WORCESTER, Mass. - The Army West Point men's basketball team continued its hot start to the 2020-21 season, defeating Patriot League opponent Holy Cross, 83-68, on Saturday.

"We saw a really solid effort from our team today," Head Coach Jimmy Allen said. "We got off to a bit of a slow start, but I thought we were in the right positions and getting the right shots. We stuck with it and things turned around for us.”

The Black Knights' balanced attack was on full display in this one, as four different cadets reached double-digits on the score sheet in the game. Josh Caldwell led all scorers with a career-high 20 points on the day, while going 9-13 from the field. Senior Alex King was a dominant force for Army, shooting 8-10 for a season-best 19 points. The Black Knights have now had at least three double-digit scorers in seven of the team's eight contests this season.”

We have a really great group of guys who play selfless basketball," Alex King said. "We are always looking to make the next pass and find the right shot.”

Army's upperclassmen carried the load in the game, with the Black Knights' juniors and seniors combining for 77 of the team's 83 points.

"I don't know that enough credit goes to those guys," Allen said. "Our seniors were in complimentary roles in the past behind Tommy Funk and Matt Wilson, and they have worked so hard to step into leadership roles. We are building a really good culture with this group and I am excited to see what we can do moving forward.”

While much of Army's success this season has come from long range, much of today's production came on the inside, as the team scored 46 points in the paint. The Cadets kept the pressure on the Crusaders in the game, forcing 22 turnovers.

"We've played well in our last two games, but we still have room for improvement," King said. "The team is doing a great job of trusting our offense and being disciplined on the defensive end and that has been key.”

At 6-2, Army is off to its best start to a season since the Cadets went 8-2 to open the 2015-16 year. The Black Knights will return to Christl Arena on Sunday to take on Holy Cross in Army's first home Patriot League contest of 2021. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

"Regardless of the outcome of today's game, we have to go into tomorrow thinking about things we can improve on," Allen said. "They have a chance to make adjustments and so do we. We have to go through the same process we did last week when we bounced back on Sunday because the score is 0-0 at 3:00 tomorrow.”

With four double-digit scorers in the game, the Black Knights have had at least three double-digit scorers in seven of the team's eight games this year. Army's junior and senior class combined for 77 points, with Josh Caldwell (20) and Alex King(19) posting season-highs. The Cadets are now 4-0 this season when shooting at least 50% from the field. Josh Caldwell recorded his first career 20-point game. His previous career-high was 19 against Buffalo earlier this season.

FIRST HALF

• Down 8-2 early at the 18:14 mark after a 6-0 Crusader run on back-to-back threes

• Army and Holy Cross traded buckets into the first media timeout where Army trailed 13-8.

• Tucker Blackwell continued to produce off the bench, knocking down a three to make it 15-13 with 14:10 left.

• A 7-0 run gave Army its first lead of the day at 30-29.

• From 4:50 to 3:25, Army went on an 8-0 run to push lead to 38-32.

• Josh Caldwell and Lonnie Grayson led the cadets with 10 points each at the half.

• Army shot 47.5 percent from the field in the first half, Holy Cross shot 53.8 percent.

• Army had just three turnovers in the first half, while Holy Cross had 12.

• Largest lead for the Black Knights was nine points.

SECOND HALF

• Army started off the second half on a 5-0 run after a Charlie Peterson layup and and Alex Kingtriple.

• Army led by 11 with 17:34 left in the game.

• Holy Cross pulled within five at the 12:24 mark, 57-52

• A 6-0 Army run from 8:59 to 8:08 pushed the led, 67-54

• Pushed lead to largest of day, 18 points – 77-59 after a Caldwell layup with 4:39 left.

• Army forced Holy Cross to turn the ball over 22 times, vs. just 12 times on the day for the Black Knights.

• 29 total points on the day came off turnovers.

UP NEXT: Army will return to Christl Arena for the first time since Dec. 2 when the Black Knights host Holy Cross on Sunday at 3 p.m.