Poughkeepsie, NY – Saturday night’s slate featured a Hudson Valley matchup as the Army Black Knights visited the Marist Red Foxes. The short commute for the Black Knights comes following a 92-43 shellacking of John Jay College in their previous game. The Red Foxes meanwhile, looked to pick up their first victory of the season in this non-conference competition.
Army captain Jordan Fox contributed the first points of the game, burying a three pointer on the Black Knights’ first possession, in what would become a common theme for the evening. Marist fought well to start the game, as they played with energy and controlled the lead for the majority of the first half. However, Marist was ultimately unable to contain Army’s three point shooting, as they shot 8-of-13 from long range in the first half, including six from Fox. The Red Foxes relinquished the lead with 3:35 remaining in the first half and would not regain it. In addition to poorly closing out on three point attempts, Marist was badly outmuscled on the boards, losing the rebounding battle 43-26, which limited their ability to create second chance opportunities and cut into the lead. Marist dropped their third straight, falling to Army 94-73.
Fox, Army’s 6-1 junior guard, put in a career performance and will likely be haunting Marist head coach Mike Maker’s dreams for the next few nights. Fox posted a career high 33 points on an insane 9-for-11 from three, to go along with five assists, five rebounds, a steal, and only one turnover in 29 minutes. The most valuable part of Fox’s game was his ability to make a tremendous impact both on and off the ball. While operating as the lead guard, he was able to dictate the flow of the game, demonstrating impressive control and patience in the pick and roll. On the following possession, Fox could then play off ball and come off a pin down screen to knock down a three. Overall, it was Fox’s automatic shooting form and ability to relocate off the ball that was most impressive on Saturday night. The versatile Fox is certainly a player to keep an eye on moving forward.
Army looks to continue their winning streak on Tuesday as they welcome the Columbia Lions to West Point, while Marist hopes to earn their first victory of the season in a tough Thanksgiving Day matchup against No. 24-ranked West Virginia.
This article was written by Michael Duffy, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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