WASHINGTON, D.C. – Army West Point men’s basketball (12-10, 6-4) fell to the American University Eagles (14-9, 8-2), 68-71.
The Black Knights stayed toe-to-toe with the top team in the Patriot League standings, finishing the afternoon shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and shooting 23.1 percent from the three-point line. The Eagles would go on to finish the game shooting 49.1 percent from the floor and 36 percent from the three-point line.
What proved to make a difference was rebounding and second-chance points, where American had the edge. The Eagles finished the matchup outrebounding the Black Knights 38-28 and earned 17 second-chance points over the Black Knights 11 points.
Ryan Curry led the way for the Black Knights with 19 points while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from the three-point line. Curry also had eight rebounds, a team-high four steals, plus added two assists.
Jalen Rucker found his stroke finishing second in scoring with 15 points while also holding a team-high three assists. Josh Scovens neared a double-double and finished the day with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
American gained an early lead in the first few minutes of the game. Josh Scovens started scoring with a made free throw, then added a jumper, helping Army only trail 7-3 with 16:03 in the first half.
The Black Knights responded with a quick 6-0 run, that started with Josh Scovens adding two points to give Army their first five points of the game. Jacen Holloway added a jumper then Jalen Rucker added an acrobatic layup to give Army a brief 9-7 lead with 11:17 left in the first half.
Over the next three minutes, the Eagles with on a 12-0 run to take back the lead and eventually extend it to a 19-9 lead over Army with six minutes left.
The Black Knights cut into the lead with an 8-2 run of their own, started by a three-pointer by Ryan Curry. Jalen Rucker added another layup and then Tate Laczkowski added a three-pointer of his own to make the game 17-21 with 3:22 left on the first half clock.
Over the final three minutes, the two teams exchanged blows, each scoring 10 points, with Army only trailing 25-28 heading into the locker room.
In the first four minutes of the second half, both teams scored eight points over four minutes. Ryan Curry started Army’s scoring in the second half with a jumper, then AJ Allenspach added a dunk of his own to cut the lead to three points. American scored five straight points, but then back-to-back layups from AJ Allenspach made it a 35-39 game in Americans favor with 15:54 left on the clock.
Then, American went on. 15-2 run just over four minutes to help give them their biggest lead of the game at 17 points, Josh Scovens had the lone bucket for the Black Knights during the run.
Then, Army started chipping away at American’s 54-37 lead. First, it was a 7-0 run, featuring laps from Jalen Rucker and Tate Laczkowski and a three-pointer by Ryan Curry to make it a 10-point deficit with under team minutes left.
The Black Knights went on another 7-0 run, extending the run to a 14-2 run in just under four minutes. In this 7-0 run Jalen Rucker scored four points, Tate Laczkowski added another layup and Isaiah Caldwell hit a free throw, making it a 51-56 game with 7:46 left in the game.
Over the next four minutes, American outscored Army 9-6, taking an eight-point lead in the final three minutes. Josh Scovens had four of the six points while Isaiah Caldwell added two of his own.
Then in the final two minutes, Army went on a 9-2 run to make it a one-point game with eight seconds left. The run started with a Ryan Curry three-pointer, with Josh Scovens adding a free throw to cut the lead to six points.
Ryan Curry then would be fouled while making a driving layup with 43 seconds left. Curry sank the free throw, cutting the lead to three points. Army would get a defensive a stop end, then forced the Eagles to foul Jorn Everson while in the double bonus. Everson would sink the two free throws to make it a one-point game.
American would get the ball back, and Army fouled on a shot, allowing the Eagles to extend the lead back by three points.
Army had one shot at tying the game with five seconds left, turning to their hot hand, Ryan Curry. Curry was able to get a shot off from deep behind the three-point line, but the shot was strong off the left rim, allowing American to escape with a narrow victory.