Men's Basketball Falls in Patriot League Tournament Semifinals to Loyola

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's basketball team made a furious comeback against the visiting Loyola Grayhounds in the semifinals of the Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament, but it was too little too late as they fell 67-63 on Wednesday evening at the Christl Center.

The Black Knights (12-9, 8-7 Patriot) were down by as many as 17 points in the first half, but pulled within two with 1:31 left in the game and again with 24 seconds. However, it was just too little too late as they ran out of time to complete the comeback.

"We didn't play our best game. I thought we had a couple good looks early. Josh [Caldwell] had a layup, we missed a handful of point-blank layups and I thought we got really good looks and we didn't knock them down. What you need to do in that situation is just find a way. And I was really proud of our basketball team in just how they responded. Certainly, Loyola came out, I give them a lot of credit. They hit every open shot to start the game. We were a little bit hesitant offensively and I thought we slowed down a little bit more than we should have in attacking the zone, but I think we got into a good rhythm in the second half. Obviously you are down at that point and trying to scratch and claw our way back and I thought we did that and I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win the game."

It was the tale of two halves, as the Grayhounds (6-10, 5-10 Patriot) got out to a fast start, shooting an impressive 17-for-30 (56.8 percent) from the field and 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from three-point land in the first half, as the Black Knights took some time to settle into the 1-3-1 defense they were seeing, shooting 36 percent from the field and just 1-for-10 from behind the arc. The Black Knights trailed 42-27 at the half and were down by as many as 16.

In the second half, however, the Black Knights picked up the pace on offense, outscoring the Grayhounds, 36-25 in the half. Army's shooting picked up as they shot 13-for-28 (46.4 percent) from the field, while the Grayhounds came back down to Earth to shoot 40.9 percent (9-for-22). The Black Knights still struggled from three, going just 2-for-11 from behind the arc. The Black Knights also got out in transition, adding 20 points to just two for Loyola on the fast break. Also 18 points came off eight Loyola turnovers.

"Defense is what got us back into the game," explained junior guard Josh Caldwell. "Santi [Aldama], he is a great player and we wanted to focus on getting stops, running in transition. We wanted to get downhill and get some transition buckets to help our offense."

All day the Black Knights struggled to find an answer for Santi Aldama, the 6-ft-11-inch Spaniard who was an impressive 13-for-16 from the field, including 5-for-6 from three-point range. He led the Grayhounds and all scorers on the day with 33 points and had a double-double as he hauled in 12 rebounds.

The Black Knights cut the lead to just two points, 63-61, Loyola, with 1:31 left in the game after a Caldwell layup. Aldama made it a four-point lead, 65-61 with 24 seconds left. But once again the Black Knights pulled closer on a Caldwell layup with 15 seconds left to go, 65-63. Caldwell missed the free throw on the and one the Grayhounds added another late bucket to push the lead to four with seven seconds left as it was just too little, too late for the Black Knights despite their roaring comeback and gritty performance.

"The second half of this game, nobody hung their heads. They made play after play. Even when things didn't go their way and I am really, really proud of them," said Allen.

Freshman guard Jalen Rucker and junior guard Caldwell were outstanding for the Black Knights, leading the comeback as they each tallied a career-high 21 points.

"I definitely think my confidence has grown this season, but I owe that all to my teammates," said Rucker. "It is not always easy to put the ball in the hands of a freshman, but they give me all the confidence in the world, they tell me to shoot even when I don't think I am open. Just playing with these guys has given me a lot of confidence and it has helped me grow."

The game was the last for a special senior class, in captains Mark Madden and Lonnie Grayson, Tucker Blackwell, Alex King and Nick Finke.

"It's just a senior group that was the little brother to Tommy [Funk] and Matt Wilson for a lot of their careers," explained Allen. "And when they got that chance, they did unbelievable things with leading this basketball team. It's tough because being around these guys everyday was so much fun and so enjoyable and it's not always like that in coaching and this group made it like that. We have an incredible staff that make such a huge difference in what we do at both ends of the court. It's just hard right now because this was a truly special team. I really believe that. And it's a disappointing way to end it because I really thought we were going to get this one."

NOTES

Rucker and Caldwell each scored a career-high 21 points.
Alex King finished the day with 6 points, giving him 1,001 career points. He became the 36^th Black Knight to reach the 1,000-point mark in program history.
Grayson finished the day with one made three-pointers, giving him 168 career made three's, good for sole possession of 10^th on the program's career made three pointers list.
The Black Knights were in the league's tournament semifinals for the first time since 2016.

Army West Point Athletics

Men's Basketball Falls in Patriot League Tournament Semifinals to Loyola

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Tucker Blackwell

Josh Caldwell

Nick Finke

Lonnie Grayson

Alex King

Mark Madden

Jalen Rucker

Matt Wilson

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