Defense Keys Men’s Basketball’s Win at Loyola

Saturday, January 9

Baltimore, MD

7 PM

Army West Point

11-5, 2-2PL

Loyola Maryland

4-11, 3-1PL

Army West Point

Loyola Maryland

Defense Keys Men’s Basketball’s Win at Loyola

January 09, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BALTIMORE - The Army West Point men's basketball team improved to 7-2 on the road with a critical 73-59 victory over Loyola Maryland on Saturday evening at Reitz Arena. The Black Knights limited the Greyhounds to a 2-for-16 shooting performance from beyond the arc.

Army snapped a two-game skid to improve to 2-2 in the Patriot League and 11-5 overall, while Loyola suffered its first conference loss (3-1) and fell to 4-11 on the year.

Tanner Plomb paced the Black Knights with 22 points, Kyle Wilson scored 15 and Kevin Ferguson netted 12 in the win. Plomb grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Black Knights to help them to a 43-35 edge on the glass.

The Black Knights also struggled from distance (4-for-16), but shot 44.4 percent overall (28-for-63) and were plus-four in the turnover department.

Andre Walker led Loyola with 17 points on 5-for-16 shooting and Jarred Jones posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Loyola secured a 15-11 lead early in the contest before Army's defense increased its pressure to help it take its first lead. Army used an 8-2 run that forced a timeout after Wilson knocked down a three from the corner. After the timeout, Army got another stop and Ferguson scored inside to cap the 10-2 stretch as the Black Knights went up 21-17 at the eight-minute mark.

The score was knotted at 25-25 after a layup by Franz Rassman four minutes later, before Army scored the final 11 points of the period to take a 36-25 lead into the locker room. A three-point play by Kennedy Edwards started the spurt, John Emezie put in a tough layup in traffic, prior to buckets by Ferguson and Plomb before Edwards nailed a pullup with a minute remaining. Loyola missed five straight shots and turned the ball over three times to end the half.

Army scored 25 of its 36 points in the paint and shot 47.1 percent (16-for-34), while limiting Loyola to 30-percent shooting (9-for-30) before intermission.

The Army lead remained double figures and stretched to 12 with an acrobatic layup by Emezie six minutes into the second half. The Army freshmen was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but Army collected the loose ball and Ferguson pushed the advantage to 48-34 with a hook shot in the lane.

Loyola cut the lead back to 10 with a pair at the line by Andre Walker. The Greyhounds' press was broken by Army and Plomb buried a three-pointer to make it 51-38. On Loyola's next trip, Edwards stepped in front of Rassman to draw a charge. Moments later, Wilson scored a layup and a foul line jumper by Ferguson made it 55-38 with 9:37 remaining.

The Greyhounds pulled back within 11 on a putback by Eric Laster with 4:20 on the clock. He was fouled on the play, but missed the attempt and Loyola grabbed the board. Jarred Jones scored inside after the miss to make it 59-50.

A missed three by Wilson gave Loyola the ball back and Walker was able to get to the rim for an easy two. Plomb countered with two free throws on the other end and the lead was back to nine at 2:58.

After two Walker free throws, Plomb's two-handed slam was one of the biggest baskets of the game for Army and made it 63-54. Loyola never got any closer than eight points over the final two minutes as Army made its final 12 free throw attempts after starting the game 1-for-10 at the charity stripe.

Army returns to the hardwood on Wednesday night when they travel to Hamilton, N.Y., to challenge Colgate. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on the Patriot League Network.

Game Notes: Army improved to 41-12 since 2009-10 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less ... the Black Knights are 5-0 in 2015-16 when holding teams to that mark ... Tanner Plomb recorded his sixth straight 20-point game ... it was the 22nd 20-point performance in his career and 11th this season ... Plomb has scored in double figures in 26 straight games dating back to last season ... Wilson's 15 points moved him past Lehigh's Jose Olivero into ninth on the Patriot League's all-time scoring list (1,773 points) ... Ferguson scored at least 10 points for the ninth time this season ... Army improved to 9-1 when Adam Roe makes a three-pointer ... Scott Mammel made his first appearance since Dec. 12 at Air Force ... Luke Morrison played in his first game since Dec. 8 at Bryant ... Army improved to 4-2 all-time against Loyola ... the Black Knights moved to 33-3 under Spiker when leading by at least 10 points at halftime.