WEST POINT, N.Y. – Led by junior Ben Roy's career-high 17 points, the Boston University men's basketball team rallied to cut a 23-point deficit to one possession during the final minutes of regulation before ultimately coming up short at Army West Point, 68-62, on Saturday afternoon.

Avenging the January 5th defeat (71-63) for the series split, the Black Knights improve to 10-8 and 4-2 in Patriot League play, while the Terriers drop to 9-10 (3-3 PL). BU shot 57.7 percent in the second half after being held to 35.0 FG% during the first 20 minutes of action but was undone by a 9-6 deficit in made 3-pointers. 

Roy was the lone Terrier to score in double figures with 13 of his 17 points coming in the second half alongside a team-high five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Both freshman Azmar Abdullah and sophomore Kyrone Alexander recorded nine points apiece, while junior Nico Nobili hauled in five boards with six points.

Jalen Rucker went 4-of-7 from behind the arc en route to a game-high 23 points, and Josh Scovens tallied 15 points as the other Black Knight in double figures. AJ Allenspach was just short of a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After Army flushed two 3-pointers to start the game, senior Malcolm Chimezie hit a layup to spark a 7-0 spurt capped by two Roy free throws at 15:54.
• BU's lone lead of the game was short lived, as the Black Knights hit another trey 12 seconds later as part of a 19-2 run ending with Rucker's 3-pointer at 7:31.
• Rucker converted off one of BU's eight first-half turnovers with a floater to extend the lead to 20 at 3:08, andAllenspach scored off a layup with 1:40 remaining for the 41-18 advantage.
• Roy ended the first half with a driving layup, and Alexander started the second with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 41-23.
• Trailing by 22 (45-23) following Scovens slam dunk at 16:37, BU scored nine straight points over the next three minutes helped by Abdullah's 3-pointer and Roy's layup set up by his own steal.
• BU continued to chip away and pulled within seven, 48-41, on junior Otto Landrum's hook shot at 10:19.
• The Black Knights briefly pushed their lead back to double digits at both 9:02 (51-41) and 4:09 (62-51), respectively, but they were unable to pull away.
• Facing a 62-51 deficit with under four minutes to play, sophomore Michael McNair scored from behind the arc and Roy followed with back-to-back layups at 2:35 and 2:20
• Alexander then followed Allenspach's 1-of-2 showing at the charity stripe with two free throws of his own at 1:38, but Scovens hit a tough jump shot on the next possession to grab a five-point lead.
• After Alexander added two more free throws at 30 seconds to pull within four (66-62), Army had two empty possessions due to a five-second violation and missed 1-and-1, but the Terriers also came empty, missing consecutive 3-point attempts.
• Scovens sealed Army's win at 10 seconds by hitting both free throws.

GAME NOTES

• Roy's 17 points topped his previous high of 12 recorded against Army two weeks earlier.
• The Terriers only had one player score in double figures for the first time since a loss at UCLA back in November.
• A key part of the rally in the second half was BU recording seven assists against just one turnover after committing eight turnovers against three assists during the first 20 minutes of action.
• Army cut BU's all-time lead in the series to 23-20 by winning its third straight meeting at Christl Arena.
• The Black Knights are now 8-2 at home this season, while BU is 3-7 away from Case Gym with all three PL losses coming on the road.

UP NEXT

• BU will remain on the road and visit Navy on Wednesday (Jan. 22) at 7 p.m.
• The Terriers eliminated the Midshipmen in the Patriot League quarterfinals at Case Gym, 70-61.