Army Suffers Heartbreaker For Second-Straight Outing

Wednesday, January 25

Boston, Mass.

7 p.m.

Army West Point

8-13, 2-7PL

Boston U.

11-10, 6-3PL

OT 1

Army West Point

Boston University

Army Suffers Heartbreaker For Second-Straight Outing

January 25, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOSTON – The Army West Point men's basketball team dropped another nail-biter Wednesday night, falling at Boston University 90-89 in overtime.

Not even one week removed from its devastating overtime loss to academy-rival Navy this past Saturday, the Black Knights had another hard one to swallow on Wednesday.

Army had two solid opportunities to win the game. The first one came with 11.7 seconds remaining in regulation. The game was knotted at 77-77 with 11.7 seconds left and Army had one final attempt at the game-winner. John Emezie broke free at the free throw line and pulled up for a jumper in the paint. Unfortunately, his shot fell just short skimming the rim and forcing the contest into overtime.

Then after a back-and-forth overtime period, the Terriers jumped in front 89-83 after Eric Fanning converted on two free throws with 16 seconds remaining.

But just like in the Navy game, Army would not go away. Emezie was fouled with 13 seconds left and made both of his attempts at the charity stripe to pull the Cadets to within 89-85. Then after a huge defensive stop, Army saw Emezie drain a 3-pointer with four seconds left to make it a one point game at 89-88. The Black Knights couldn't come up with the steal and were forced to foul Fanning. The senior then stepped up and hit the front end of two shots at the line to extend the Terriers lead to 90-88.

Army quickly grabbed the rebound and dished it over to Jacob Kessler on the wing at midcourt. The sophomore threw up one last-ditch 3-pointer but his attempt fell short.

But that wasn't the end of the game. Kessler was fouled by Fanning while shooting, handing the Cadets an opportunity to tie or win the game. Unfortunately, the Richmond, Va., native only converted on one of his three attempts, ending the Black Knights' hopes of a comeback victory just shy.

Six Cadets found double digits with Tommy Funk's 16 points leading the way. The first-year matched his career high after going 6-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-5 from long range and 1-of-4 from the line.

Luke Morrison, Jordan Fox, and Emezie all added 14 points each, while Kessler and Mac Hoffman both finished with 11 points, respectively.

Hoffman, Morrison and Kennedy Edwards led the team on the boards with seven rebounds, while Funk and Fox dished out a team-high five assists each.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army played its second-consecutive overtime contest of the season, marking the first time the Black Knights played back-to-back extra period games since doing so on Feb. 3 and Feb. 6, 2016 against Lafayette and Loyola.
The Cadets fall to 0-3 in overtime this season.
The Black Knights are 1-6 when it's a four-point game or closer at halftime.
Army is now 2-2 when five or more players reach twin figures.
Funk's 16 points matched his career high, which he originally set on Saturday against Navy.
The rookie also drained three treys in the contest for a career best from long range.
Emezie and Kessler both matched their career best in steals with four and three, respectively.
Morrison was one trey shy of matching his career high from downtown, converting on four of his eight shots.
Army finished the night shooting 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the floor and 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from behind-the-arc. The Cadets struggled from the line though converting on just 18 of their 32 attempts for 56.3 percent.
Boston U. went 52.5 percent (32-of-61), 37.5 (9-of-24), and 65.4 (17-of-26), respectively.
The Terriers slightly outrebounded the Black Knights, 38-36.
The home team also held the advantage on points in the paint at 40-32 and on second chance points at 11-8.
Army outscored Boston U. 11-7 on points off turnovers and 5-2 on fast break points.
The Cadets bench scored 23 points to the Terriers' six.
Army led for 4:34, Boston U. was in front for 37:43. The game was tied for 2:43.
There were 14 lead changes and six tie scores.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Neither team held larger than a seven point edge throughout the opening 10 minutes of play.
Boston U. pulled in front 46-39 following two made free throws from Eric Fanning with 2:55 remaining in the half.
The two teams went scoreless over the next two and a half minutes until Morrison drained a 3-pointer right before the break to send the Terriers into the locker room only up 46-42.
Army quickly jumped in front at 52-51 at the 15:17 mark after it started the second half on a small 10-5 run.
There were then three tie scores over the next 13 minutes with Fox knotted the game at 73-all with 2:23 left on the clock.
The teams exchanged buckets before a layup from Justin Alston handed the Terriers a 77-76 edge with 59 seconds remaining.
A few seconds later Emezie was fouled by Fanning and the sophomore converted on 1-of-2 to tie the game for the sixth time.
Army then stopped Boston U. on back-to-back attempts, giving the Cadets one last chance to win the game with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Emezie's jumper at the charity stripe with no time remaining though skimmed the rim and fell just short.
A little less than three minutes into the extra period Fox hit two free throws to pull Army to within 82-81.
The Terriers answered with a 7-2 run over a little under two minutes to create an 89-83 gap between the teams.
Army would not go away, making it a one-point deficit at 89-88 with four seconds remaining following a trey from Emezie.
Fanning then converted on 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to make it a 90-88 ballgame with two ticks left before Kessler got fouled setting up a very interesting final few seconds.

UP NEXT

The Cadets host Bucknell on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Christl Arena. That game will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network with Rich DeMarco on the call. The Bison defeated Lafayette on the road 78-55 on Wednesday and head into Saturday's contest with a conference mark of 8-1, which is good enough for tops in the league.