Army West Point Drops Non-League Tilt to LIU

WEST POINT – The Army West Point men’s basketball team was defeated, 85-72, in its final home game of the non-league slate on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena.

The Black Knights (4-4) ran into a sharpshooting Sharks (3-6) squad that shot 40 percent from long range while knocking down 18 three-pointers.

The starting five did most of the damage on the offensive end for the Black Knights as four different cadets recorded double-digit points. Alex King paced Army with a team-best 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting to pair with 10 boards for a double-double.

Tommy Funk and Matt Wilson combined for 28 points after putting up 14 apiece. Funk added six assists and five rebounds, while Wilson reeled in nine rebounds opposite the Sharks. On a 4-for-6 shooting performance, Lonnie Grayson also found his way into double-figures, tallying 12 points.

The Black Knights got off to a hot shooting start, connecting on 80 percent of its first 10 attempts from the field to grab an 18-14 lead with 11:25 left in the half. However, LIU caught fire from long range and went on a 17-2 run with 15 of the points coming from deep.

That shooting performance gave the Sharks an eight-point advantage, 28-20, with 6:38 on the clock.

LIU carried a 10-point advantage, 44-34, into the half after knocking down 11-of-22 from deep. Jermaine Jackson Jr. was responsible for five of the 11 makes as he went for 15 in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Army started the second half on a 6-0 run to pull within three, 44-41, but a 10-2 LIU run after four straight made shots brought the Sharks’ advantage back into double-digits with 14:27 remaining.

Jackson Jr. was again causing problems as he buried four 3-pointers in a span of just over three minutes to give his team a 15-point lead, 66-51, with 9:25 on the clock. From that point forward, the Sharks were able to maintain their large lead the rest of the way en route to securing the 85-72 road win.