Black Knights Fall in Opener, 77-74

HEMPSTEAD – The Army West Point men’s basketball team dropped its season opener at Hofstra here Friday night, 77-74.
 
The Black Knights and Pride battled the entire game which saw 12 tie scores and 18 lead changes. It was a one-point home team lead at 37-36 after the opening 20 minutes of play. Sophomore Matt Wilson led the charge with 10 of his final 17 points in the first frame. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor during that half before finishing 8-of-9 and 1-of-4 from the charity stripe on the night for his 17th career double-digit scoring game.
 
The Alexandria, Ky., native also led the Cadets in rebounds with six.
 
Army held a slim 68-67 advantage with 4:27 remaining in the game after sophomore Tommy Funk drained a 3-pointer. Unfortunately, a three-point play for the Pride, sparked a small 6-0 run over 18 seconds and the Black Knights were never able to recover. Jordan Fox converted on two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to pull within 75-74 but Desure Buie hit a pair of free throws on the opposite end of the court to create a three-point gap between the teams. The Cadets did, however, get one final look at the game-tying trey but senior Luke Morrison‘s attempt from downtown fell just shy.
 
Joining Wilson in double-figure scoring was Fox and Jacob Kessler with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Fox added five assists and one steal to his stat line. Kessler was near perfect in the game missing just one jumper after finishing 5-of-6 from the floor, 1-of-1 from long range and 1-of-1 at the line. The junior chipped in five rebounds as well.

Morrison posted a team-best three 3-pointers, while Funk dished out a team-high six helpers to go along with his five boards.
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