Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
9-2
Coast Guard
4-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coast Guard | 24 | 24 | 48 |
| Army | 63 | 30 | 93 |
Men's Basketball Halts Coast Guard in Non-Conference Finale
December 28, 2014 | Men's Basketball
The win improved Army to 9-2 on the season, marking its best start since 2009-10 when head coach Zach Spiker directed the team to a 9-2 start. Coast Guard fell to 4-6 with the result.
Playing without leading scorer Kyle Wilson, who missed the game with an injury, Army had five players reach double figures in the scoring column. Freshman Nathan Dodge set new career highs with 20 points, five rebounds and four steals while classmate Luke Morrison also set a new career standard with 15 points on a 5-for-7 effort from beyond the arc. Juniors Tanner Plomb and Dylan Cox put in 15 and 12 points, respectively, and Kevin Ferguson added 10. Cox handed out four of Army's season-high 27 assists on 36 made field goals and the Black Knights shot 52.2 percent (36-of-69) from the floor.
Dodge and Morrison combined to go 10-for-16 from beyond the arc and collectively Army finished 14-of-36 from three-point range (38.9 percent) in the victory.
"It is easy to perform well when you have such an accepting group of guys," Dodge said of his performance. "I was excited to get on the floor today, but because our team has such a close bond it helped me relax and play the way I am capable of playing."
Larry Toomey's three-pointer on Army's first possession got the Black Knights off on the right foot and Army never trailed as it put together a game-opening 13-2 run that included a triples by Dodge and Morrison and four points from Cox.
A Coast Guard layup five minutes into the first half trimmed the deficit to eight (13-5), but Mo Williams hit a jumper and Army quickly extended its lead to 22 over the next four minutes by scoring 17 of the next 20 points. Dodge scored eight points during that run, including back-to-back threes to cap the stretch, and had 17 points at intermission. Army shot 61.5 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and led by as many as 41 points in the period.
Army's lead never shrunk below 38 points in the second half and scored 39 points off of 21 Coast Guard turnovers. The Black Knights only gave the ball away nine times and held a 42-25 rebounding advantage, led by Ferguson's six boards.
"We have had a number of guys step up and play well throughout the season," Spiker added. "Today it was Nate Dodge and Luke Morrison, at other times throughout the year it has been Larry Toomey or Kennedy Edwards. We have to turn our attention to a very good Lafayette team and get ready for Patriot League play."
Patriot League play begins on Wednesday afternoon when the Black Knights host Lafayette at 3 p.m. The game can be seen online on Patriot League Network or heard on the Army Sports Network.
Game Notes: Army remained unbeaten all-time against Coast Guard (17-0) ... Army moved to 5-1 at Christl Arena this season ... Army owns a 3-0 record against military opponents this season. The Black Knights beat Air Force and VMI to open the season ... Army has won three consecutive games ... Mo Williams made his first start of the season and set a new career high with three steals ... Larry Toomey set a new career best with three steals ... Army scored a season-high 93 points and held Coast Guard to a season-low 48 points ... Army's 14 steals were a season high.
