Army Wins Senior Day Battle With Loyola

Wednesday, February 27

West Point, NY

7 PM

Army West Point

13-17, 8-9PL

Loyola

10-20, 6-11PL

LOYOLA

Army

Army Wins Senior Day Battle With Loyola

February 27, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – A pair of second-half runs helped the Army West Point men's basketball team secure a 79-69 Patriot League victory over Loyola on Wednesday night at Christl Arena.

Prior to the start of the game, the Black Knights (13-17, 8-9 Patriot League) recognized their eight seniors, Cayne Edwards, John Emezie, Parker Fennema, Jordan Fox, Jason Houle, Jacob Kessler, John Miller, Adam Roe as well as their three senior managers, Jared Ells, Sean Kirchner and Brian Tien.

Emezie played a crucial role down the stretch of the game, knocking down three 3-pointers and finishing his final regular season home game with a team-high 14 points. Matt Wilson was a force down low, putting up 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting to pair with a game-high nine rebounds. Lonnie Grayson also tallied double-digit points after he totaled 11 on the night with three treys.

Cayne Edwards and Jordan Fox combined to score 15 points and reel in 10 rebounds, while Kessler added four in the scoring column.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army won its 10th home game of the season.
Wilson scored in double-figures for the third straight outing.
The junior moved to 30th in all-time points at the Academy with 1,057 in his career.
He additionally passed Jonté Harrell for 10th in all-time rebounds with 593.
The Black Knights outrebounded the Greyhounds, 38-19.
Army turned 10 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
Tommy Funk dished out seven assists.
It was the 22nd game this season that he handed out five or more helpers.
Army assisted on 48 percent of its made shots.
Grayson tied his career-high in steals with three.
The non-starters accounted for 47 percent of the team's points.
It was the sixth straight game that Army's bench scored over 20 points.
Cayne Edwards made his first career start.
John Emezie started in his first game of the year.
Army shot 55 percent from the field.
Each of the nine Cadets that saw action in the game scored at least four points.
Forty-six of Army's points came from inside the paint.
The Black Knights scored 10 points off nine Loyola turnovers.
Army evened the all-time series with Loyola, 7-7.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The two teams were neck-and-neck in the first half with no lead growing larger than six points. Despite dominating on the glass, turnovers plagued the Black Knights. Loyola capitalized off the Cadets' miscues and generated 17 points off 20 Army turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Offensively for Army, eight different Cadets got into the scoring column with most of the damage being done in the painted area. Twenty of the Black Knights' first-half points came from down low and Army went into the break trailing by one, 33-32.
A pair of early runs in the second half allowed Army to capture the lead and gain a double-digit advantage. It started with an Alex King 3-pointer late in the first half before the Black Knights opened the new stanza with seven unanswered points. Following a pair of Loyola foul shots, a 3-pointer by Grayson sparked an 11-3 run and the Black Knights went up by 12, 50-38.
Loyola's Andrew Kostecka put up 13 points over the ensuing nine minutes, but Army had an answer and a trio of Emezie 3-pointers kept the Black Knights ahead by double digits.
Continuing to lean on Kostecka, the Greyhounds went on an 8-0 run to pull within nine, 72-63, with 2:33 left to play. However, Army did not allow Loyola to get any closer and went on to secure the 79-69 home win.

UP NEXT
The Black Knights will close out the regular season on the road this Saturday in Lewisburg, Pa., for a rematch with Bucknell at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcasted nationally on CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp and Mo Cassara providing the in-game coverage.