Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
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Marist
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Funk’s Three Lifts Army in Opening Game Thriller
November 06, 2018 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Junior Tommy Funk hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds remaining to hand Army West Point men's basketball a thrilling 73-69 victory over Marist here Tuesday night.
Trailing by six with 5:29 left in the second half, the Black Knights sparked a 9-2 run to pull ahead by one thanks to a pair of treys by Jordan Fox and three points from Matt Wilson. The two sides battled back-and-forth for the final 2:47 of the game until Funk's triple with 3.8 remaining clinched the victory for the home team.
The Warrington, Pa., native finished with 15 points, including that critical make from long range, while dishing out a game-high six assists.
Wilson led the Black Knights' offense with a career-high 24 points on perfect 8-of-8 shooting. The junior added six rebounds and 8-of-12 makes at the free throw line as well. Fox closed out the Army players in double-digits with 14 points, 12 of those coming from behind-the-arc. Rookie Josh Caldwell tied Wilson for a team-high six rebounds.
The victory handed head coach Jimmy Allen his first season-opening win since taking over the program at the start of the 2016-17 season.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
- The Black Knights finished the game shooting 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the floor and 30 percent (9-of-30) from downtown. Army closed out its night 20-of-29 from the charity stripe.
- Caldwell, Aaron Duhart, and Ben Kinker each played in their first collegiate game.
- The Cadets outscored the Red Foxes 13-8 on points off turnovers.
- Marist held the advantage on bench points (29-14), points in the paint (38-22), and second-chance points (9-8).
- There were nine lead changes and seven tie scores throughout the contest.
- With his 14 points, Fox is now 80 points shy of 1,000 in his West Point career.
- He recorded his seventh-straight game with at least 10 points.
- Fox also surpassed the 150-career trey mark with four in the contest.
- The Jackson County, Ky., native saw his streak of consecutive games with an assist snapped at 35.
- The last time Fox was held without an assist was against Holy Cross on Feb. 15, 2017.
- Caldwell chipped in five points in his debut, while Duhart tallied six points and Kinker added one.
- Marist compiled 23 assist to 22 for the Cadets.
- Wilson notched his fourth career 20-plus point game.
UP NEXT
- The Black Knights head to No. 4 Duke on Sunday for a Veteran's Day matchup in Durham, N.C.
- Gametime is slated for 1 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN.
- Former Army basketball star Chris Spatola '03 will be on the call along with Doug Sherman.
