BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following a strong showing in the NIT Season Tip-Off, the Lehigh men’s basketball team returns to action Sunday when it travels to Sacred Heart for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The Mountain Hawks finished 3-1 in the preseason tournament, beating a trio of squads who won 20+ games a season ago (Robert Morris, Fairfield and Penn). Lehigh will play a pair of games in Connecticut in a three-day span, also traveling to Quinnipiac Tuesday.
The Mountain Hawks finished a tournament 3-1 for the second straight season after winning three-of-four in the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Last year, Lehigh fell to St. John’s before beating William & Mary, host Liberty and Eastern Kentucky.
Following a 15-point victory over Fairfield Monday, the Mountain Hawks followed with a 73-66 win over Penn Tuesday. Senior Gabe Knutson posted his fourth-career double-double and first since last Dec. 31 vs. Bryant. It was the first double-double for a Lehigh player since last season’s Patriot League Semifinals vs. American when C.J. McCollum had 27 points and 10 rebounds. Knutson moved into 19th in school history in career scoring (currently 1,169 points), one game after moving into 20th (against Fairfield). The Iowa native passed Jared Hess (1,139) and Fred Ketcho (1,145) in the process.
McCollum scored 21 points against the Quakers to reach 2,202 for his career. He needs just 23 more to break the Patriot League record for career points, currently 2,224 held by Holy Cross’ Rob Feaster. McCollum also made national headlines for his highlight-reel dunk against Fairfield Tuesday, not only cracking SportsCenter’s top 10 plays, but serving as the exclamation point of the show’s open on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. It marked the second time in McCollum’s career that he cracked SportsCenter’s top plays.
The win over Penn gave Lehigh its ninth straight home victory dating back to last season. It was also the team’s 16th win in the last 17 at home. Senior Holden Greiner finished with four blocks against the Quakers, a career high. He previously posted three on several occasions. The win was Lehigh head coach Brett Reed’s 97th of his career as he rapidly approaches the 100 milestone. With three more wins, he’d become the second coach in school history with 100 wins, along with Tony Packer who owns a school-record 112 victories.
Sacred Heart will be Lehigh’s first opponent of 2012-13 that didn’t win 20+ games last season, but the Pioneers have enjoyed success so far this year. With a victory on Sunday, the Mountain Hawks would win their eighth straight game over an NEC foe dating back to the 2010-11 season. It would also mark their first road win of the season. The Mountain Hawks did beat Robert Morris, but it came at a neutral site. Lehigh would win its third straight game overall and be 4-2 after six games for the second consecutive year.
Sacred Heart has enjoyed a solid start to its season, going 2-2 with wins against strong programs Yale and Stony Brook. The Pioneers’ losses came at Rutgers and Hartford. Senior Shane Gibson, who finished fourth nationally in points per game last season (22.0), leads the team with 15.0 per game so far this year. Louis Montes is right behind with 13.4 points per contest while Justin Swidowski is at 7.8 and Femi Akinpetide 6.5. Phil Gaetano leads the team with 27 assists through four games while Montes averages a team-leading 8.8 rebounds and Akinpetide comes in at 7.0. The Pioneers have been strong on the glass thus far, grabbing 39.5 boards per game (6.3 more than their opponents).
Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 3-1 with the last meeting coming during the 2006-07 season, a 72-63 Mountain Hawks’ victory. The Pioneers won the first-ever meeting in 2003-04 before the sides squared off the next three seasons.
Lehigh will head to Quinnipiac on Tuesday to face the Bobcats at 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks then return home on Saturday to host Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 p.m. in Stabler Arena.
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Individual and season tickets are on sale and may be purchased on Lehighsports.com, over the phone (610-758-4263) or in-person at Stabler Arena, Monday-through-Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
| Date: | November 25, 2012 |
| Opponent: | Sacred Heart Pioneers |
| Tip-off: | 2:00 PM |
| Arena/Capacity: | William H. Pitt Center/2,062 |
| Location: | Fairfield, Conn. |
| Lehigh’s Record: | 3-2 overall, 0-0 Patriot League |
| Sacred Heart’s Record: | 2-2, 0-0 NEC |
| Series: | Sacred Heart leads, 3-2 |
| Radio: | Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Matt Kerr. Pregame coverage gets underway at 1:30 PM |
| Television: | None |
| Internet Video: | Through Sacred Heart |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | sacredheartpioneers.com |
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