Men's Basketball Drops League Tilt at American

Saturday, February 9

Washington, D.C.

2 PM

Army West Point

11-14, 6-6PL

American

13-10, 7-5PL

ARMY

AMERICAN

Men's Basketball Drops League Tilt at American

February 09, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Trailing by double-digits in the second half, the Army West Point men's basketball battled back to trim the deficit to one in the closing seconds, but ultimately fell 71-68 to American in a Patriot League game on Saturday at Bender Arena.

Matt Wilson was the top scorer for the Black Knights (11-14, 6-6 Patriot League), finishing the afternoon with 14 points against the Eagles (13-10, 7-5 Patriot League). Rookie Aaron Duhart had his first double-digit scoring effort in league play, putting up 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Cayne Edwards was effective and efficient off the bench in his 12 minutes on the floor, going 4-of-5 from the field for nine points. Tommy Funk added nine points for the Cadets to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Funk tied Dylan Cox for first in all-time assists at West Point with 479.
Wilson passed Larry Toomey for 14th in all-time rebounds.
The Alexandria, Ky., native now has 542 in his career.
The Black Knights committed only seven turnovers.
It was the 10th time this season that Army single-digit turnovers.
Army shot 52 percent from the field in the first half.
Thirty-eight of Army's 68 points came from off the bench.
The Cadets scored 71 percent of their points from inside the paint.
Army tallied 12 points off 13 American turnovers.
Nine different Cadets scored at least two points in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Army found early success from inside the paint and got a lot of Cadets involved on the offensive end. The ability to score from down low allowed the Black Knights to shoot for a high percentage and build a nine-point lead, 21-12, with 8:24 on the clock.
The two league foes went at it for the remainder of the stanza, but it was Army holding a four-point edge, 35-31, at the half.
Less than two minutes into the new frame, the Eagles had evened the score at 37-37. Army would regain the lead a few possessions later after Lonnie Grayson knocked down a pair of foul shots, but American went on a 15-4 run over a three-minute stretch to grab a double-digit advantage.
The Cadets continued to attack the Eagles inside and with 1:20 remaining in the game, the Eagles called timeout leading by one, 67-66, following an 11-2 Army run that was sparked by an Edwards and-1 layup.
American got a layup out of the break and the Black Knights headed to the foul line after Jordan Fox was fouled on the ensuing possession. The senior buried both free throws to bring the deficit back to one. With time ticking down, Army was forced to foul and American went to the line and hit a pair to put the lead back to three with 16 seconds on the clock.
The Black Knights had one final look at the basket with seconds remaining, but the open 3-point shot fell just short and the Eagles survived to claim the win.

UP NEXT
The Cadets will return to Christl Arena on Wednesday for an 11 a.m. Patriot League contest against Boston U.