Lehigh faces Robert Morris Monday to begin NIT Season Tip-Off

A challenging field features the #4, 5 and 6 seeds in the NIT’s 16-team tournament. Lehigh is seeded fifth, one behind host Pittsburgh and one ahead of Robert Morris. The Colonials won 26 games last season, advancing to the NEC Championship Game and College Insider Tournament. Pittsburgh and Fordham will square off earlier Monday (6 p.m.). Monday’s winners will play on Tuesday with a berth to Madison Square Garden on the line, while the two losers will face off in a consolation game. Regardless of Monday’s outcome, Pittsburgh’s game will be at 9 p.m. (on ESPNU) while the other will be at 6 p.m. (not televised).

This marks a homecoming of sorts for a pair of Ohio natives C.J. McCollum (Canton) and Devon Carter (Cleveland). Both reside approximately two hours from Pittsburgh. McCollum is coming off a monster opening game when he poured in 36 points at #19/18 Baylor. That came on 14-of-32 shooting while he also added eight rebounds. It marked his most points (and most by any Lehigh player) since Dec. 10, 2010 when he posted 35 at Marist.

McCollum knocked down two free throws at #19/18 Baylor (11/9) before the game (and season) even tipped off. The Bears were assessed a technical foul for dunking during a time in warmups when it’s prohibited, so McCollum stepped to the line after the lineups and national anthem, knocking down both free throws to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead. McCollum went on to post 36 points, finishing just six shy of his career high (42) at Kent State his sophomore campaign.

The Mountain Hawks are looking for their seventh straight win against an NEC foe dating back two seasons. Lehigh went a perfect 5-0 vs. the NEC a season ago (beating Fairleigh Dickinson, Quinnipiac, Saint Francis (Pa.), Bryant and Wagner).

The Colonials are coming off a stellar 26-win season which saw them advance to the NEC Championship Game and eventually, the third round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). Robert Morris finished 13-5 in conference play before falling to league champion Long Island in the title game, 90-73. Similar to the Mountain Hawks, the Colonials return a plethora of talent as their top seven scorers all return. Velton Jones led the way averaging 16.0 points per game a season ago, followed by Coron Williams (10.8), Russell Johnson (8.5) and Lucky Jones (8.5).Lucky Jones led the team in rebounding last year (6.1) with Johnson right behind (5.7). Velton led the way with 167 assists. Robert Morris averaged 68.4 points a season ago, giving up 63.5 per contest. The Colonials dropped their season opener to Rider on Friday, 79-54 Karvel Anderson led RMU with 11 points off the bench.

Lehigh and Robert Morris have only met three times in their history with the Colonials owning a 2-1 advantage. RMU won the first meeting on Dec. 27, 1977, 66-57 in overtime. The teams last met during the 1985-86 season, with Lehigh winning 54-53.

Lehigh will return to action next week in either the NIT Semifinals and Finals/Consolation Game (Wednesday and Friday) or consolation bracket (Monday and Tuesday).

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