Senior Captains Lead Army Cadets to Win Over Lehigh

WEST POINT – With a combined 47 points from its two senior captains, the Army West Point men’s basketball team cruised to a 79-66 Patriot League home win over Lehigh on Saturday.

In the second meeting between the Black Knights (13-12, 8-6 Patriot League) and Mountain Hawks (7-19, 4-10 Patriot League) this season, Lehigh once again had no answer for Tommy Funk and Matt Wilson. While orchestrating the offense, Funk flirted with a triple-double. The Warrington, Pa., native logged 26 in the scoring column on 9-of-12 shooting to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.

Wilson, who has made a habit of making double-digit baskets in games as of late, shot 10-of-13 from the field for 21 points to pair with eight rebounds. The Black Knights also received contributions from Tucker Blackwell, Josh Caldwell, Lonnie Grayson and Alex King who tallied eight points apiece.

Despite Lehigh getting on the board first with a basket on its opening possession, the Black Knights jumped out to a six-point advantage following a 10-2 run. Army could not build much separation as the lead remained in single digits for majority of the opening stanza. However, the Cadets closed out the half on an 8-2 run after Wilson put up six in the closing 2:42 to give his team a 10-point lead, 40-30.

Lehigh began the second half with a basket and once again Army responded with a run. This time, it was a 10-4 spurt that was fueled by an eight-point effort from Funk. Slowly but surely, the Mountain Hawks continued to put dents into the deficit. A 12-5 Lehigh run that began at 11:13 lasted nearly eight minutes and made it a three-point game, 66-63.

The Cadets did not let that trouble them though as Funk picked up a steal on Lehigh’s ensuing possession and found an open Grayson for a 3-pointer with 2:38 left to play. That Grayson trey ultimately proved to be the dagger as Lehigh had to foul the rest of the way and Army iced the game at the charity stripe en route to picking up the home win.

The Black Knights will trek to Baltimore on Wednesday to battle Loyola at 7 p.m. in a Patriot League tilt.