Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team opened a 13-point first-half advantage before Boston University came back to tie the score, but the Mountain Hawks never relinquished the lead in an 81-73 win on Saturday afternoon in Stabler Arena. Junior Tim Kempton paced the offense with 22 points and 11 rebounds while freshman Kyle Leufroy scored a career-high 20 points and junior Austin Price added 16. With the win, the Mountain Hawks improve to 1-1 in Patriot League play.
“Boston University is a talented team,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “We were able to hold them at bay. They can shoot from the perimeter, they have good athleticism from their forward positions and they play hard. For us to be able to get this win against a quality opponent, it’s important for us. I was really pleased our guys showed poise down the stretch and made their free throws to close out the win.”
Kempton scored 14 of his points in the game’s first 11:16 as he scored 14 of the Mountain Hawks’ first 28 points to help give his squad a 28-15 lead. The double-double marked his third this season and the 23rd of his career. Leufroy scored 16 of his points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting, finishing the game 7-of-11 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range.
“I thought Kyle really carried us,” said Reed. “The good thing was a lot of those shots came from extra passes. When he takes good shots, he has a pretty good chance of making good shots. He needs to continue to grow. I’m really pleased he was able to give us a huge shot in the arm offensively today.”
Sophomore Kahron Ross tallied nine points and seven assists in the game, all nine points coming in the game’s final 4:29.
Lehigh jumped out to an early 7-1 lead as Kempton scored the Mountain Hawks’ first four points before a Price three-pointer made it 7-1 with17:03 on the first-half clock. The Terriers pulled within 9-5, but the Mountain Hawks responded with a 7-0 run as another Price trey gave Lehigh a 16-5 advantage, forcing a Boston University timeout with 14:22 on the clock.
The Mountain Hawks maintained their double-digit lead for the ensuing minutes, reaching 13 after a Leufroy trey made it 23-10 with 10:46 left in the first half. Still leading by 13 at 30-17 with 7:39 remaining, the Terriers came out of a media timeout on a quick 8-0 run to pull within 30-25 with 6:07 on the first-half clock.
Lehigh reopened an eight-point lead on two occasions, but the Terriers scored the final six points of the half to pull within 38-36 after 20 minutes of play.
Leufroy led the Mountain Hawks with 16 first-half points behind 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-4 from three-point range. Kempton scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Lehigh shot 42 percent from the floor (14-of-33) and 60 percent from three-point range (6-of-10) to Boston University’s 47 percent (14-of-30) and 35 percent from long distance (6-of-17).
The Terriers quickly pulled even less than two minutes into the second half, tying the score at 38 then 40, but Lehigh always had an answer. Leading by one, the Mountain Hawks used consecutive three-pointers, from seniors Devon Carter and Jesse Chuku, to reopen a 51-44 advantage with 13:13 on the clock. The lead reached eight after a Carter floater made the score 53-45, but Boston University answered with a 10-2 run as an Eric Fanning three-pointer evened the score at 55 with 8:44 remaining.
Lehigh again responded, scoring eight of the next 10 points capped off by an emphatic Kempton putback to make the score 63-57 with 6:20on the clock.
Boston University responded with the next five points, but the Mountain Hawks reopened a seven-point, 71-64, advantage following a Price three-point play with 3:15 remaining.
The lead reached nine on multiple occasions and Boston University fought back to within four, but Lehigh was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to wrap up the 81-73 victory.
Lehigh shot 45 percent for the game (28-of-62) and 59 percent from three-point range (10-of-17). Boston University shot 43 percent (26-of-61) and 32 percent from long distance (9-of-28). The Mountain Hawks dominated on the glass, holding a 41-31 rebounding edge. Along with Kempton’s 11, Chuku had seven and senior Justin Goldsborough tallied six.
“Our team needs to continue making smart decisions,” said Reed. “Today, we had 11 assists on 14 field goals in the first half. The ball was moving. That’s better choices, better decisions on offense and very pleasing to see.”
Lehigh will now hit the road for two straight games, heading to Loyola next Wednesday (7:30 p.m. tipoff) and American next Saturday (2 p.m.).
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