Edwards Shoots Men’s Basketball Past Maine

Wednesday, December 2

Bangor, Maine

7 PM

Army West Point

6-2

Maine

2-4

Army West Point

Maine

Edwards Shoots Men’s Basketball Past Maine

December 02, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BANGOR, Maine – A hot-shooting first 20 minutes gave the Army West Point men's basketball team a 21-point halftime lead and it never looked back in an 84-71 victory over Maine on Wednesday evening at the Cross Insurance Center.

The Black Knights' third consecutive win improved them to 6-2 on the season, while Maine dropped to 2-4 overall.

Kennedy Edwards registered a career-high 21 points to pace the Army offense, Kyle Wilson (17) and Tanner Plomb (13) joined him in double digits, while Kevin Ferguson tied a career-high with six blocked shots.

Army drained 12-of-34 three-point field goals, while limiting Maine to 2-for-16 from distance in the game. The Black Knights won the turnover battle (16-12) and outscored Maine in that department 21-8. The Black Bears outrebounded Army 50-42 and were plus-13 in second-chance points.

"I thought we did a better job of sustaining our effort in the first half," head coach Zach Spiker said. "Credit goes to Maine, they are a fast-paced team and they dramatically outrebounded us. That is something we have to work on, but I think we will do a better job at rebounding as the season moves along."

A furious pace to start the night saw Army secure a 19-11 lead after eight straight points. Edwards started the spurt with a bucket inside, before back-to-back transition threes by Adam Roe and Larry Toomey.

Maine came back with five points in a row, but Edwards got in on the three-point parade with a trifecta from the wing to make it 22-16.

Midway through the first half, Army extended its advantage to 12 (32-20) when Edwards hit a baseline jumper that forced a timeout by the Black Bears. That jumper followed a three by the Army junior and a strong drive and finish by Plomb. After the stoppage, Plomb hit a three-pointer to cap the 10-0 Army run.

Army continued to shoot the ball well from downtown as the lead ballooned to 21 points (45-24) with three-pointers by Wilson and Roe, and then a rainbow pullup two-point jumper from Plomb.

The Black Knights took a 50-29 lead into halftime as six different players made a three-pointer in the period. Army connected on 8-of-17 three-point attempts (47.1 percent) and 20-of-29 attempts overall (51.3 percent), while holding a plus-five margin in turnovers (12-7). Maine shot 41.9 percent in the opening half (13-of-31), but were 1-of-8 from distance.

Maine cut Army's lead to 16 by the first media timeout of the second half, but Army came back with threes by Edwards and Wilson, before a putback by Roe made it 67-43.

The visiting Black Knights led by as many as 25 points, before a 13-4 Maine run trimmed their lead to 15 points with five minutes left. An Army timeout halted the momentum briefly before a pair of Wilson free throws ended Maine's 18-4 run with 2:23 to play. Army led 80-67 at that point and walked away with the 13-point win.

Devine Eke led all scorers with 29 points and had a game-high 16 rebounds for Maine in the losing effort. Eke was 14-of-18 from the floor and scored a majority of his points in the paint.

"They don't give you style points on the road, thank goodness," Spiker added. "There is a lot we can learn from. When we rebound the basketball I think we can be a pretty good basketball team."

The Black Knights' next game is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 8 against Bryant in Smithfield, R.I. Opening tip from Chace Athletic Center is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen online on NEC Front Row.

Game Notes: Army improved to 5-0 all-time against Maine … the Black Knights improved to 29-16 all-time against America East competition and won their 11th straight game against the conference … Army moved to 6-2 for the second consecutive season … Army's 21-point halftime lead was its largest of the season … Army has made at least 10 three-point field goals in seven straight games … Kevin Ferguson played in his 100th career game … Kyle Wilson's 17 points moved him into 13th in Patriot League history (1,637) … Wilson passed Navy's Chris Harris and Colgate's Kyle Roemer on the list … Tanner Plomb increased his career-point total to 967 … Plomb moved past Jamie Uptgraft '99 into 10th on Army's career three-point field goals list … Ferguson increased his program-record blocked shots total to 171 … it was the fourth six-block game of his career … Edwards posted the first 20-point performance of his career … former Army standout Ella Ellis '13 was in attendance at the game.