Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
11-6, 2-4PL
Bucknell
9-10, 4-2PL
Bucknell Holds Off Men's Basketball at Sojka Pavilion
January 17, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Bucknell improved to 9-10 on the year and 4-2 in the Patriot League, while Army dropped to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
Haas was 9-for-17 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point land, and hit the decisive three with less than a minute to go that put Bucknell up by four. He was fouled on the play and made the bonus free throw that erased Army's comeback chances after the Black Knights trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half.
"It was a big play," head coach Zach Spiker said of Haas' three-pointer. "They were able to get really good shots for their best player down the stretch and he made them."
As a team, Bucknell shot 50.9 percent from the floor (29-of-57) and finished with a 33-25 rebounding edge. Nana Foulland contributed 17 points, while Steven Kaspar scored 11 points to go along with his six assists.
Three players joined Plomb in double digits in the scoring column, as Wilson put in 17, Dylan Cox scored 12 and Larry Toomey had 11.
Bucknell built an 18-11 lead through the first seven minutes of the game with half of their early points coming from a trio of Haas three pointers. Army countered with a 9-3 stretch over the next five minutes to pull within a point after Milton Washington's transition bucket that forced a Bison timeout at the 8:22 mark.
After the timeout, Bucknell regained its seven-point cushion with six straight points by Foulland, who had 13 at intermission, and was ahead 28-20 when Cory Starkey (five points) added a free throw.
Bucknell led by as many as 10 points on two occasions in the late stages of the first half, but both times the Black Knights answered with three pointers in transition. Luke Morrison (eight points) drained a straightaway triple before Wilson rattled one home from the corner.
The Bison brought a 38-30 lead into the locker room after controlling the glass 23-12 and hitting five of their eight three-point attempts. Both teams struggled from the free throw line in the period, as Bucknell was 5-for-10 and Army hit 5-of-11.
Plomb got involved offensively early in the second half and scored eight straight points prior to the first media timeout as Army closed the deficit to 45-42.
Army worked its way back and took its first lead since the 16:09 mark of the first half when Wilson banked in a straightaway triple that made it 51-50. Zach Thomas' layup on the other end edged Bucknell ahead, then the Bison went up 57-51 on Kaspar's trifecta.
Plomb came back with five more points, including a three-point play in the paint and the visitors trailed 57-56. A Haas floater, started a mini 6-1 run for Bucknell that forced an Army timeout with 6:28 to play. At that point the lead was back to six points (63-57), but Wilson hit a foul line jumper and Plomb scored inside surrounding a Bucknell free throw to make it 64-61 with 5:30 left.
Once again Haas had an answer for the home team as he got an elbow jumper to go, but Army came back when Wilson fed Cox for a wing three that shaved the deficit to two points. Kevin Ferguson made a pair at the line in a 1-and-1 situation to tie the score with four minutes to go.
An easy two inside by Foulland broke the tie, before Mo Williams picked out Toomey on a backdoor cut for a reverse layup that knotted the score at 68.
Starkey's layup after a Kaspar free throw had Bucknell up three with 1:30 to go, but Cox quickly went the other way for a layup that pulled the Black Knights within one.
The critical play came when Haas worked off a screen and buried his fourth three-pointer of the night. He was fouled on the play and hit the bonus free throw to put Bucknell up 75-70 with 53 seconds remaining.
The Bison went 6-for-8 at the line in the closing seconds and held on for the eventual six-point win.
Army returns home to Christl Arena on Jan. 21 for 7 p.m. opening tip against Patriot League leading Colgate. The game can be seen live online on the Patriot League Network.
Game Notes: The Black Knights fell to 6-2 on the road this season ... Plomb led Army in scoring for the fourth time this year ... Wilson's 17 point output moved him past Bob Brown and into 15th in Academy history in scoring (1,289).
