Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
9-3, 0-1Patriot
Lafayette
9-3, 1-0Patriot
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | 43 | 49 | 92 |
| Army | 33 | 45 | 78 |
Lafayette Tops Men's Basketball in League Opener
December 31, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Lafayette's three-point shooting told the story for the visitors, who were 10-of-17 from downtown. The Leopards were 54.1 percent from the floor in the contest, including 72 percent in the second half.
Four players scored in double figures for Army in the loss, led by Larry Toomey's career-high 17-point effort. The junior also added eight boards. Dylan Cox posted 12 points and five assists, while Kyle Wilson and Kevin Ferguson put in 11 and 10, respectively.
The Leopards were led by a 21-point performance from Seth Hinrichs and a double-double from Dan Trist, who posted 17 points and 11 boards. Also finishing in double figures for Lafayette was Joey Ptasinski with 18 and Bryce Scott with 10.
"I thought this was a game of energy," head coach Zach Spiker said. "Lafayette was the team with more energy and they deserved to win because they had better energy and execution. We need to do a better job moving our feet, pressuring the basketball and having active hands. They are a good team and have a group of guys who have been playing together for three years now and it showed."
Lafayette (9-3, 1-0 Patriot) broke an 11-11 tie early in the first half with an 11-2 run that included a trio of three-pointers by the Leopards, who started the game 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. The third triple came from Scott and put Lafayette up 24-13 as Army called timeout at 11:27.
Moments later, Ptasinski drilled his third three and the Leopards took a 15-point lead (29-14) midway through the period. Cox quickly answered with a triple of his own on the opposite end for Army (9-3, 0-1 Patriot) to spark a 10-2 run for the Black Knights, who pulled within seven (31-24) on Cox's driving three-point play.
Army trimmed the deficit to three with another run, this time a 9-2 spurt, that included an emphatic one-handed slam by Tanner Plomb (nine points) off a feed from Cox, an acrobatic reverse layup by Wilson and Nathan Dodge's three-pointer that forced a Lafayette timeout at 3:34.
Trist converted a three-point play out of the timeout and Lafayette closed the first half with the final seven points to take a 43-33 lead into the break.
"We just didn't do a very good job defensively today," Wilson added. "They were able to get into the lane and throw passes out to shooters at will. They are a great shooting team and when they get looks like they had today, they are going to go in. We can't win when we play defense like we did today."
Lafayette scored the first two baskets after intermission to complete an 11-0 stretch spanning both halves and then extended its advantage to 56-39 on a jumper by Hinrichs in the paint that forced Army to use a timeout early in the second period.
The game of runs continued as Army scored seven straight to make it a 10-point game on Toomey's corner three at the 14-minute mark, but Lafayette continued to shoot the ball well from distance.
Zach Rufer hit a three, Scott hit another and just like that Lafayette led by 18, 73-55 with nine minutes to play following a pair at the line by Ptasinski.
Army hits the road on Saturday when it takes on Loyola in Baltimore. Opening tip from Reitz Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on Patriot League Network or heard on the Army Sports Network.
Game Notes: The result snapped Army's three-game winning streak ... Army entered the game with a four-game winning streak against Lafayette.
