Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
12-10, 5-6PL
Bucknell
16-8, 10-1PL
Army Battles Bucknell to Overtime Thriller
January 31, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Army West Point men's basketball team put up a valiant effort against the Patriot League frontrunners Bucknell here Wednesday night but ultimately dropped a heartbreaker, 83-71, in overtime.
Army held the lead for nearly the entire game, but the veteran Bison team outscored the Black Knights 15-3 during the extra period to secure the win.
Bucknell started the contest on a 6-2 run but that would be its only lead of the first half. Army finally settled in and outscored its host 34-11 over almost 12 minutes to create a 19-point lead, the largest of the game, following back-to-back 3-pointers by rookie Tucker Blackwell.
A jumper by Nana Foulland cut into the deficit, but Luke Morrison converted on a jumper on the other end to push the lead back to 19 points with 5:03 remaining in the opening period. The Bison then answered with an 11-2 rally to end the half and pull within 40-30.
Bucknell continued that strong play in the second half, quickly erasing any deficit with a 13-4 run over the opening seven-and-a-half minutes to make it a 44-43 ballgame.
The Black Knights were in for a dogfight, and were up for the challenge. Army maintained its lead of between one to four points over the next five minutes to take some time off the clock.
Unfortunately, the home team saw Zach Thomas convert on one of his two free throw attempts with 7:42 left to tie the game at 53-53. Over the next three-and-a-half minutes there were five tie scores and two lead changes before Army sparked a small 4-0 run to create a 66-62 gap between the teams with 3:29 remaining.
Avi Toomer then ended the Cadets rally with two good free throws with 2:16 left on the clock. On the ensuing Army possession, the Bison stole the ball and converted on a jumper to knot the score for the seventh time.
And back-and-forth we went. Army was fouled on the other end of the court, which set up Tommy Funk for two important attempts from the free throw line. He sunk both.
Army led 68-66 with 1:03 remaining. Bucknell responded with a Nana Foulland layup with 44 ticks remaining to tie things up at 68-all.
After an Army timeout, Bucknell watched Stephen Brown steal the ball before passing it up to Foulland who was breaking up the court. The Cadets were forced to foul and the play was deemed an intentional foul which handed the Bison two shots at the charity stripe and the ball back with 19 seconds left.
The small group of Army supporters in the stands made as much noise as they could, which helped Foulland miss both. Army now needed a huge defensive stop. And that's exactly what they got. Rookie Mark Madden was called in to defend Thomas, who had caught fire in the second half. Thomas waited to run the final seconds off the clock before trying to isolate Madden at the top of the key. With six ticks remaining, the senior drove to the hoop but Madden and the other Cadets stood strong and forced an off-balanced shot, which the Black Knights rebounded, to force overtime.
Army held the slim 2-1 edge in the early part of the extra period until the Bison strung together four straight to create a 73-70 margin between the teams. After a missed layup by the Cadets on the other end, Brown found Kimbal Mackenzie on the wing. The junior then made the play of the game when he converted on a four-point play after being fouled on a good 3-pointer.
The Black Knights were never able to recover.
Five cadet-athletes recorded double-digit scoring with Funk's 13 points leading the way. Matt Wilson chipped in 12, while Jordan Fox and Alex King registered 11 points each. Blackwell closed out the Army players in double figures with 10 points.
Wilson was one rebound shy of hitting a double-double as he collected a team-best nine on the night. Funk dished out a game-high eight assists as well. He is now tied with Chris Spatola for the No. 9 spot on Army's all-time assist chart with 291 to his name.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
- Funk finished 4-of-11 from the floor, 1-of-3 from long range and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. At the half, the sophomore was a perfect 3-of-3, 1-of-1 and 1-of-1, respectively.
- Wilson concluded his night 6-of-11 for the floor, while King chipped in 5-of-7 makes, including one from downtown.
- Fox and Blackwell were the only two Black Knights to notched multiple 3-pointers as they both finished with two.
- Neither team shot well from long range. Army converted on six of its 20 attempts, while Bucknell went 4-of-20.
- The Bison slightly outshot their visitors at 44.3 percent (27-of-61) to 40.6 percent (28-of-69).
- Army missed just one free throw (9-of-10). Bucknell went 25-of-38.
- The rebounding game was closed but the Bison compiled 41 boards to 38 for the Black Knights.
- Both teams had 12 offensive rebounds, and 40 points from inside the paint.
- Army held the 16-9 edge on second-chance points, while Bucknell posted a 21-14 advantage on points off turnovers.
- The Bison finished with four in twin figures led by Thomas' 32 points, 25 of those coming in the second half and overtime period.
- Mackenzie was the lone Bison player to hit a trey in the game as he had all four.
- There were nine tie scores and six lead changes throughout the contest.
- Army led for 33:32. Bucknell was in front for 7:52. The game was tied for 3:37.
- The Black Knights are now 2-2 in games when they have both led and trailed by double digits.
UP NEXT
- Army returns home on Saturday when it welcomes American to Christl Arena at 3 p.m.
- The Eagles hosted Navy on Wednesday and dropped a 61-44 decision after letting the Mids outscore them 40-21 during the second half.
