Army’s Late Game Comeback Thwarted by Lafayette

WEST POINT – Army West Point men’s basketball (10-15, 4-8) saw a second-straight loss in the month of February on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Lafayette College Leopards (8-17, 5-7), 60-63.

With the loss, the Black Knights see their first loss of the season to the Leopards. Their last win against the Leopards was last season, when Army earned a 70-68 victory against the Leopards inside Christl Arena, winning on a shot at the buzzer. Apart from that win, the Black Knights have fallen to the Leopards in four of the last five games.

There was some Senior Day magic in store for the Black Knights, with senior Jorn Everson leading the Black Knights with 14 points while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor, hitting two three-pointers. Everson also added two rebounds and one block. Seniors Jackson Mayo and Chanse Perkins also earned their first career starts.

Jacen Holloway finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting, contributed two assists, and did not commit a turnover in 26 minutes. Jackson Furman was the third of the Black Knights to finish in double figures, finishing with 10 points off the bench by shooting 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range while grabbing eight rebounds.

The Black Knights were outscored 10-2 in the first five minutes, with the Leopards taking the early lead with 15:00 on the clock. Senior forward Jorn Everson had the lone bucket in the paint for the Black Knights.

In the next four minutes, the scoring evened out. Jacen Holloway scored layups on back-to-back possessions, one being assisted by Ryan Curry. That made the score 6-15 with 12:18 left in the first half.

Over the next three minutes, Army came storming back, going on an 8-2 run to cut the game to 14-17 with 8:28 left to play in the first half.

Jorn Everson ignited the run with a slam dunk off an offensive rebound from Kevin McCarthy and an assist from Jacen Holloway. Jacen Holloway added two more layups, then Dillon Watt added a steal and a score.

Over the next four minutes, the two teams each scored seven points, making it a 21-24 game with 3:34 left on the first half clock. Jaxson Bell hit two free throws, Jackson Furman added a layup and Joshua Eli added a three-pointer.

To end the first half, the Black Knights went on a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the game.

Jacen Holloway reached ten points on another driving layup. Tate Laczkowski hit two free throws, then Kevin McCarthy hit a three-pointer from an assist from Jacen Holloway to make it a 28-26 Army lead heading into the locker room.

To start the second half, Lafayette scored four points unanswered. The Black Knights responded with an 8-0 run to take a 36-30 lead.

In the burst, Jorn Everson added a layup from a pass from Tate Laczkowski. Kevin McCarthy added a layup on a fast break from a pass from Ryan Curry. Ryan Curry got a steal on the next possession and converted it into a layup, then Tate Laczkowski went to work in the paint to get a layup of his own. To finish the first four minutes, Lafayette added another two points.

Over the next three and a half minutes, Lafayette began to rally, outpacing Army 12-7 to retake the lead at 44-43. During the stretch, Jorn Everson got to work and scored in the paint, Jacen Holloway added two made free throws and Jackson Furman added a three-pointer off the inbounds play.

The two teams stayed scoreless for two minutes, then the Leopards went on a 12-0 run over three minutes to take a 56-43 lead with 6:20 left to play.

Jackson Furman then scored on two possessions, a running jumper and a three-pointer with an assist from Jaxson Bell. But then Lafayette added another two points to make it a 48-58 game with less than four minutes to play.

In the final four minutes, the Black Knights began to rally, outscoring the Leopards 12-5 to narrow the margin down the stretch.

Alex Engro started the run with a free throw with 3:49 on the clock, then Ryan Curry hit his first three-pointer of the game with 1:12 on the clock to make it a 52-58 deficit. The Leopards then hit three free throws to make it a 52-61 game with 24 seconds left.

Jorn Everson then hit a three-pointer with 19 seconds left from a pass from Ryan Curry.

Then, Alex Engro forced Lafayette into a turnover, then on the inbounds, Jorn Everson hit a second three-pointer to make it a to make it a 58-61 game with 15 seconds on the clock.

The next possession, Army fouled with nine seconds on the clock, and Lafayette hit one of their two free throws. The Black Knights raced down the court, then Alex Engro hit a putback layup to make it a 60-62 game. Army fouled immediately, then Lafayette hit another free throw to make it a 60-63 game. The Black Knights threw a pass deep to Everson, but the three-point attempt came up short, causing Army to fall to Lafayette, 60-63.