Army's Season Capped in Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 7

Bethlehem, PA

7 PM

Army West Point

13-19

#3 Lehigh (Quarterfinals)

20-10

Army West Point

Lehigh

Army's Season Capped in Quarterfinals

March 07, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The 2018-19 season for the Army West Point men's basketball team came to an end on Thursday night in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals after Lehigh rallied in the second half to claim a nail-biting 75-70 win at Stabler Arena.

The Black Knights (13-19) saw a second-half lead disappear after the Mountain Hawks (20-10) went on a lengthy run. However, it was a three-point game with seconds remaining on the clock when the Cadets had a look from long range to tie it up, but the shot fell just short.

Tommy Funk and Matt Wilson led the offensive attack for Army, combining for 39 points. Funk, who finished with a game-high 22 points, put up 15 in the second half and played a pivotal role in Army's late charge. Wilson was efficient all night, making seven shots on eight attempts and coming away with 17 points.

Off the bench, John Emezie went 4-of-8 from the field and was the third cadet to reach double-digit scoring after he tallied 10 in the outing. Jordan Fox and Lonnie Grayson chipped in with nine and seven points, respectively.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Funk became the 35th cadet in program history, and the third this season, to join the 1,000-point club.
The junior additionally became the eighth Patriot League player all-time to record 1,000 points and 500 assists in his career.
The Warrington, Pa., native posted his fifth 20-point performance of the season.
He closed out the year as the single-season assists record holder with 189 helpers.
Fox passed Lee Sager for 21st in all-time points with 1,186.
Emezie had two blocks and tied Dax Pearson for 11th in all-time swats with 42.
The Cadets held Lehigh, the top 3-point shooting team in the country, to a 17-percent shooting clip from deep.
The Army defense forced the Mountain Hawks to have their worst 3-point shooting performance in a game since Feb. 1, 2017, when they went 14 percent from long range.
The Black Knights scored 57 percent of their points from inside the paint.
Army tallied 12 points off 16 Lehigh turnovers.
The non-starters combined for 20 points.
It marked the eighth straight outing that the bench scored 20 or more points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights found themselves in familiar territory after leading at the half for the third straight meeting with the Mountain Hawks this season. Army built its lead by attacking the painted area early and often. Led by a 5-for-6 shooting performance by Wilson for 10 points, Army scored 28 of its 41 from inside.
Lehigh was held to two makes on 14 tries from beyond-the-arc. However, the Mountain Hawks were able to keep up with the Cadets by drawing fouls and getting to the charity stripe. Over the first 20 minutes, Lehigh tallied 11 points at the line on 12 attempts.
It was a two-point game, 29-27, with 5:47 left to play in the frame before Army went on a 12-2 run to close out the half and enter the break leading 41-29. In the half, the Black Knights connected on 52 percent of their shots.
Funk opened the second half with a triple, before Lehigh used over eight minutes of clock to go on a 23-3 run and grab the lead, 52-47. The Mountain Hawks' lengthy run came to an end once Grayson buried his second trey of the game.
Army worked hard on both ends to keep the game close and behind nine straight points by Funk, the Black Knights came back from down seven to tie the game up at 62-62 with 4:19 on the clock.
The Mountain Hawks built their lead up to six, 69-63, with 1:32 remaining and it turned into a free throw shooting game the rest of the way. It came down to the closing seconds as Army was within three, 73-70, with 12 seconds to go. The Black Knights got down the court and hoisted a 3-pointer up, but it fell short and the Mountain Hawks secured the league win.