Men's Basketball Rolls to Fourth-Straight Home Win

Wednesday, January 23

West Point, NY

7 PM

Army West Point

10-10, 5-2PL

Holy Cross

11-9, 2-5PL

Holy Cross

Army

Men's Basketball Rolls to Fourth-Straight Home Win

January 23, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – With four Cadets scoring in double-figures, the Army West Point men's basketball team cruised to a 76-57 Patriot League victory over Holy Cross on Wednesday night at Christl Arena.

The Black Knights (10-10, 5-2 Patriot League), who are off to their best start in league play since starting 6-1 during the 2013-14 campaign, received a strong outing from Matt Wilson after the junior posted a double-double. He dropped a game-high 21 points, while shooting 8-of-10 from the field, and reeled in a game-best 12 rebounds against the Crusaders (11-9, 2-5 Patriot League).

Lonnie Grayson had his best offensive outing of his career after going 5-of-8 from the field and knocking down four treys for a career-high 14 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Grayson wasn't the only guard to find success on the floor as the backcourt duo of Jordan Fox and Tommy Funk combined for 21 points and 12 assists on the night.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army secured its first home win over Holy Cross since Feb. 17, 2016.
The Black Knights claimed their third consecutive Patriot League victory.
The four-game home winning streak is the first for Army since the 2016-17 season.
Fox became just the fifth cadet in program history to record 400 career assists.
Wilson notched his second straight double-double and his fifth of the season.
It was the second time in his career that he recorded back-to-back double-doubles.
He reached the 20-point threshold for the eighth time in his career.
The junior moved to 16th in all-time rebounds at the Academy with 498.
Grayson extended his double-digit scoring streak to three games.
His four made 3-pointers was a career mark.
Funk has recorded five or more assists in 16 games this season.
The Black Knights had 21 assists on 26 made shots.
The Army defense held the opposition to fewer than 70 points at Christl Arena for the eighth time this season.
Army shot 58 percent from the field and 46 percent from long range.
The Army bench accounted for 36 percent of the team's points.
The Cadets dominated the glass by outrebounding the Crusaders, 35-21.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Neither side was able to gain much separation in the first 12 minutes of the opening half and the Black Knights led the Crusaders, 25-19, with 8:03 remaining. In a five-point game with 4:56 on the clock, Grayson knocked down a three that sparked an 11-4 run to give the Black Knights their first double-digit lead of the night. Holy Cross responded with five unanswered points in the closing minute to pull within seven, 38-31, heading into the halftime break.
Army had an efficient opening stanza, knocking down 57 percent of its shots, led by a 5-for-5 shooting performance from Wilson. Holy Cross held a 32-21 shot advantage over the first 20 minutes of action but could not capitalize on its extra scoring opportunities.
The Black Knights lead remained in single digits in the early stages of the second half but a 6-0 spurt, that was capped by another Grayson 3-pointer, put Army on top, 49-39. Despite the Crusaders ability to get within five, 52-47, the Cadets caught fire and used an 18-4 run with 9:17 left to play to extend their lead to 19 before closing the game out for the league victory.

UP NEXT
The Black Knights will head to Easton, Pa., on Saturday for a Patriot League matchup with Lafayette slated for 2 p.m.