BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team took time out of its busy preseason schedule to take part in the Bethlehem Halloween Parade on Sunday. The parade was originally scheduled for last Sunday, but was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy. The Mountain Hawks were Grand Marshals, heading the parade as thousands of local residents lined the streets.
“The parade was a lot of fun,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “It was an opportunity for us to go through the entire parade route and engage with our community. There were thousands of people on hand. We passed out some candy because it was a Halloween-themed parade. It was a lot of fun for our players to be together, enjoy our time together, and a lot of fun to be recognized and engaged in our community.”
The parade went down Broad Street and Main Street in downtown Bethlehem. It was a busy day all around for the Mountain Hawks. Reed spoke at a Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast in Scranton, Pa. Sunday morning before returning for the parade in the afternoon. The team then had a lift, followed by practice as they prepare for their season opener at Baylor which is less than five days away.
“This was a non-basketball setting,” said Reed. “Our team has always been really close; they get along very well. They do a lot of things outside of basketball together. They had a good time the whole day.”
“Number one, there was a lot of excitement because we were passing out candy,” said Reed. “But number two because the city of Bethlehem is really engaged in this basketball program, based on what we did last year, our connection with the overall community this year and everything that we hope to do [moving forward]. We hope it carries over throughout the course of our season with attendance from our community members, and the students as well.”
Lehigh kicks off its season on Friday when it travels to Baylor to face the nationally-ranked Bears. That game will tip at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. local) and can be seen regionally on Fox Sports Southwest.
Check back to Lehighsports.com for continued updates on the Lehigh men’s basketball team leading into a highly-anticipated 2012-13 season.
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