Army Downs Holy Cross, Earns First-Round Bye

Saturday, February 26

Worcester, MA

2:00 PM

Army West Point

15-15,9-9

Holy Cross

9-21,7-11

Army West Point

Holy Cross

Army Downs Holy Cross, Earns First-Round Bye

February 26, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Game 30
SCORE	Army Black Knights 66, Holy Cross Crusaders 58
RECORDS	Army (15-15, 9-9 Patriot) \| Holy Cross (9-21, 7-11 Patriot)
LEADING SCORERS	Army – Jalen Rucker (24) \| Gerrale Gates (18)
LOCATION	Hart Center

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Black Knights secured a spot in next week's PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Championship Quarterfinals with a 66-58 win over the Holy Cross Crusaders on Saturday to split the season series.

GAME SUMMARY
An 11-3 run to close the first half by the Black Knights propelled Army in front as the Black Knights led for the rest of the game.

Trailing 18-16 with 4:48 left in the half, the Black Knights outscored the Crusaders 11-3 to take a 27-21 halftime lead. Four of the five starters scored during the run with Josh Caldwell scoring Army's final points of the half on a layup after recording his program record 64^th steal of the season.

Army led 49-36 with 7:58 remaining in the game when the Crusaders cut the lead to 51-47 with 2:19 remaining. Rucker followed with a stepback 3-pointer on Army's next possession, scored a layup, and made two free throws as part of a 7-0 run for a 58-47 lead with 58 seconds left.

CADETS CAPSULES

Jalen Rucker led all scorers with 24 points, including a career-high 10 free throws, for his 14^th straight game in double figures and 10^th 20-point game. He tied a career-high in rebounds with seven.
Charlie Peterson finished with 12 points, including going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line, and three rebounds.
Josh Caldwell netted 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and had a team-high two assists. He had one steal to set the program's single-season steals record (64).
Chris Mann grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Army made a season-high 22 free throws.
Th Black Knights outscored the Crusaders in points in the paint (28-16) and fast break points (17-15).

UP NEXT

The Black Knights will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and will play at the fourth-seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m.
Coverage will be provided by ESPN+ and by the Army Sports Network via the Varsity Sports Network and www.GoArmyWestPoint.com.

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