King reigns for Black Knights
Freshman scores 15 of his 17 points in first half to help put Mids away early
A baby-faced freshman was the difference-maker in the Army-Navy men’s basketball game Sunday.
Rookie forward Alex King caught fire in the first half and sparked the Black Knights to a lead they would never relinquish in handing the Midshipmen a defeat on their home court.
King scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half and Army beat Navy, 64-62, before an announced sellout crowd of 5,710 at Alumni Hall. The 6-foot-8 Indiana native showed no nerves in his debut against the archrival, making seven of10 shots with most coming on smooth jumpers from the perimeter.
“Alex is a very talented basketball player. He has a really high basketball IQ, picks stuff up very quickly, and I think that’s why he’s been able to progress over the course of the year,” Army coach Jimmy Allen said. “He came out and was pretty comfortable shooting the basketball. He got into the Wednesday, 7 p.m. Radio: 1430 AM, 1900 AM Shawn Anderson overcame a blow to the face to score 24 points for Navy, which fell behind by 15 points in the first half and trailed by double digits for much of the game. zone and gave us a huge lift.”
King, who comes off the bench, entered the game tied for third on the team in scoring with 11.2 points per game. Navy coach Ed DeChellis said his squad knew all about the Columbus North High graduate, who wore No. 32 on Sunday even though he normally wears No. 35.
“Trust me, [King] was on the scouting report. We talked about him for a day and a half, that he was a very good player and could score the ball,” DeChellis said. “We let him get it going. King is a very good