Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
12-8 (5-4PL)
Colgate
11-9 (6-3PL)
Black Knights Edged by Colgate, 81-78
January 24, 2018 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army West Point men's basketball team saw Colgate earn a tough 81-78 victory here Wednesday night.
The loss dropped Army to 5-4 in the Patriot League, while the Raiders improved to 6-3. Colgate now sits in sole possession of third place, while the Black Knights follow closely behind in fourth as both teams transition into the second half of conference play beginning Saturday.
Wednesday's game was a battle right from the start. Army opened the contest on a 14-2 run to create the game's largest advantage just three minutes in. During that stretch the Cadets converted on all five of their shots, including four makes, three straight, from downtown.
Overall, Army started the game 7-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from downtown.
But the Raiders responded with a 16-7 run of their own over a four-and-a-half-minute span to cut into the deficit and pull within 21-18. Army ended the rally but only managed to take a 37-34 lead into halftime.
Colgate kept the margin close, with the Cadets holding no larger than a six-point lead over the first eight minutes of the second period. Then, with it a 53-46 Army advantage with 12:20 remaining, the Raiders used another 16-4 run to take over the lead at 62-57. That Colgate rally lasted nearly seven minutes and was highlighted by an 11-0 run for the visitors.
Army would not back down though. The Black Knights worked what was Colgate's largest lead at 73-65 with 51 seconds left down to a three-point one after Tommy Funk converted on his first free throw attempt with four ticks remaining.
The sophomore then intentionally missed his second shot in hopes of his team getting the offensive rebound. They did. Jordan Fox collected the loose ball and heaved up a desperation 3-pointer. Unfortunately, his shot from deep in the right corner fell just short, ending Army's hopes of sending the game into overtime.
Final, 81-78.
Leading the Black Knights was Luke Morrison for the second-straight outing. The senior finished 5-of-7 from behind-the-arc to match his career-best effort from long range.
Matt Wilson also registered double-digits with 13 points in the contest on 5-of-11 shooting. He converted on three of his five attempts from the charity stripe as well.
Closing out the Cadets in twin figures was Funk and John Emezie with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Wilson pulled down a team-best eight rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. Funk dished out a team-high seven assists as well.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
- Offensive rebounds were a key factor in the game. Colgate recorded 13 offensive boards and converted 19 points off of those second-chance opportunities.
- Army finished with six offensive boards and produced just three points from them.
- The Black Knights shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor and 40.6 percent (13-of-32) from downtown in the game. They also finished 11-of-20 from the free throw line for 55 percent shooting.
- The Raiders went 45.9 percent (28-of-61), 35.7 percent (10-of-28), and 62.5 percent (15-of-24), respectively.
- Five Cadets registered at least two 3-pointers in the contest.
- Fox chipped in seven rebounds, while also handing out two assists.
- Colgate placed five athletes in double-figure scoring with Jordan Robertson's 14 points leading the way. He scored 10 of those points in the second half alone and finished 6-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the charity stripe. The senior pulled down eight rebounds as well to close out his night.
- The visitors held the advantage on points in the paint (32-24), points off turnover (15-9), fast-break points (6-2) and bench points (28-22).
- The Raiders also outrebounded their host, 42-30.
- There were two lead changes and one tie score.
- Army led for 32:33, while Colgate was in front for 6:50. The game was tied for 37 seconds.
UP NEXT
- Army kicks off the second half of the Patriot League season when it travels to Loyola on Saturday for a 4 p.m. start.
- In the first meeting between these teams, the Black Knights captured an 85-76 victory at Christl Arena back on Jan. 2.
- The Greyhounds most recently defeated Lehigh on the road Wednesday night 91-88 in double overtime.
- Loyola rallied from 17-points down to register the win.
