Army Edged At Loyola Maryland

Wednesday, February 2

Baltimore, MD

7:00 PM

Army West Point

13-10,7-4Patriot

Loyola University Maryland

13-9,7-4Patriot

Army West Point

Loyola Maryland

Army Edged At Loyola Maryland

February 02, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Game 23
SCORE	Loyola Maryland Greyhounds 61, Army Black Knights 57
RECORDS	Loyola (13-9, 7-4 Patriot) \| Army (13-10, 7-4 Patriot)
LEADING SCORERS	Loyola – Cam Spencer (19) \| Army – Jalen Rucker (22)
LOCATION	Reitz Arena

BALTIMORE – Jalen Rucker scored a game-high 22 points as the Black Knights were edged by the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds, 61-57, on Wednesday night.

GAME SUMMARY
The 19^th all-time meeting between the programs came down to the final seconds. Army, which trailed by seven points with three minutes remaining, had possession down 59-57 with nine seconds on the clock after a steal by Aaron Duhart. On the possession, Jalen Rucker's pass to Charlie Peterson in the paint was intercepted with two seconds left. Loyola made two free throws to seal the game.

The close nature of the contest has been a common theme with this being the fifth straight game decided by four points or less between the programs. Army was looking to sweep the series for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign, which was Loyola's first season in the Patriot League, after beating the Greyhounds 77-74 in overtime on January 1.

The Black Knights led 4-0 before Loyola took a 12-6 lead with 14:15 left in the opening half. Army answered with an 8-0 run in two minutes to take a 14-12 advantage. The lead was exchanged five times over the next 2:36 with Loyola eventually building a 30-21 lead with 3:54 left in the first half. A triple by Jalen Rucker sparked an 8-0 run for the Black Knights as they trailed 30-29 heading into the final minute. The Greyhounds ended the half scoring five straight points for a 35-29 halftime lead.

The Black Knights started the second half on a 12-0 run to surge back ahead. Army connected on 5 of 6 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers by Rucker as part of the run. However, the Greyhounds responded by reeling off eight straight points to take a 43-41 lead with 13 minutes left.

Rucker made his third 3-pointer of the half to give Army a 49-48 lead with 9:21 remaining; however, the Greyhounds outscored the Black Knights 10-2 in six minutes for a 55-48 lead. Army cut the lead to 57-55 with 1:13 left after a Rucker's fourth 3-pointer of the half.

On the next possession, Duhart stole the ball from Milos Ilic and found Rucker whose go-ahead 3-pointer rimmed out and Loyola got the rebound. Cam Spencer scored on the next possession to give the Greyhounds a 59-55 lead with 32 seconds left.

CADETS CAPSULES

Jalen Rucker finished with a game-high 22 points on 7 of 11 shooting to average 21.5 points against Loyola in the two regular-season meetings. He made 6 of 9 3-pointers which are the second most 3-pointers by a Black Knight this season.
Josh Caldwell netted 10 points and had four steals to move into a tie for second place on the career steals list and one behind from tying first place.
Charlie Peterson grabbed seven rebounds and tied a career-high in steals with three.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Army tied a season-high in steals with 13, also set against the Greyhounds on January 1.
The Black Knights forced a season-high 24 turnovers.

COACH'S CORNER
"We competed on the defensive end as well as we could to give ourselves a chance to win the game. We had them turn it over 20 times. We were unbelievable in the second half defensively and made them make difficult shots. We played hard enough to win the game, but
we did not compete intelligently on offense. We had 18 turnovers and the majority of those were unforced turnovers. I did a terrible job of getting our team ready and adjusting to what Loyola was doing." – Jimmy Allen

UP NEXT

Army is back at Christl Arena to host Holy Cross on Saturday, February 5 at 1 p.m.
Coverage will be provided by ESPN+ and by the Army Sports Network via the Varsity Sports Network and www.GoArmyWestPoint.com.
For ticket information, call 1-877-TIX-ARMY or visit www.goarmywestpoint.com/tickets.

For complete coverage of Army West Point men's basketball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter, Instagram, and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.