WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army (4-7) led by 15 points with 6:08 to go in the second half, but had to withstand a furious Texas-Pan American (4-9) rally to hang on for a 61-59 win in men’s basketball action at Christl Arena on Sunday afternoon. Army’s Ella Ellis scored a season-high 25 points, but fouled out with 4:50 left. The Black Knights did not score after Ellis’ disqualification.
Army led 59-44 with 6:08 to go, and were up 61-48 when Ellis picked up his fifth foul. The Broncos scored the game’s final 11 points, and had a chance to win the game, but Brandon Provost’s three-pointer was off the mark. Army rookie G Maxwell Lenox grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 0.3 seconds left. The Black Knights inbounded the ball without incident to hang on for the victory.
The Black Knights missed their last four shots and turned the ball over three times in the final four minutes, 47 seconds.
Ellis’ 25 points were the most by an Army player this season and were only three points off his career high. The Houston native was 9-for-11 from the field and 3-for- 4 from long range. Juniors Jordan Springer and Jason Pancoe scored seven points each. Springer and Lenox tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, while Pancoe dished out a team-high five assists. Sophomore Andrew Stire chipped in with four points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot.
Jared Maree led the Broncos with a 20 points, while Jesus Delgado added 10 points off the bench. Earl Jefferson grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Army struggled from three-point range, making just five of its 20 three-pointers, but shot 44.2 percent overall for the game. The Black Knights committed 19 turnovers that led to 24 UTPA points. The Army defense held the Broncos to only 35.3 percent shooting and forced 15 miscues.
The Black Knights’ win snapped their two-game overall losing streak and a two-game home losing streak.
Army scored the game’s first five points on a three-pointer by Josh Herbeck and a jumper by Lenox, but the Broncos answered with eight straight points to take a three-point lead with 16:40 left in the opening half. Ellis knocked down a three-pointer to end the Black Knights’ four-minute, 58-second scoring drought and tie the game at 8-8 with 13:23 left.
UTPA quickly regained two-point edge, but Army scored the game’s next six points to take a 14-10 lead on a fastbreak layup by Herbeck with 10:13 on the first-half clock. The Broncos got within two at 16-14, but Army scored seven of the next 10 points to claim a six-point lead with 5:18 to go.
The Broncos trimmed the margin to 25-21, but the Black Knights used a 7-0 run that included a three-pointer and a three-point play by Ellis, to take its largest lead of the half at 32-21 with 2:12 left. Army led by 11 and had the ball in the waning seconds of the first half, but a turnover led to an easy fastbreak layup by Delgado with just under two seconds left that set the Black Knights’ halftime margin at 34-25.
Ellis scored 16 points in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 6-for-8 overall and 2-for-3 from deep. The rest of the team was just 7-for-19 overall and 1-8 from three-point range. The Army defense held the Broncos to just seven field goals in 26 tries, including a 3-for-13 effort from behind the three-point line. Delgado led UTPA with eight first-half markers.
Pancoe scored the first points of the second half, nailing a three-pointer on the Black Knights’ first possession that put them up by 12. The Broncos trimmed the lead to 39-29, but four straight points by Ellis pushed Army’s lead to 43-29 with 17:51 left.
Army led by 15 after a free throw by Mo Williams, but the Broncos scored five straight to get back within 10 points at 46-36 with 13:40 left on the clock. Ellis hit his third three-pointer to stretch Army’s lead back to a baker’s dozen, but the Broncos were able to trim the lead back to 10 points at 49-39 with 10:22 to go. The Black Knights stemmed the tide when Julian Simmons and Springer combined to score the next four points to push Army’s lead back to 53-39 with 9:43 left.
UTPA trimmed its deficit to 11, but the Black Knights went back up by 15 with 6:08 left after a pair of free throws by Ellis. The Broncos scored the next four points before a layup by Stire extended the Army lead back to 13 at 61-48 with 5:13 to go, setting up the frantic final minutes.
Army is back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 28 against Dartmouth. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. The Black Knights and Big Green split a pair of games last season with each team winning on its home floor.
Game Notes: Jason Pancoe started for the first time since Nov. 19 at Central Connecticut …Ella Ellis established a new career high with his 13th straight game in double figures … Army is now 2-0 all-time against UTPA … the Black Knights avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season … Army is now 24-22 in its last 46 games decided by six points or less and/or in overtime … Army is 39-29 in its last 68 games when scoring at least 60 points and 23-8 in its last 31 outings when it holds opponents to 61-or-less … Julian Simmons now has 1,011 career points … Ellis became the 14th Army player to make at least 80 three-pointers in their career … he ranks 14th with 82, just one behind Cleveland Richard for 13th place … Army has won 13 straight games when posting a higher shooting percentage than its opponent
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