Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
13-16 (6-12PL)
Boston U.
14-15 (10-8PL)
Boston U. Spoils Senior Day in Heartbreaking Fashion
February 24, 2018 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army West Point men's basketball team saw Boston University convert on a three-point play with 11 seconds left to stun the Black Knights here Saturday afternoon, 61-59.
With the game's outcome, Army will be the No. 9 seed in the upcoming Patriot League tournament. The Black Knights will travel to the No. 8 seed in Loyola on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. first round game.
The Cadets trailed 35-23 at the break but quickly erased that deficit with a 16-4 run to kickoff the opening seven minutes of the second half. That rally tied the game at 39-39 and closed an overall 28-6 run that started with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Over the next 12 minutes there were six tie scores and four lead changes. Boston U.'s Tyler Scanlon knotted the game at 56-all following two good free throws with 1:54 left. The Black Knights answered with a huge 3-pointer from the hands of rookie Alex King. Tommy Funk registered the assist on the play, making him Army's all-time single-season assist leader with 163.
Unfortunately, the visitors drew a foul and converted on both attempts at the charity stripe on the other end of the court to pull within one with 1:22 remaining on the clock. BU then forced the Cadets to turn the ball over with just under a minute to play but a strong defensive stop by Army on the other end handed the home team the ball back with 30 seconds remaining.
After a Black Knights' timeout, the Terriers again forced a turnover before Walter Whyte drove to the bucket. The rookie converted on a layup and the free throw attempt after being fouled on the play. Army still had 11 seconds to work with though. The Cadets ran a perfect play to isolate Funk. The Warrington, Pa., native drove to the basket before a sea of Terriers collapsed on him. The sophomore was still able to get a great shot off but his attempt rolled around inside the bucket before falling out.
Game over. Heartbreaker for the Black Knights for the second-straight outing.
Senior Luke Morrison, who was honored prior to the start of the game for his dedication to the team over the last four years, finished with a game-high 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
King chipped in 11 points, while Funk closed out the Black Knights in twin figures with 10. Jacob Kessler was solid all night, scoring six points and leading all players with eight rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. The junior notched one block and one steal as well to contribute on the defensive end. Jordan Fox dished out a game-high five assists, to go along with two steals each from him and John Emezie.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
- Mark Pollack earned his first career start and joined Morrison in Saturday's pregame senior day festivities.
- Army finished the night shooting 31.4 percent (22-of-70) from the floor and 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from downtown.
- BU was lights out in the opening period, shooting 82.4 percent (14-of-17) and 77.8 percent (7-of-9), respectively. The Terriers finished the game 51.3 percent from the floor and 47.1 percent from behind-the-arc.
- The Black Knights converted on 7-of-10 attempts at the free throw, while BU went 13-of-18.
- Fox and Matt Wilson added eight and seven points, respectively, to Army's final total.
- The Terriers outrebounded the Black Knights 38-33, but Army held the edge on the offensive glass 17-6.
- Wilson chipped in six rebounds, including four on the offensive side of the ball.
- The Black Knights outscored the Terriers 36-26 in the second half.
- Army scored 28 points from inside the paint compared to 22 for Boston U.
- The Black Knights also held the edge on points off turnovers (16-10) and second-chance points (13-2).
- There were seven tie scores and four lead changes.
- Boston U. was in front by a game-high 22 points with 7:18 remaining in the opening period.
- Army led for 5:32, while the Terriers held the lead for 29:54. The game was tied for 4:34.
UP NEXT
- Army next heads to Loyola for the first round of the Patriot League tournament on Tuesday in a 8 vs. 9 seed matchup.
- Gametime is slated for 7 p.m. and will be produced by Stadium and be televised on a variety of Over-The-Air channels.
- In addition, the contest will also be streamed via Twitter by following @WatchStadium.
