Black Knights Best Holy Cross for First League Win

Thursday, January 16

Worcester, MA

2 PM

Army West Point

6-10,1-4

Holy Cross

2-16,1-4

Army West Point

Holy Cross

Matt Wilson goes up for a shot against Colgate

Black Knights Best Holy Cross for First League Win

January 16, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Army West Point men's basketball team picked up its first Patriot League win of the season after defeating Holy Cross, 79-67, on Thursday afternoon.

A Tommy Funk 3-pointer with 4:02 left to play capped a 9-0 run by the Black Knights (6-10, 1-4 Patriot League) and brought the Army lead to 10, which proved to be too much for the Crusaders (2-16, 1-4 Patriot League) to overcome.

Matt Wilson was nearly unstoppable in the low post, using his size and strength to pour in a game-high 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Wilson was on the receiving end of several Funk assists and the senior point guard finished his afternoon with 18 points, seven helpers and four boards.

Alex King was the third cadet to put up double figures in the scoring column after tallying 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting to pair with a team-high six boards.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Wilson put up his third 20-point scoring performance of the season and the 12th of his career.
He has now reached double figures in the scoring column for the fourth straight tilt.
It marked the fourth time in his career that he made double-digit shots in a game.
The Alexandria, Ky., native moved into sixth in Academy history in career rebounds with 730.
Funk extended his double-digit scoring streak to 12 games.
He tied the longest double-digit scoring streak by a cadet since Jordan Fox '19 had a streak of 12 games that spanned from the end of the 2017-18 season and into the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
The senior guard started in his 110th consecutive game.
He handed out five or more assists in a game for the 11th time this season.
Army scored 66 percent of its points from inside the paint.
The Black Knights had just four turnovers, marking the second straight game Army only committed single-digit turnovers.
It was the fewest turnovers in a game by an Army squad in the Jimmy Allen era.
The Black Knights shot over 50 percent from the field as a team for the fifth time this season.
All nine cadets that saw action scored against the Crusaders.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights found themselves in an early hole after Holy Cross went ahead 18-7 through the opening six minutes of action. The Cadets turned things around on both sides of the ball as not only did they hold the Crusaders scoreless for a four-minute stretch, but they also put in 12 unanswered points to take their first lead of the afternoon, 19-18.
Army built the advantage up to three, 23-20, but was not able to enjoy it for long as the Crusaders countered with a 12-2 run to go back on top, 34-27. However, once again, the Black Knights had an answer. This time, over the course of the final 5:09 of the opening half, the Black Knights held the Crusaders scoreless while putting in 14 points to go into the break leading, 41-34. The Cadets were 6-of-7 from the field over that stretch.
Grayson opened the second half with a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 10, 44-34, but Holy Cross went on a 16-5 run during a five-minute stretch to get right back into the game and regain the lead.
Army battled and cut into the deficit before back-to-back layups by Josh Caldwell sparked a 9-0 run to put the Black Knights up by 10, 69-59, with 4:02 remaining in the game. The run was capped by a timely Funk 3-pointer and Army was able to maintain the advantage the rest of the way for the road league win.

UP NEXT
The Black Knights return to action on Saturday when they host Loyola for a 1 p.m. Patriot League tilt at Christl Arena.