BANGOR, Maine — The United States Military Academy is molding tomorrow’s military leaders.
In the meantime, West Point also is churning out some pretty good basketball players.
The Black Knights brought their fast-paced, high-scoring attack to the Cross Insurance Center on Wednesday night and used their size, strength and depth to register an 84-71 men’s basketball victory over the University of Maine.
“We looked at a good team that competed at a higher level, got ahead of us and we didn’t show a lot of fight,” said UMaine head coach Bob Walsh.
Kennedy Edwards hit four 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 21 points to pace Army (6-2), which shot 43 percent overall and hit 12 3-pointers in the win.
Kyle Wilson posted 17 points and Tanner Plomb added 13 for the Black Knights, who overmatched the Black Bears in many respects.
“We were facing a good team, they took it to us and we let ’em,” Walsh said, “so I think the compete level was the most disappointing thing.”
The bright spot for UMaine was Devine Eke. The dynamic freshman forward was a dominating force in the paint, pouring in a game- and career-high 29 points and snatching 16 rebounds in a tireless performance.
“Every rebound I get is another day that my mother lives,” the 6-foot-7 Eke said of his mentality on the boards.
No, his mother, Lilian, is not ill. She’s just his inspiration.
“I’m a momma’s boy, I love my mother, so that’s my motivation to go get my rebounds and go score,” said Eke, who had four dunks among a 12-for-16 shooting effort.
The prettiest came with 2:46 to play when Kevin Little made a steal, drove down the court and floated a pass in the lane to Eke, who slammed it home.
“He was the one guy that I saw personal pride from,” Walsh said. “No matter what was going on, I could tell how much it mattered to him. He wasn’t afraid of what was going to happen to him if he failed.”
Sophomore guard Little tossed in 16 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and four steals, while freshman walk-on guard Ryan Bernstein finished with 11 points for the Black Bears.
UMaine was without leading scorer Issac Vann, a 6-foot-7 freshman forward who missed his second straight game with an ankle injury.
UMaine made a late charge, rattling off a 14-2 run that included four baskets by Eke, but Army slowed the pace in the final four minutes and maintained the lead.
UMaine, which outrebounded Army 50-42, committed 16 turnovers that led to 21 points for the Black Knights.
Army’s hot shooting and relentless attacking helped them build a 50-29 halftime lead. Army went 20-for-39 (51 percent) from the floor, including 8-for-17 from the 3-point arc.
On defense, the undersized Black Bears struggled to contest shots, especially in transition.
On offense, UMaine couldn’t establish an inside game against Army’s rugged and active matchup zone.
UMaine shot 42 percent but committed 12 turnovers that led to 19 Army points.
Leading 25-20, the Black Knights took charge with a decisive 22-4 scoring surge. Edwards stuck a 3-pointer against UMaine’s 2-2-1 press, then Plomb drove the baseline for a layup.
Edwards followed with a 12-footer from the baseline and Plomb drained another 3-pointer to make it 35-20 with 9:02 left. Army eventually pushed the bulge to 47-24 with 2:52 left.
“That’s the way we want to play and they were better at it than us, a lot better at it,” Walsh said. “That’s why they were ahead by a big number most of the game.”