BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team eyes its ninth straight win on Saturday when it welcomes Bryant for a 7 p.m. tipoff in Stabler Arena. That game will follow a pair of women’s basketball Christmas City Classic contests at 2 and 4:30 p.m. with the Lehigh women hosting Binghamton at 4:30. One ticket will get you into all three games as part of the Saturday tripleheader. The Mountain Hawks are coming off an impressive 90-75 win at North Texas, despite missing star senior C.J. McCollumdue to injury.
Senior Gabe Knutson stole the show at North Texas, scoring 28 points including 19 in the first half (marking a career high for points in a half). He finished 10-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range. In the process, Knutson passed former teammate Zahir Carrington on Lehigh’s all-time scoring list (now 15th with 1,284 career points).
Not to be forgotten, junior Mackey McKnight scored a career-high 25 points which included a highlight-reel half-court shot to end the first half. He added seven assists (to tie a career high) along with four rebounds. Senior Holden Greiner was strong with 15 points and a team-high eight boards. All this came against a North Texas team predicted to win the West Division of the Sun Belt. The 2010 Sun Belt Champions feature NBA prospect Tony Mitchell who finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, but was held in check by the Mountain Hawks’ defense.
Down 21-18 midway through the first half, Lehigh scored 34 of the final 46 first-half points to pull away. The Mountain Hawks were outscored 42-38 in the second half, but the Mean Green wouldn’t pull any closer than 15. That gave Lehigh its eighth consecutive win as its 9-2 start marks the best since the 1925-26 season (87 years).
Bryant is Lehigh’s sixth and final NEC foe of the season. The Mountain Hawks are 5-0 overall and have won 11 straight against the conference dating back to 2010. The Bulldogs are enjoying a strong start to the season, coming in at 6-4 which includes a big win at Boston College of the ACC. Lehigh has won 11 straight home games and 18 of its last 19 in the friendly confines of Stabler Arena.
If the Mountain Hawks win on Saturday, it’d mark their ninth in a row which would tie for the third longest winning streak in school history (accomplished four other times, most recently last season).
Last Thursday marked the first game of McCollum’s career that he missed; he appeared in 109 straight to begin his Lehigh career. Lehigh still scored 90 points, eclipsing 80 for the fifth time in six games and reaching 90 for the third time this season (also at Sacred Heart and vs. Fairleigh Dickinson). The Mountain Hawks improved to 2-3 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt, also beating Florida International in 1990-91. Junior Anthony D’Orazio and sophomore Corey Schaefer each posted career highs for rebounds against North Texas, posting seven and five, respectively.
Bryant comes in with a 6-4 record, owning wins over New Hampshire, Brown, Boston College, Army, Binghamton and Dartmouth. The Bulldogs have already tripled their win total from last season when they were 2-28. After losing their first two games this year, the Bulldogs won four straight and six of their next eight. Columbia transfer Dyami Starks leads the team averaging 16.6 points and 3.2 rebounds while Alex Francis is at 14.6 points and a team-leading 7.4 boards and Frankie Dobbs 12.2 and 3.7, respectively. Number 10 Raphael Jordan is brother of Lehigh Director of Basketball Operations T.J. Jordan.
Lehigh is 2-0 all-time against Bryant, beating the Bulldogs each of the past two seasons. The Mountain Hawks won at home in 2010-11 (88-68) before winning a 72-55 New Year’s Eve tilt at Bryant last season.
Lehigh will head to VCU next Saturday (Jan. 5) for a 5 p.m. tipoff on NBC Sports Network. The Mountain Hawks return home on Tuesday, Jan. 8 for their final nonleague tilt vs. Muhlenberg.
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: | December 29, 2012 |
| Opponent: | Bryant Bulldogs |
| Tip-off: | 7:00 PM |
| Arena/Capacity: | Stabler Arena/5,600 |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh’s Record: | 9-2 overall, 0-0 Patriot League |
| Bryant’s Record: | 6-4, 0-0 NEC |
| Series: | First Meeting |
| Radio: | Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Matt Kerr and Greg Falkenbach ‘72. Pregame coverage gets underway at 6:30 PM |
| Television: | None |
| Internet Video: | Lehighsports.com |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | bryantbulldogs.com |
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