Army Black Knights Extend Season-High Winning Streak, Outlasts Holy Cross

The Army West Point Black Knights men’s basketball team extended its Patriot League winning streak to five games after a 76-71 win over Holy Cross on Wednesday in Worcester, Mass.
The Black Knights (11-8, 5-2 in Patriot) now carry that winning streak into Sunday’s showdown with Navy at Christl Arena in West Point.
Wednesday’s win was Army’s fifth straight at Holy Cross (10-10, 2-5).
The Black Knights took a 35-29 lead at halftime and nursed it the rest of the way.
Army never trailed in the second half and led by double-digits on a number of occasions. The Crusaders, meanwhile, trimmed the lead to three points several times, most notably with 5:51 left on a Declan Ryan lay-up.
Army’s next three baskets were all Ryan Curry 3-pointers, and the final one pushed the Black Knights to a 71-64 lead with 2:44 left.
Holy Cross cut the lead to two points with 1:31 left on a Kahlil Singleton 3-pointer. But, Army answered with a Josh Scovens turnaround jumper, followed by free throws to maintain the two-possession lead.
Scoves and Curry had huge games for the Black Knights. Scovens had a team-high 25 points, including four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Curry made seven 3-pointers, as he finished with 24 points, with six rebounds, four assists and one steal.
AJ Allenspach scored 14 points with four rebounds and a steal, while Blake Barker added a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Reigning Patriot League player of the week Jalen Rucker was not in the lineup for the Black Knights.
Last week, Rucker averaged 26.0 points on 66.7 percent (20-of-30) shooting from the field, including 50 percent (7-of-14) from the 3-point line.
Rucker passed Matt Wilson for sixth place all-time in scoring in program history. He also became the sixth player to reach 1,600 career points in program history.
Singleton led the Crusaders with 22 points, while Max Green added 19 points, with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Ryan scored 10 points.
With the win, the Black Knights cut into the Crusaders’ all-time record in the series to 71-34.
Sunday’s game with Navy is set for 3:30 p.m. eastern and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The game is part of a doubleheader with the Army and Navy women, who play before the men.