Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
14-10, 5-8PL
Holy Cross
10-13, 5-8PL
Men's Basketball Bows To Holy Cross
February 11, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Army's fourth consecutive loss pushes the Black Knights to 14-10 on the year and 5-8 in Patriot League play. The result evened the season series between Army and Holy Cross with each team winning in enemy territory. Holy Cross moved to 10-13 overall and 5-8 in the conference.
Eric Green and Malcolm Miller joined Burrell in double figures in the scoring column with 10 points apiece and Holy Cross held the rebounding (38-33), turnover (16-13) and shooting edge in the game. The Crusaders hit 46.4 percent from the floor (26-of-56) and limited Army to 40.3 percent on the night (25-of-62). Kyle Wilson added 15 points for the Black Knights, while Kevin Ferguson chipped in eight points and eight rebounds.
"It's no different than any other Patriot League game," head coach Zach Spiker said. "There were a couple sequences where we were unable to get a rebound and there is a fine line between winning and losing in these games."
Holy Cross' full-court pressure helped the visiting Crusaders dictate the tempo early in the game and they had a 25-18 lead midway through the period. The lead was a result of eight Army turnovers that turned into 11 points. The Black Knights responded with the next seven to tie the score at 25 over the next three minutes.
Army's defense tightened as the run continued with a Mo Williams corner jumper, and Holy Cross went five minutes without a field goal before Taylor Abt's putback ended a 9-0 Army stretch and tied the game at 27-27 with 4:30 left in the half.
By halftime, Army had given the ball away only once more and forced Holy Cross into eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes. The Crusaders took a 31-29 lead into the break after limiting Army to 36.4 percent (12-of-33) shooting from the floor. Plomb had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Burrell scored seven to pace the Crusaders.
Holy Cross increased its halftime lead to five points by the first media timeout of the second half after Burrell hit a pair of three-pointers in the first four minutes. Plomb connected on his fourth triple for Army and the home side was down 39-34 at that point.
A pair of free throws by De'Vaughn Reid matched Holy Cross' largest lead (7) to that point, but Cox found Wilson in the corner for three, then Wilson knocked down a pullup on Army's next trip. An empty possession for the Crusaders led to Wilson feeding Plomb in the wing, where he knocked down another trifecta to force a Holy Cross timeout at 13:46.
Two Burrell free throws ended the 8-0 Army run, prior to Miller's dunk plus a foul that made it 45-42 at 11:39. The free throw was good, before Nathan Dodge drained an open three, but moments later Holy Cross was up 52-47 after Burrell's layup. The Holy Cross point guard scored 19 points in the second half.
A Plomb miss led to an easy bucket by Green, which pushed the advantage back to seven points (54-47) for the Crusaders when Army called timeout at 8:24. Two successful free throws by Miller had Holy Cross up 56-47 before Army got back in the game with a 10-3 run.
Ferguson's jumper started the stretch, then Cox used the glass for two and a two-handed slam by Ferguson made it 57-53 with 5:30 on the clock. Green leaked out for a dunk, but was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Wilson buried both free throws and the Holy Cross lead remained at four points. Cox got to the line in a one-and-one situation and nailed both shots to polish off the run.
Leading 59-57, Green's paint jumper made it a four-point lead with four minutes left. Cox had a layup in transition, then Christopher Morgan slammed for a easy two after the dump off from Burrell.
With 1:40 to play, Holy Cross had the ball and took the shot clock down before hitting Malachi Alexander in the corner for a wide open three-pointer that made it a seven-point lead with a minute left. After an Army miss, Burrell hit two at the line. Cox scored a quick layup on the other end, then Ferguson blocked a shot to give the ball back to the Black Knights down 68-61. Plomb raced out in transition, but lost the handle and Holy Cross eventually came away with the nine-point win.
Game Notes: Cox had six assists to push him to 300 for his career. He is the sixth player in Academy history to reach the 300-assist mark.
