Men’s Basketball Shoots Past Fairleigh Dickinson

Wednesday, November 18

Teaneck, NJ

7 PM

Army West Point

3-0

Fairleigh Dickinson

1-2

ARMY

Fairleigh Dickinson

Men’s Basketball Shoots Past Fairleigh Dickinson

November 18, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TEANECK, N.J. – Kyle Wilson's career night propelled the Army West Point men's basketball team to a 96-85 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night at the Rothman Center. Wilson led the hot-shooting Black Knights with a career-best 36 points on a 13-for-17 effort from the field, including an 8-for-12 showing from beyond the arc.

As a team, Army shot 64.8 percent from the field (35-of-54) and was 12-for-23 from downtown (52.2 percent) in the victory, which helped it overcome turning the ball over 25 times. In addition to Wilson, several other Army players had career-best games, including Tanner Plomb, who recorded his fourth double-double with 15 points and a personal-best 16 rebounds. Dylan Cox also registered a double-double with a career-high 11 assists and 10 points in his season debut. The Black Knights combined for 25 assists on the night.

"It was a hard-fought win," Wilson said. "I think our guys did a good job of sticking with it. FDU made a run, which every team is going to do at some point, and we were able to find a way to win."

Army came out of the gate on fire as Plomb ignited the offense with back-to-back threes. The scorching shooting continued as Army made 10 of its first 13 field goal attempts to secure a 26-12 advantage in the first eight minutes. Adam Roe hit a pair of threes off the bench and Kevin Ferguson scored six underneath during the opening run.

Five straight points by FDU briefly interrupted the Army attack, before the Black Knights opened up a 36-20 lead on Wilson's third corner three of the initial 12 minutes. The Black Knights started 7-for-11 from beyond the arc and 14-of-20 overall en route to the 16-point cushion.

Wilson had 17 points, Ferguson put in 13 of his 20 points and Plomb had 10 before intermission as Army held a 52-39 lead after FDU ended the half with six straight points. Army connected on 20-of-32 of its shot attempts in the first half (62.5 percent) with 16 assists. Cox had seven dimes off the bench and Jordan Fox handed out four of his five prior to the break. The Black Knights also held a 24-10 advantage on the glass in the period and ended up plus-22 in the contest (45-23). In addition to Plomb's 16, Ferguson pulled down nine and Larry Toomey contributed eight boards.

FDU trimmed the lead to single digits with a 16-6 run to end the first and begin the second half. Army's lead was 58-49 five minutes into the period, prior to Wilson drilling a three off a feed from Cox, which gave nine assists at that point.

With the lead hovering around 10 points, John Emezie kicked a pass out to Wilson, who drilled his sixth three-pointer to make it 74-61 with 9:09 on the clock.

The home Knights refused to go away and remained in striking distance with a 10-4 run that pulled them within seven with 4:30 left. Cox and Darian Anderson (22 points) traded layups before an Army turnover led to a layup by Marques Townes (18 points) that made it a five-point game. Army countered with the knockout blow of consecutive three-pointers by Wilson that pushed the lead back to 11 with three minutes remaining.

"They made their run, but we have a lot of seniors on this team and a lot of guys who have played together and have been in these situations before." Wilson added. "We stayed calm and tried to keep running our offense in order to get good shots every time down."

The advantage never went below double digits as Army left with the 11-point triumph.

"We played well in large chunks of the game," head coach Zach Spiker commented. "But, if we sit back and feel comfortable where we are now, we aren't going to be the team we need to be in February, in the Patriot League. We need to take care of the basketball and we can't let a team shoot 46 percent for the game."

The Cadets continue their road trip on Sunday evening when they take on George Washington in Washington, D.C. Opening tip from the Smith Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Game Notes: Army's 52 first-half points were the most by the Black Knights in a first half road game under Spiker … Army's 96 points equaled the most for a Zach Spiker coached team (Longwood, Jan. 3, 2012 and Maine, Dec. 14, 2012) … The Black Knights set a new field-goal percentage record during the Spiker era with their 64.8 percent effort … Army's 25 assists were two shy of the program record … Cox's double-double was the third of his career … Cox's 11 assists were the most for an Army player since Josh Miller '10 had 11 against Brown on Jan. 2, 2008 ... Ferguson reached the 20-point mark for the fourth time in his career … Wilson's 36 points were the most for an Army player since Ella Ellis '13 scored 37 at Yale on Nov. 24, 2012 … Wilson passed Chris Spatola '02 on Army's all-time scoring list and is now sixth in Academy history with 1,548 career points ... Army led for 39:54 of game time.