Men’s Basketball Trumps American

Sunday, January 17

West Point, NY

12 PM

Army West Point

12-6, 3-3PL

American

2-15, 0-6PL

AMERICAN

Army West Point

Men’s Basketball Trumps American

January 17, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – A 20-2 run midway through the second half catapulted the Army West Point men's basketball team to a 65-45 victory over American on Sunday afternoon at Christl Arena.

Army moved to 3-3 in the Patriot League and 12-5 overall with the result, while American fell to 2-15 on the season with its 10th consecutive loss. The Eagles dipped to 0-6 in conference play.

"I thought we had a really solid effort on the defensive end in today's game," head coach Zach Spiker said. "To come out and have that kind of defensive performance and respond to Wednesday's game like we did was very encouraging and gives us confidence going forward."

The Black Knights limited American to a season low in scoring for an opponent and outrebounded the Eagles 42-27.

Kyle Wilson, Dylan Cox and Larry Toomey each scored in double figures with Toomey leading the way with 13 points. Wilson and Cox each scored 12 as Army connected on 40 percent of its attempts (22-for-55). The Black Knights were solid at the line as well, going 15-for-19. Cox hauled in a game-high nine rebounds.

Delante Jones led the Eagles with 14 points while playing all 40 minutes and as a team, American shot 36.2 percent from the field (17-of-47).

The Black Knights started fast, jumping out to a 9-0 lead following a driving layup by Luke Morrison that promoted American to call timeout. The Eagles were 0-for-5 with two turnovers prior to the timeout and Wilson scored five of the first nine points for Army.

The lead was 11-0 on a layup by Cox before American got on the board with a layup by Reed.

After a Morrison three put Army up 18-6, American got back in the game with a 14-2 run that was punctuated by back-to-back threes by Jones and Paris Maragkos. The second trifecta tied the score at 20-20 with a little more than five minutes to play in the period.

The two teams went into the break knotted at 22-22 after each side struggled to find a rhythm offensively. Army was held to a season-low 22 first-half points and shot 32 percent from the floor (8-for-25), while American was 10-for-26 (38.5 percent). The Black Knights were plus-six on the glass in the period.

Army continued to crash the boards and put together a 7-2 run to start the second half that included a pair of offensive boards that led to five points. Cox opened the half with a putback and Toomey closed the spurt with a three-point play as he followed a miss with a layup.

Four straight points by Jones trimmed Army's lead to two, but Wilson fed Adam Roe for an open elbow jumper and then scored in transition as Cox handed off to him. Two free throws by Mac Hoffman extended the lead to 38-30 at the 12:30 mark. Cox came up with a steal on the other end and Toomey knocked down a jumper to force an American timeout after eight straight by the home team.

A layup by Jones out of the timeout briefly halted the run, but Cox and company came back with an John Emezie three that pushed the lead to 11 (43-32). Four consecutive free throws by Cox gave the Black Knights a 15-point cushion and then a layup by Jordan Fox made it 49-32 with a little more than seven minutes to go.

An empty possession for the Eagles came before Toomey fed Wilson for a straightaway three that put the exclamation mark on the 20-2 run. The run lasted close to eight minutes as Army forced American into four turnovers and a 1-for-7 effort from the field, while the Black Knights made six of their 11 attempts. Seven different players scored during the stretch for Army.

Army led by as many as 21 points in the contest and moved to 6-0 this season when holding opponents under 60 points.

Patriot League play continues for the Black Knights on Wednesday night when they face Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast online on the Patriot League Network.

Game Notes: Army improved to 42-12 under Zach Spiker when holding opponents to 60 points or less … the 45 points were the lowest total for an Army opponent since the Black Knights held American to 44 on March 6, 2013 … Larry Toomey scored in double figures for the second straight game and 19th time in his career … The Black Knights are 10-2 this season when Adam Roe makes a three-pointer … Mac Hoffman made his first-career start at center … Luke Morrison scored a season-high seven points … Wilson's 12 points moved him past Navy's Greg Sprink into seventh on the Patriot League's all-time scoring list (1,794 points) … John Miller made his first appearance since Nov. 27 against Arkansas – Pine Bluff … Daniel Andrews made his collegiate debut.