WEST POINT, N.Y. – The defensive effort was there, which is no surprise in talking about a Jim Crews-coached Army team. The offense looked pretty good also. All things considered, it added up to a thorough 63-48 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon.
The opener for both teams at Christl Arena began as a relatively competitive affair. In the latter part of the first half, Army knocked down two three-pointers, then converted off a turnover to push the lead to double digits. After that brief run Army was never seriously challenged. The Black Knights enjoyed a comfortable double-figure lead the remainder of the afternoon.
“It was a good win and a lot of guys produced,” Crews said. “We are still searching for ways to put guys in the right combination, but that’s on me to figure out.”
Army was paced in scoring by Nathan Hedgecock with 15 points. A sophomore guard, Hedgecock has a smooth touch from the perimeter. He shot 6-of-11 from the floor and was 3-of-5 from three point land. Hedgecock knocked down a few in transition and looks more comfortable in that role rather than trying to create his own shot. Richard Cleveland, a 6-3 swingman, added 11 points.
“We lost a guy Jarell Brown (graduation) who could get us 15-20 points every night out,” Crews said. “While we don’t have anyone like Jarell, we have a few guys who on the given night can come up with that type of scoring.”
In their favor the Black Knights have a veteran cast with four players back who started at least 15 games last season. They also have that workman-like effort on the defensive end. Alex Barnett, Dartmouth’s 15 ppg scorer from a year ago, paced all scorers with 18 points. Barnett worked for his points and for the most part seemed frustrated as he shot 5 of 13 from the floor. On the afternoon, Dartmouth was 16 of 43 for 37 percent and committed 21 turnovers. Army did a good job in man to man coverage especially in weak-side defense.
“We were active on defense,” Crews said, adding, “we anticipated and took charges. These are things we should be doing because we do a lot of drilling on defense.” Not surprising for a coach who played under Bobby Knight at Indiana.
Army also showed flexibility by using point guard Marcus Nelson and Cleveland to bring the ball up the floor. Both finished with 3 assists, but having two capable floor leaders affords Crews the luxury of flexibility and the option of resting or putting one of them at the two-guard spot.
The one area that does need addressing is inside play. Chris Walker, a 6-9 junior, had two points and three rebounds in 15 minutes of action. Army struggled to finish inside and that is a concern to Crews. He adjusted and got a great deal of mileage out of a smaller lineup that got out and pushed the ball on occasion. Overall, it was an encouraging and fruitful start for an Army club that was 14-16 a year ago and made its second consecutive trip to the Patriot League semifinals.
