Black Knights Bested by American in League Tilt

Saturday, February 8

Washington, D.C.

2 PM

Army West Point

11-12,6-6Patrio

American

12-11,8-4Patrio

Army West Point

American

Photo by: Hunter Martin Photography

Black Knights Bested by American in League Tilt

February 08, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Army West Point men's basketball team fell to American, 72-62, in a Patriot League contest on Saturday afternoon.

Three Cadets scored in double figures for the Black Knights (11-12, 6-6 Patriot League) led by a 17-point performance from Lonnie Grayson. The junior had the most success shooting the ball, knocking down six shots on 10 tries with three treys. He also finished second on the team with eight rebounds and picked up a pair of steals against the Eagles (12-11, 8-4 Patriot League).

Matt Wilson and Tommy Funk didn't have their best shooting games, but still combined for 28 points. Wilson, who capped his afternoon with 15 points, was one rebound shy of a double-double after reeling in a team-best nine, while Funk had 13 in the scoring column to pair with seven helpers.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Grayson tallied his 14th double-digit scoring game of the season.
The Cincinnati, Ohio, native tied his career-high rebounding mark with eight.
Wilson extended his double-digit scoring streak to 11 games.
He moved into a tie for fifth in program history in career made field goals with 625.
Funk reached double figures in the scoring column for the 19th straight outing.
He handed out five or more helpers for the eighth consecutive contest and the 18th time this season.
Funk's one steal moved him into a tie for 10th in program history with 94 for his career.
The Army starters accounted for 81 percent of the team's scoring.
The Cadets dished out 10 assists on 23 made shots.
Fifty-five percent of Army's scoring came from inside the paint.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a slow start to the game as neither side could get into a rhythm offensively, but Army led the Eagles, 12-7, with 12:08 on the clock. Following the media timeout, American came back out onto the floor and was on fire. The Eagles knocked down 5-of-6 shots from the field and a trio of treys as part of a 13-4 run that gave them a 22-18 advantage.
A layup by Nick Finke pulled Army within two, but American closed out the final 6:57 of the opening stanza on a 16-6 run to go into the half up by 12, 36-24. From the beginning of the game American looked to strike from long distance and had some success, shooting 42 percent with eight 3-pointers on 19 tries in the first 20 minutes of action.
The American lead remained in double figures for much of the second half and it grew to as large as 18, 58-40, with 6:02 left to play. However, back-to-back 3-pointers by Grayson and Funk sparked a 10-0 run that brought the deficit to single digits for the first time since early in the opening half.
That would be as close as the Black Knights could get though as the Eagles iced the game at the foul line, knocking down 12-of-15 shots from the charity stripe over the final 3:03 of play.

UP NEXT
Army will return to Christl Arena on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. midweek matchup against Lafayette.