Men’s Basketball Shoots Past Lehigh

Wednesday, December 30

Bethlehem, PA

7 PM

Army West Point

10-3, 1-0PL

Lehigh

2-10, 0-1PL

Army West Point

Lehigh

Men’s Basketball Shoots Past Lehigh

December 30, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A scorching shooting start helped the Army West Point men's basketball team build an 11-point halftime lead in an eventual 88-82 victory in the Patriot League opener for both teams on Wednesday night at Stabler Arena.

Four different Army players scored in double figures, led by Tanner Plomb's 23-point effort. Kyle Wilson scored 17, Kevin Ferguson had 15 and Adam Roe had a new career high with 11. Larry Toomey pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds as Army held a plus-nine advantage on the glass (39-30).

As a team, Army shot 55.0 percent (33-of-60), with 12 three pointers, and was 10-for-12 at the free throw line.

Tim Kempton scored a game-high 28 points, while Austin Price finished with 22 points and Jesse Chuku scored 17 to go along with his team-high eight rebounds. Lehigh forced Army into 17 turnovers and were plus-seven in that department on the night.

"Tonight was a collective effort," head coach Zach Spiker said following the win. "A lot of guys, including Adam Roe, stepped up and made plays. All of our guys were terrific."

The Black Knights came out of the gate on fire, hitting 10 of their first 15 attempts, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Wilson hit a trio of threes to open the contest, with Plomb and Toomey each hitting one, and Lehigh used two timeouts in the first eight minutes after Army secured a 25-11 lead.

A layup by Kennedy Edwards punctuated a 21-4 run by the Black Knights made it 27-11. Kempton, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, scored inside to stop the bleeding as he returned from a three-game absence with a foot injury.

Army's lead was as many as 20 in the first period when Mac Hoffman drained a three-pointer (36-16) with seven minutes to play, but Lehigh scored the final seven points of the period to cut Army's lead to 45-34.

The Black Knights finished the half 18-for-29 (62.1 percent), including a 7-for-10 effort from beyond the arc, and outrebounded Lehigh 21-13. Nine Army turnovers, including two in the final 1:17, helped the Mountain Hawks claw back into the game.

Lehigh's run continued early in the second half and the Army lead was cut to 47-41 with a three-pointer by Austin Price. The trifecta completed an 18-5 stretch before Cox's layup and a wing three from Adam Roe pushed the lead back to double digits.

The Mountain Hawks pulled within five on a layup by Kempton midway through the second half, but Army countered with a corner three by Roe, his third of the night, to extend the lead back to eight. Tanner Plomb followed with a jumper that made it 66-56 less than a minute later.

A layup by Ferguson after a loose ball had Army in front 72-60 at the 6:22 mark and moments after that, a transition triple by Wilson put Army up by 13 and completed a 14-6 run. Back-to-back threes from Lehigh followed to make it a seven-point game, but Plomb hit an elbow jumper and put the cushion back to nine with under four minutes remaining.

Lehigh made a late charge that was led by Kempton, who scored inside to make it 80-74 at 1:43. Army's ensuing trip resulted in a three from Plomb that helped seal the six-point win.

Army returns home to host Bucknell on Saturday afternoon. The Black Knights and Bison tip off at 3 p.m. and the game can be seen live on the Patriot League Network.

Game Notes: Mac Hoffman hit his first three-pointer of the season to become the 12th different Army player to make a three in 2015-16 … Army has made at least 10 threes in 11 of 13 games this season … head coach Zach Spiker became the first coach in Army basketball history to win 10 games in seven straight seasons … Army improved to 10-3 for the second straight season … Spiker won his 93rd career game and moved past Les Wothke into third on the Academy's all-time wins list … Tanner Plomb recorded his third straight 20-point game … it was the 19th 20-point performance in his career and eighth this season … Plomb has scored in double figures in 23 straight games dating back to last season … Plomb moved past Derrick Canada '90 and Darryle Kouns '59 into 25th on the Academy's all-time scoring list (1,088) … Kyle Wilson became the fifth player in Army history to reach the 1,700-point mark (1,716 career points) … Kevin Ferguson moved into a tie with Ed Weaver '54 for 10th in Academy history in career rebounds (557) … Army improved to 10-0 this season when leading at halftime … the Black Knights are 32-3 during the Spiker era when holding a double-digit halftime lead … Army moved to 9-1 when winning the rebounding battle this season.