Men’s Basketball Falls Short Against Lafayette

Wednesday, January 6

West Point, NY

7 PM

Army West Point

10-5, 1-2PL

Lafayette

4-10, 1-2PL

Lafayette

Army West Point

Men’s Basketball Falls Short Against Lafayette

January 06, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Lafayette built a 13-point halftime lead and held off a late push by the Army West Point men's basketball team in a 76-73 decision on Wednesday night at Christl Arena.

Kyle Wilson and Tanner Plomb scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, but Wilson's three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short as Lafayette led from start to finish. The Black Knights were held to 41.3 percent shooting in the game (26-for-63) and were unable to overcome the double-digit halftime deficit.

Army's second straight loss drops it to 1-2 in the Patriot League and 10-5 overall, while Lafayette moves to 4-10 and 1-2 in the conference.

Paulius Zalys led Lafayette offensively with 17 points, while Zach Rufer and Nick Lindner each scored 13 and Matt Klinewski chipped in 10. Lindner handed out a game-high six assists and Lafayette shot 47.8 percent (32-for-67) in the contest. The Leopards outrebounded Army 41-34 in the contest.

"I thought our guys made a good comeback," head coach Zach Spiker said. "It was disappointing how we started and encouraging how we responded, but we used a lot of energy getting back in the game and it was tough to get over the hump. We have to address how we started the game tonight if we want to get better."

Lafayette made its first four field goal attempts and jumped out to an 8-0 lead that prompted an Army timeout. Nathaniel Musters and Klinewski each scored twice for the Leopards prior to Jordan Fox's corner three put Army on the board out of the stoppage.

The lead stretched to 19-6 on a layup by Zalys that capped a 9-0 run for the visitors before Cox found Wilson for three to halt the run.

Army struggled to score through the first 12 minutes and opened the game 4-for-19 from the field with seven turnovers. A three-point play by Wilson with a left-handed finish at the rim cut Lafayette's lead to 23-14 at 7:44.

Lafayette pushed its lead back to 15 with a driving layup by Rufer and a Zalys three that forced Army to use another timeout five minutes later.

The Lafayette lead at intermission was 36-23 as Army finished the period with 11 turnovers and shot 28.1 percent from the field. The 23 points for the Black Knights were a season-low in any half this season.

Army began the second half with a 16-7 run that pulled the Black Knights within four points (43-39) after a pair at the stripe by Dylan Cox. Cox started the run with a three ball on Army's first possession of the half, Plomb hit two threes of his own, while Wilson and John Emezie each made layups during the stretch.

After Lafayette responded with six of the next eight points, Cox found Plomb for a straightaway triple to pull the Black Knights back within five.

Rufer countered with threes on consecutive possessions surrounding the eight-minute mark to push Lafayette's lead back to double digits. The Leopards held a 61-50 lead with 7:14 to play.

A basket inside pushed the lead to 13, before Army hit three straight threes as part of a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to six with 5:11 remaining. Toomey buried the first trifecta before Wilson connected on a pair sandwiched around a layup by Zalys.

The run continued after a Lafayette turnover and a driving scoop layup by Cox (65-61), but Rufer again had an answer as he connected on a pullup foul-line jumper (3:59) to stop Army's surge.

Trailing by eight with two minutes on the clock, a driving layup plus a foul by Plomb kept the Black Knights alive.

A loose ball at midcourt resulted in a tie-up that went to Army with 1:49 to play. Turnovers by each team gave the ball back to Army and Ferguson scored on a putback following a Plomb miss to pull Army within three.

Lindner was fouled and made one-of-two at the line before Wilson's layup trimmed the deficit to two. A timeout by Lafayette with 49 seconds left came before Klinewski scored over Toomey inside to make it a four-point game. Wilson misfired on a three, but Plomb secured the rebound and put in a layup while being fouled. The free throw was good and Army trailed by one.

Lindner was fouled at 16 seconds and made both shots, Cox went to the line at the other end and sank a pair three seconds later and Army was down 74-73.

After Lindner again made two free throws, Army had a chance to tie, but both of Wilson's attempts were off and Lafayette hung on for the three-point victory.

The Black Knights' next game is Saturday evening when they play Loyola in Baltimore, Md. Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on the Patriot League Network.

Game Notes: Tanner Plomb recorded his fifth straight 20-point game … it was the 21st 20-point performance in his career and 10th this season … Plomb has scored in double figures in 25 straight games dating back to last season … Cox scored in double figures for the fourth time this season … Wilson scored 20 points for the 37th time in his career and sixth time in 2015-16 … Lafayette has won three straight games against Army and leads the all-time series 42-27.