Cadets Edged by Sacred Heart, 79-78

Friday, November 16

Providence, RI

5 PM

Army West Point

1-2

Sacred Heart

2-1

Sacred Heart

Army West Point

Cadets Edged by Sacred Heart, 79-78

November 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In a back-and-forth battle that came down to the wire on the opening day of the Brown Bears Tip-Off Classic, it was Sacred Heart holding on to capture a, 79-78, victory over the Army West Point men's basketball team on Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

In his first start of the season, Alex King put together a standout scoring performance for the Black Knights (1-2) by tallying a team-best 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting to pair with seven rebounds. Jordan Fox was stellar, especially in the second half, connecting on five 3-pointers and finishing the game with 17 points, four rebounds and five assists against the Pioneers (2-1).

Matt Wilson was the third Cadet to reach double-digit scoring as he went for 10 points to go along with nine boards, while Tommy Funk aided the team with nine points, five rebounds and a game-high eight assists.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

King came one point shy of tying his career-high in points, but set a new career mark with 10 made shots.
He additionally tied his career-high in shots made from beyond the arc with three.
Funk recorded five or more assists for the fourth consecutive outing.
Fox passed Josh Herbeck for 10th on the all-time list in career makes from deep with 160.
The senior shot 5-for-6 from deep in the second half.
The Cadets assisted on 58 percent of their makes from the field.
Army's offense generated 16 more shots from the field than the Pioneers.
The Black Knights crashed the glass and won the rebounding battle, 43-34.
14 of the 43 boards for the Cadets came on the offensive glass.
Army scored 46 percent of its points from inside the painted area.

HOW IT HAPPENED

With King burying a pair of treys and scoring a basket from inside, the Black Knights jumped out to a 10-0 advantage. However, the early Army lead was erased as the Pioneers began to find their rhythm offensively and outscored the Cadets, 26-9, during a stretch that lasted over 11 minutes.
The Black Knights pulled within three, 31-28, once King buried his third 3-pointer of the half. Despite the Pioneers putting up four unanswered points, King countered with four of his own in the final 1:32 to bring the deficit back to three, 35-32, and give him 17 points at the half.
An early 6-2 run to open the new stanza pushed the Sacred Heart lead to seven, the largest of the game. Army answered with a 13-5 run that was capped by a Fox triple to even the score before the senior buried another shot from long range to give the Black Knights their first lead since early in the first half.
The Pioneers regained the advantage and went ahead by six, 64-58, after a three. However, a 3-pointer by Blackwell and back-to-back makes from deep by Fox gave Army a 67-66 lead. Sacred Heart countered quickly with three straight 3-pointers of its own to go ahead, 75-69, with 2:03 remaining in the game.
A pair of makes from the charity stripe and a score in the low post by Wilson trimmed the deficit to two. The two sides took several trips to the foul line from that point and following two free throws by Funk, the Sacred Heart lead sat at one, 79-78. With five seconds left, the Pioneers missed both foul shots, but Army was unable to get a look at the basket and Sacred Heart escaped with the win.

UP NEXT
Army will return to action tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. to face off against UMass Lowell on the second day of the Brown Bears Tip-Off Classic.