 6-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from deep during that stretch.
Army was never able to recover.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
- Army shot a season-low 37.1 percent (26-of-70) from the floor and converted on just 9-of-25 makes from behind-the-arc for 36.0 percent shooting. The Black Knights did go 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the game.
- Bucknell finished 50.9 percent (29-of-57), 41.2 percent (14-of-34), and 73.3 percent (11-of-15), respectively. The Bison's 14 buckets from long-range were a season best.
- Funk broke the 20-point plateau for the first time in his career.
- The Warrington, Pa., native set career-bests in points (23), 3-pointers made (five), 3-pointers attempted (seven) and field goals made (eight).
- The Black Knights were limited to a season-low 29 points in the first half.
- Bucknell outrebounded the Black Knights at 39-36.
- Both teams recorded nine steals with Fox matching his career-best effort with a team-high four.
- The Cadets posted 17 assists to just 13 for the Bison.
- Bucknell held the slim edge on points in the paint (30-28), points off turnovers (17-16) and on second-chance points (8-6).
- Both team registered four fast-break points.
- The Bison led for 36:28, while Army was in front for 54 seconds. The game was tied for 2:38.
- There were three tie scores and three lead changes.
- Army held Bucknell's two best shooters to just a combined 12 points, but allowed four others to reach twin figures. Senior Stephen Brown led the way with a team-best 19 points.
UP NEXT
- Army travels to our nation's capital Monday to face American.
- The game is set tip off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
- The Eagles played host to service-academy foe Navy on Friday prior to their matchup with the Black Knights and dropped a 70-64 decision to the Midshipmen.
