Cadets Outlast Fairfield in Thriller, 63-60

Saturday, December 1

West Point, NY

1 PM

Army West Point

4-5

Fairfield

2-6

Fairfield

Army

Cadets Outlast Fairfield in Thriller, 63-60

December 01, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Despite a second-half surge by Fairfield, the Army West Point men's basketball team was able to outlast the Stags and capture a 63-60 victory on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena.

Matt Wilson led all scorers in the Black Knights' (4-5) win over the Stags (2-6) with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting to pair with nine rebounds. John Emezie found his way to double-digits in the scoring column as well, coming away with a season-best 16 points while adding five rebounds.

Jordan Fox made program history when he knocked down a foul shot late in the contest, making him the 33rd Cadet all-time to reach 1,000 career points. The senior finished the game with eight points.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Fox became the first Cadet since Dylan Cox to reach the 1,000-point threshold.
Cox hit that mark on Feb. 27, 2016.
Fox tied former teammate Luke Morrison for all-time makes from long range with 172.
The Army defense held the opposition to under 70 points for the fourth time at home this season.
Emezie's four steals tied his career high.
The Black Knights forced 21 turnovers and scored 27 points off of the Stags' miscues.
Army scored 38 percent of its points from inside the paint.
Sixty percent of the Black Knights' makes from the floor were assisted on.
The Cadets are 4-0 at Christl Arena this season, marking the best start at home since the 2016-17 campaign when Army won five straight.
It was the sixth time this season that the Black Knights reeled in double-digit offensive rebounds.
Today's game marked the 18th matchup between Army and Fairfield that was decided by single digits.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights used a pair of runs in the early portion of the first half to gain an advantage. An Alex King layup sparked a 13-0 Army run, while Wilson and Emezie combined for nine of the team's 13 points during a three-minute stretch to put the Black Knights up 15-7.
The Cadets continued to add to their lead and pushed the advantage to double-digits, 32-17, after going on a 15-0 run. Over that span, the Black Knights missed just one shot and buried a trio of 3-pointers.
Neither side shot the ball with much efficiency in the second half, but Fairfield turned up the intensity on defense and forced three straight Army turnovers with 12:41 left to play. The Stags capitalized on the Army miscues and brought the deficit within single digits, 45-40.
Following a pair of makes from down low by Wilson, Fairfield used a 9-0 run to even the score up at 49 apiece with 7:24 remaining in the game.
A 3-pointer by Fox broke the scoreless drought and ignited the Army offense, sending the Cadets on an 8-0 run, but Fairfield continued to fight and took a one-point lead with 1:35 on the clock.
The final minute came down to free throws and the Black Knights ultimately came out on top, 63-60.

UP NEXT
Army will head to Newark, N.J., on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup with NJIT scheduled to tip at 7 p.m.