Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
14-12 (5-10PL)
Colgate
13-15 (10-5PL)
Strong Start Leads Colgate Past Men's Basketball
February 18, 2015 | Men's Basketball
The win improved Colgate to 10-5 in Patriot League play, and 13-15 overall, while Army dropped its sixth straight game and fell to 5-10 in the conference. The Black Knights sit at 14-12 on the season.
Luke Roh's double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds directed Colgate's offensive efforts, while Ethan Jacobs scored 19 and Pat Moore put in 11. Matt McMullen contributed 10 in the winning effort as Colgate shot 51.7 percent from the floor.
Dylan Cox paced Army players in double figures with 17 points and seven rebounds, Kevin Ferguson had 15, Kyle Wilson scored 14 and Tanner Plomb added 12. As a team, Army held a 37-28 rebounding edge, but the Black Knights' had 16 turnovers compared to Colgate's five.
"You have to give a lot of credit to that team," head coach Zach Spiker said. "They hit a lot of shots when they needed to, they are a well coached team and they were 9-for-23 from three and we were 5-for-25."
The home team opened up an 11-point cushion eight minutes into the game with a 14-3 run that included three layups by Roh, an easy two by Jacobs and back-to-back three pointers from Moore and McMullen. The stretch ended with a three-point play by Wilson and Army faced a 23-15 deficit.
Colgate's lead hovered around double digits for the remainder of the first half and the Raiders took a 46-36 lead into the locker room after hitting 57.1 percent (20-of-35) from the floor in the period. Roh did his damage in the initial half, scoring 18 points to go along with seven rebounds. The Black Knights stayed within striking distance by shooting 50 percent from the field (15-of-30), but were hampered by a minus-five turnover differential that led to eight Colgate points.
By the first media timeout of the second half, Colgate increased its lead to 15 (53-38) after Sherman-Newsome banked in a three-pointer from straightaway. Both teams struggled shooting to begin the period as Army made one of its first 10 shots and Colgate went 2-for-7 before Moore's corner triple pushed the lead to 18.
A 5-of-6 effort at the free throw line closed the gap to 56-43 by the 11-minute mark and Cox's layup following a Colgate miss was Army's first field goal since 17:38. Midway through the half, Army was down 56-47 after Plomb's jumper made it eight straight for the visitors.
Jacobs ended the run with a deep straightaway triple, and then hit another trey surrounding Cox's three-point play. With a little less than eight minutes left, Colgate held a 64-52 lead after a pair of Jacobs free throws.
Cox drew an offensive foul on Jacobs, then Wilson's drive and successful three-point play trimmed Colgate's lead to seven (66-59) with six minutes left. Colgate responded with two free throws by Roh, and McMullen drained a three to extend the advantage back to 12 a minute later.
A turnover and a foul on Army put John Fenton on the line for a pair at 4:48, but he missed both and Ferguson scored on a three-point play to make it 71-62. Roh got back to the line, where he made two, then Plomb hit one for Army and the Black Knights had the ball after his miss on the second. Cox scored on the second chance opportunity and the Colgate lead was 73-65 with 2:30 to go.
Army's defense forced Sherman-Newsome into a missed three-pointer, but the Black Knights turned it over on the other and the result was a layup. Colgate went up 75-65 with 1:48 remaining and evened the season series with Army in the 15-point win.
"There was progress made from the first half to the second half," Spiker added. "We have to do a better job on the defensive end. We can remedy that and get better and we will."
Army's final regular-season home game is scheduled for Sunday at Noon at Christl Arena. The Black Knights will celebrate Senior Day prior to tipoff against American and the game can be seen on the Patriot League Network.
Game Notes: Colgate's victory snapped a four-game losing streak to Army.
