Rucker Scores 1,000th Career Point, Army Falls 77-75 To Colgate

Monday, January 9

West Point, NY

7:00 PM

Army West Point

9-8,3-1Patriot

Colgate University

10-7,4-0Patriot

Colgate

Army West Point

Rucker Scores 1,000th Career Point, Army Falls 77-75 To Colgate

January 09, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

West Point, NY – In a battle of 3-0 Patriot League Conference teams on CBS Sports Network, Army West Point (9-8. 3-1) fell in a thrilling back and forth game, 77-75 to the Colgate Raiders (10-7, 4-0).

Army's Coleton Benson's potential game-winning three-pointer was no good as the buzzer blew and Army dropped its first conference of the season.

Charlie Peterson got Army off to a quick start connecting on two layups in the first minute of the game to give Army an early 4-0 lead. Colgate's Ryan Moffatt knocked down the first three of the game to give Colgate its first lead at 7-6.

Freshman Coleton Benson hit an impress three after creating space off the dribble at the 13:41 mark making the score 15-14 in favor of Colgate. Benson struck again a few possessions later to give Army a 18-17 lead on a short turnaround jumper.

Army's other standout freshman, Ethan Roberts connected on a three-point shot at the 10:01 mark to put Army up 21-19.

The Black Knights would then connect on a pair of three-pointers when TJ Small knocked down from deep on an assist from Jalen Rucker to make the score 26-25 Army and then by Freshman Jaden Ellis' three.

Colgate's Tucker Richardson scored on a layup and then found Keegan Records on a driving pass for the assist opening a quick 7-0 run for the Raiders giving them a 37-29 lead before TJ Small ended Army's min scoring drought hitting his second triple of the half.

Colgate's Oliver Lynch-Daniels made his second three extending Colgate's lead, 42-34.

Trailing by eight, Jalen Rucker went on an 8-0 scoring run by himself in the final 52 seconds of the half to send the game into halftime tied at 42 apiece. Rucker first connected on a three-point make, giving him 1,000 career points, becoming the 37th member in Army history to reach the milestone. Rucker then scored on a floating jump shot and then connected on a specular shot, launching a buzzer beater from just over halfcourt as the half came to a close.

The Raiders opened the second half on a 13-6 run through the first four minutes of play to push its lead back to seven points, 55-48. As it was all of the first half, Army responded right back going on its own 6-0 run after makes by Rucker, Roberts and Peterson to cut the Colgate lead back down to one, 55-44 with 12:45 to go in the game.

Isaiah Caldwell gave Army the lead again, 58-56 on a impress drive, missed layup and his own putback.

Coleton Benson gave Army a four-point lead, 65-61, drilling his second triple of the night. Rucker followed Benson's three with his own a few possessions, his third make from downtown at the 6:52 mark.

Lynch-Daniels from Colgate would tie the game for Colgate on a turnaround jumper, 73-73 with 1:37 to go. The Black Knights would responded immediately on a turnaround make by Ethan Roberts, giving Army a two-point advantage, 75-73.
Tucker Richardson tied everything again for Colgate at 75 with 43 seconds to go, as Army called a timeout to regroup.

Coming out of a timeout, the Black Knights milked most of the shot clock before Rucker drove and passed off to Charlie Peterson who was fouled, going to the line and missing both of his foul shots with 22 seconds to play.

Colgate's Keegan Records converted on a layup from an assist by Braeden Smith with five seconds left to give Colgate the two-point advantage.

Army would get one last look for the tie or the win as Jalen Rucker was fouled and Army called a timeout with 3.3 seconds remaining. Rucker would then inbound to Benson and Benson hoisted a deep three-point attempt which was missed as Colgate hung on for the 77-75 victory in a tightly contested Patriot League matchup.

Rucker scored a game high 22 points. Colgate saw five players in double figures with Keegan Records (17 points) leading the charge. Richardson (11), Smith (13), Lynch-Daniels (14) and Moffatt (12) were the others.

Charlie Peterson (16) and Coleton Benson (12) followed on Army's scoring sheet behind Rucker.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Jalen Rucker has heated up in the new year. In the first three contests of 2023 (Lafayette, Loyola and Colgate), he has scored 78 points (26.0 ppg), knocking down 13-18 (.722%) from three-point.
Rucker joined the 1,000-Point Club when he made a three-pointer with 52 seconds left in the first half. Rucker is now the 10^th Army player since the 2010-11 season to hit the 1,000-point mark. He is also the 37^th Army player all-time to reach the milestone.
Rucker is currently second in the Patriot League averaging 16.1 points per game, only behind Gerrale Gates (Holy Cross), 17.4 points.
Charlie Peterson shot 8-10 from the field for 16 points, matching his season best. Peterson has scored 10+ points in five straight contests dating back to 12/20/22 at Central Connecticut State.

Up Next
Army will be back home on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7:00pm taking on American University (12-3, 4-0).