Army Drops Second Conference Game in Hard-Fought Contest Against Boston

Army wasn't able to secure their first conference win of the season, losing to Boston on the road.

Army's Jalen Rucker takes a jump shot / Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Army Black Knights (6-8, 0-2 conference) went east to try and record their first conference win of the season when facing off against a perennial Patriot League powerhouse Boston University (7-8,1-1), but they dropped their second contest in as many games, losing 71-63.

It's been an up-and-down campaign for Army.

They have dominated some of the lesser opponents on their schedule, while also getting blown out when stepping up in class, and losing some shootouts to teams who are roughly on the same level as them.

That brought Army into their first Patriot League matchup against Colgate (4-10, 1-0) with a 6-6 record, but after dropping that contest and now losing to Boston, they now sit two games under .500.

The first half against the Terriers was a shootout.

Army got out to a hot start, taking an 8-2 lead just under three minutes after tip, but once Boston found their footing a bit, it started to turn into a back-and-forth affair.

The Black Knights were able to take control during the middle portion of the first half, getting out to a double-digit lead at the 9:37 mark. But a strong four-minute stretch to close things out saw the Terriers erase a six-point deficit and head into the locker room up, 40-35.

This was a lead Boston never relinquished.

Army tried to nudge back in front at multiple points during the second half, going on a 9-0 run to make it a three-point game with roughly 14 minutes left and fighting back to get within one point with 7:14 remaining.

But, it wasn't enough for them to win their first conference game of the year.

Senior guard Jalen Rucker led the way for Army in the scoring department, putting up 17 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field and 2-for-5 from deep. He was joined in double figures by fellow starters Ryan Curry and Josh Scovens, who both had 13.

Michael McNair led Boston with 17 points of his own. Miles Brewster was the only other starter for the Terriers to score double-digits, but Ben Roy and Ben Palacios added 12 and 10 off the bench respectively.

Army was dynamic from deep, shooting 42.3% (11-26), but they struggled from the floor overall in comparison by going 40.7% (24-59).

Boston was able to outlast the Black Knights by shotting 50.9% (27-53) from the field and 39.1% from 3-point range (9-23).

Army will try to secure their first Patriot League win of the season when they welcome Loyola MD (6-7, 1-1) to Christl Arena on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. EST with the game broadcasted on ESPN+.