Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
12-17 (5-9PL)
Lehigh
23-7 (11-3PL)
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 1 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh | 30 | 34 | 10 | 74 |
| Army | 31 | 33 | 8 | 72 |
Army Loses Overtime Thriller Versus Lehigh
February 25, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2012
WEST POINT, N.Y. - John Adams' three-pointer with 10.3 seconds left in overtime propelled Lehigh (23-7, 11-3 PL) to a 74-72 victory over Army (12-17, 5-9 PL) in the regular-season finale at Christl Arena Wednesday afternoon. The Black Knights led 72-71 when Lehigh's C.J. McCollum drove the lane and found an open Adams who hit his second three-pointer of the game to give the Mountain Hawks the victory.
Army had a chance to tie, but missed two free throws, the second intentionally, with 2.8 seconds remaining. Lehigh rebounded and missed the front end of a one-one-one, but the Black Knights could not get a shot off in time.
The game went back and forth for the entire 45 mintues with a total of 20 ties and 16 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points.
Senior G Julian Simmons and junior F Ella Ellis led the Black Knights with 14 points each. Ellis also tied for the team lead with five rebounds and four assists. Junior F Jordan Springer grabbed five rebounds, and Simmons dished out a career-high four assists. Freshman G Maxwell Lenox contributed nine points, two rebounds and four assists.
Simmons hit two three-pointers to become only the second Army player to make at least 60 three-pointers in three different seasons (Mark Lueking).
McCollum led all players with 26 points on 11-of-18 from the floor. Gabe Knutsen scored 17 and snared six rebounds, while Adams added 11 points. McCollum also accounted for six rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Army had a chance to win despite shooting just 9-for-26 (.346) from three-point range. Sophomore G Josh Herbeck hit three, including a buzzer-beater three-pointer and the shot that gave Army a 72-71 lead with 2:13 left. The Mountain Hawks shot 49.2 percent and were 8-for-21 (.381) from deep.
After Lehigh scored the first basket of the game on a three-pointer, the Black Knights ripped off a 12-2 run to claim a 12-5 advantage following a jumper by Simmons with 15:29 left. Army started the game by making five of its first seven shots.
Lehigh scored the next seven points to tie the game at 12-12 as Army missed seven consecutive shots. Lenox drained a baseline jumper with 11:18 left to end Army's cold streak and give the Black Knights a two-point advantage. The Mountain Hawks tied the game on a layup by Justin Maneri, but Army scored the next five points, including a three-pointer by Ellis to regain a 19-14 lead with 9:15 left in the opening half.
After a layup by Corey Schaefer cut the Army lead to three, the Black Knights scored the next three points to re-establish a six-point lead at 22-16 with 6:51 left. Lehigh had an answer, however, with an 8-2 run of its own, regaining the lead at 26-24 on a jumper by McCollum with 3:58 left in the first half.
The Black Knights tied the game on a layup by sophomore F Andrew Stire, but McCollum scored four straight for the Mountain Hawks to give them a 30-26 advantage. Army scored the final five points of the half, including a 24-footer from Herbeck at the buzzer that sent the Black Knights into the locker room with a 31-30 advantage.
Lenox led the Black Knights with seven points in the first half, while Herbeck and Simmons each had six. McCollum led all scorers with 13 first-half points. Army held the lead despite shooting just 43.3 percent overall and 3-11 from three-point range (.273).
Springer scored the first basket of the second half to put Army on top by three, but the Mountain Hawks scored 10 unanswered points to seize a 40-33 lead. The Black Knights got right back into the game when Simmons hit his first three-pointer to start an 11-3 run that put them back in front 44-43with 12:12 left. Simmons scored eight points during the spurt, including the go-ahead three-pointer.
The see-saw tipped back in the Mountain Hawks' favor after five straight points re-established a four-point lead with 11:12 left. The Black Knights stemmed Lehigh's momentum and tied the game at 48-48 after a three-pointer by freshman G Chris Gramling, the first of his career, and a free throw by Ellis.
A jumper by McCollum broke the 10th tie of the game, but Ellis answered with an old-fashioned three-point play to put Army back on top at 51-50 with 7:32 left. McKnight hit a three-pointer to put the Mountain Hawks back on top by two, but Johnson scored in the post and freshman F Whit Thornton converted a fastbreak layup to give Army back the lead at 55-53 with 6:19 left.
Lehigh scored four straight points to take a 57-55, but Ellis rattled home a jumper to knot the game at 57-57 with 4:33 left. Army stepped up defensively with Springer drawing two charges in a row and grabbing a defensive rebound to keep the game tied. Springer then stepped to the free throw line where he knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Black Knights back on the positive side of the scoreboard at 59-57 with 2:06 left.
Knutsen continued to flip the lead, converting a three-point play with 1:51 left. Springer tied it at the free throw line, but McCollum answered with a pull-up jumper to make it 62-60 with 1:16 on the clock. Army answered right back with a layup by a cutting Mo Williams that knotted the game at 62-62. McCollum hit a pair of foul shots to give Lehigh the lead, but Ellis answered on the other end by stroking a pair of foul shots to tie the game once again.
Lehigh had the final shot in regulation, but McCollum's pull-up three-pointer was off the mark. Simmons secured the rebound, forcing the game into overtime.
Williams started the scoring in the extra session with a three-pointer from the right wing, but McCollum answered on Lehigh's next possession with a three-pointer to make it 67-67 with 4:14 left. A layup by Lenox put Army back in front, but consecutive dunks by the Knutsen and Adams gave the Mountain Hawks a two-point lead with 2:50 left.
With the shot clock winding down, Lenox drove the baseline and kicked to Herbeck who drained his third three-pointer, putting Army on top 72-71 with 2:13 left. Neither team scored again until Adams' game-winning three-pointer.
Army will be the sixth seed in the Patriot League Tournament and play at third-seeded American on Wednesday, Feb. 29 in the quarterfinal round. The Eagles won both regular-season meetings with the Black Knights this season.
Game Notes: Senior Josh Johnson and Pat Harris made their first career starts ... Jordan Springer had his team-best 28-game starting streak stopped as head coach Zach Spiker started all three Army seniors ... Ella Ellis snapped a string of 12 straight misses from the floor with his first three-pointer of the afternoon ... Army is now 1-1 in overtime this season ... the Black Knights defeated Navy in two extra sessions on Feb. 11 ... Maxwell Lenox has 92 assists, the most by an Army freshman since 2000-01 ... Ellis became just the second Army player to score 500 points, grab 130 rebounds and hand out 50 assists in the same season (Randy Cozzens, 1984-85) ... Ellis' 512 points this season marks the 19th time an Army player has scored 500 points in a season ... it ranks 17th on the Army single-season list ... Herbeck (6th - 75), Ellis (t-13th - 61) and Julian Simmons (15th- 60) are the first three Army players to rank in the top 15 on the single-season three-point list in the same season.
