Army Salutes Seniors With 73-62 Win

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point men's basketball overcame a double-digit deficit for the second-straight game to earn a 73-62 victory over Boston University here Wednesday on senior night.

The Black Knights saw their opponent quickly jump out to a game-high 23-6 lead with 12 minutes to play before halftime. Fortunately for Army though the Cadets know a thing or two about coming back from a large deficit.

Just a game ago, the Black Knights used a 33-8 run to get themselves back in a contest with rival Navy. On Wednesday night, the Cadets did nearly the same thing. From the 11:30 mark of the opening period Army sparked a 32-13 run to ultimately handed itself a 38-36 advantage at the break.

The Terriers closed the gap and knotted the score at 58-58 with 6:45 remaining on the clock but another 13-2 run over a four-and-a-half minute-span awarded Army the lead for good.

The man of the game was Luke Morrison, who matched his career high in points with 19. The junior finished nearly perfect on the night, shooting 7-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-5 from 3-point range. His seven field goals and five treys also matched his career-best effort. The Charlotte, N.C., native closed out his impressive outing with seven rebounds and three assists.

Jordan Fox and Matt Wilson also reached double digits with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Jacob Kessler led the Black Knights on the boards with eight rebounds, while four others pulled down seven each.

Rookie Tommy Funk dished out a game-high nine assists, while Kessler set a career high with two blocks.

The Black Knights have now won three consecutive games, all against teams in the top half of the Patriot League standings. The Cadets have also secured themselves a first round home game in the Patriot League Tournament, which is set to begin Feb. 28.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

· All four seniors started the contest, with Richard Brown and Scott Mammel both earning the first of their career.

· The Black Knights shot an impressive 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the floor and 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from behind-the-arc. The Cadets also finished 8-of-13 from the free throw line for 61.5 percent shooting.

· The Terriers went 38.5 percent (25-of-65), 33.3 percent (7-of-21) and 38.5 percent (5-of-13), respectively.

· Army shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the second half alone.

· Five of BU's first nine buckets were from downtown. They started the game 5-of-6 from 3-point range, with all five coming before the halfway mark of the opening period. Army held the Terriers in check from long during the second half though, forcing them to shoot just 12.5 percent (1-of-8).

· The Black Knights controlled the boards, holding a commanding 45-29 edge. Both teams notched six offensive rebounds.

· Army committed 21 turnovers in the game, while the Terriers' compiled 11. BU notched 21 points off of those turnovers compared to 10 for the Cadets.

· BU recorded the 12-6 advantage on steals.

· Both teams scored 30 points from inside the paint, while Army registered the 6-0 edge on second-chance points.

· Fox has now scored twin figures in each of Army's last three outings. The sophomore finished 6-of-13 from the floor, 1-of-6 from downtown and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe. The Jackson County, Ky., native has gone perfect from the free throw line 12 times this season.

· Wilson had a solid outing as well, finishing 5-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-4 at the line. He added seven rebounds, two assists (matches career high), and one steal.

· Senior Kennedy Edwards chipped in eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds to go along with his team-best two steals.

· Fellow classmate Mammel closed out his final regular season home game going 2-of-3 from behind-the-arc for six points.

· There were three tie scores and one lead change.

· Army led for 18:21. BU was in front for 19:27. The game was tied for 2:12.

TURNING POINT

· The Terriers had extended their advantage to a game-high 17 points at 23-6 with 11:46 remaining in the opening period. A few seconds later Edwards converted on a layup, which sparked a 32-13 run for the Black Knights to close out the half. Army hit four 3-pointers during that comeback, including back-to-back treys from Funk and Morrison to send the Cadets into the break leading 38-36.

HOW IT HAPPENED

· BU started the game draining five 3-pointers in their first nine buckets to create a gap between the teams.

· The visitors had increased their edge to the largest of the game at 23-6 after Eric Johnson hit his lone trey of the night.

· Army answered though with a massive 32-13 run to take a two-point lead into the break. That rally was highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers from Funk and Morrison to close the half.

· Army extended its advantage to 50-43 following a layup from Edwards with 14:45 remaining on the clock. The Terriers responded with a 15- 8 run over the next eight minutes to knot the score at 58-all.

· The Black Knights would not waver though sparking another 13-2 rally to hand the home team their largest lead of the game at 71-60 with 1:39 left on the clock. During that run, the Cadets scored 10 straight, including six from the hands of Morrison.

· The Terriers were never able to recover.

UP NEXT

· Army heads on the road for its regular season finale at Lehigh on Saturday. That contest is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip in Stabler Arena and will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.

· The Mountain Hawks hosted Colgate on Wednesday and earned an 87-69 victory. Lehigh currently sits with a 11-6 mark in conference play and holds a 17-11 record overall.

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