Mountain Hawks head to Quinnipiac for Tuesday night showdown

Lehigh’s offense was the story on Sunday, especially in the early going as it shot 58 percent from the field in the first half and 51 percent for the game. Four Mountain Hawks posted double-figure points, including seniors McCollum (26), Gabe Knutson (18) and Holden Greiner (17) along with sophomore Stefan Cvrkalj (14).

The Mountain Hawks scored 90 points for the first time since Jan. 12, 2012, a 90-76 win at Lafayette. They shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the second time this season, the other being against another NEC squad (Robert Morris). Lehigh forced 21 turnovers, the second time this season it’s forced 20 or more.

Lehigh is 4-2 after six games for a second straight season. Sunday’s win marked the Mountain Hawks’ first on the road after dropping games at Baylor and Pitt. Following Tuesday’s road tilt at Quinnipiac, the Mountain Hawks return home for a pair – vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (Dec. 1) and Fordham (Dec. 4) 0 before heading to another NEC foe in Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, Dec. 8. Lehigh has won eight straight games against the NEC with its last defeat coming two years ago to the hands of Quinnipiac (84-78 loss on Dec. 7, 2010).

McCollum was named Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday following another impressive week and record-breaking performance. McCollum averaged 27 points over a trio of Mountain Hawk victories last week, capped off by breaking the Patriot League career scoring record on Sunday at Sacred Heart. It marks McCollum’s second Player of the Week award this season and 14th of his illustrious career, six ahead of any other player in league history.

The Canton, Ohio native broke the league’s nearly 20-year old record with a pull-up jumper with 12:53 left in the second half. With the bucket, he broke a tie with Holy Cross’ Rob Feaster (2,224 career points from 1991-95) to reach 2,226 career points, while adding two late free throws as well. McCollum tied a season high with five made three-pointers; he was also 5-of-7 against Fairfield.

A perennial force in the NEC, Quinnipiac enters Tuesday’s game with a 2-3 record. The Bobcats have defeated Hartford and Iona (in overtime) while falling to American, UConn and George Mason. Quinnipiac nearly upset the Huskies, but ended up falling 89-83 in double overtime. A CBI team from a season ago, the Bobcats have advanced to three straight national postseason tournaments. They’re led this year by Ike Azotam who averages 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Dave Johnson comes in at 11.4 points and a team-leading 24 assists through five games while Garvey Young averages 9.2 points and Zaid Hearst 9.9 points. A strong rebounding team, the Bobcats are +4.6 on the glass this season (37.4 to 32.8).

Quinnipiac leads the all-time series, 3-2 but Lehigh has won two of the last three meetings. After Bobcat wins in 2006-07 and 2007-08, the Mountain Hawks won at home in both 2009-10 (79-71 final) and 2011-12 (86-75). All five games have been extremely close with three finishing within single digits. Lehigh is eying its first-ever win at Quinnipiac.

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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