Courtesy of LehighSports.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the second time in the last three games, the Lehigh men’s basketball team never trailed and came out with a Patriot League victory as the Mountain Hawks topped American, 65-50 on Saturday afternoon in our nation’s capital. Junior Austin Price led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 16 points.
Freshman Kyle Leufroy scored 14 points while sophomore Kahron Ross added 13 as Lehigh’s starting guards combined for 43 of the team’s 60 points on the afternoon.
“I thought our defense has been much stronger these last couple games,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “We’ve been more dialed in, more focused and more ready and willing to get defensive stops. That’s a testament to these guys, their growth and maturity to understand the importance of that aspect of the floor. American plays a complicated style, it’s a complicated offense. Our guys had to adjust and be detailed on their positioning and they did a good job. Austin’s defense on Jesse Reed was terrific. He didn’t give him a lot of angles or opportunities.”
A preseason All-Patriot League honoree, Reed finished the afternoon with just 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting. All field goals were three-pointers, including two treys from well behind the arc.
Price scored 11 of his points in the first half, shooting 5-of-7 from the field over the opening 20 minutes. He added a career-high seven rebounds. Leufroy grabbed five rebounds to go with his 14 points while Ross also recorded three rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Senior Jesse Chuku tallied nine points (all in the second half) and 10 rebounds, just missing a double-double for a second straight game. Senior Justin Goldsborough posted four points and three rebounds off the bench on a perfect 2-of-2 shooting. Junior Tim Kempton scored a season-low six points due to foul trouble. He was 2-of-3 from the field in 22 minutes of action.
“Jesse rebounded the basketball and was a huge presence for us,” said Reed. “We could play great defense on American for 28 seconds, but if we give up an offensive, now we have to grind it for another 28 seconds. The ability for him, and even some of our guards, to close out possessions was important for us.”
Lehigh got off to a quick start, scoring on each of its first three possessions as a Kempton jumper gave the Mountain Hawks a 6-3 lead with 18:17 left in the first half. The Eagles pulled within 12-9 after a Delante Jones layup, but five straight Lehigh points, capped off by a Leufroy three-pointer, gave the Mountain Hawks a 17-9 lead, forcing an American timeout with 12:22 on the first-half clock.
The Eagles answered with the next five points to pull within 17-14, beginning with a long Reed three-pointer. American pulled as close as two (19-17), but Lehigh responded with seven of the next nine points. The run began with a Price three-pointer, included a Goldsborough layup and Ross fastbreak layup to give Lehigh a 28-19 advantage with 5:56 left in the first half.
American again answered with five straight points to pull within 28-24, but the Mountain Hawks scored seven of the final nine first-half points, which included four straight Ross points and ended with a Kempton free throw, to take a 35-26 lead at the half.
Price (11 points), Leufroy (nine) and Ross (eight) combined for 28 of the Mountain Hawks’ 35 first-half points, shooting a combined 12-of-21 from the field.
The Mountain Hawks came out of the locker room by scoring five of the first seven second-half points as a Kempton three-point play gave Lehigh a 40-28 advantage with 16:55 on the clock.
Lehigh slowly extended its lead, reaching 15 as a Ross jumper gave the Mountain Hawks a 46-31 advantage with 10:48 left in the second half.
The Eagles responded with four straight points to pull within 46-35, but the Mountain Hawks wouldn’t let them get any closer than 11 the rest of the way. A Chuku corner three-pointer helped Lehigh gain a 15-point advantage, making the score 52-37 with 5:05 on the clock.
The Mountain Hawks always had an answer for any American runs and knocked down six straight free throws in the game’s final minute to close out the 65-50 victory. The 50 points allowed marked a season best for the Lehigh defense, one game after allowing just 51 at Loyola.
Lehigh finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field (23-of-49) and 23 percent from three-point range (3-of-13). American shot 37 percent (20-of-54) and 32 percent from long distance (7-of-22). The Mountain Hawks held a 36-28 edge in rebounding.
The Mountain Hawks have a quick turnaround, returning home on Monday to host Bucknell at 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
“I’m excited. We have a chance to play at home in what should be a great game,” said Reed. “If you’re a basketball fan in the Lehigh Valley, you get a chance to see two of the top programs in the Patriot League go at each other. Historically, we’ve had that rivalry from the C.J. (McCollum) to (Mike) Muscala years. You have two teams who have been very good. It’s an exciting game. Hopefully our guys can come out with the same type of fire, energy and push that they showed at the beginning of the game and at the start of the second half as well.”
OTHER GAMES IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Navy 71 Colgate 68 OT
Sophomore guard Shawn Anderson scored 21 points and senior center Will Kelly had 12 points, eight rebounds, eight blocks and four assists as the Navy men’s basketball team (12-5, 3-1 PL) posted a 71-68 overtime victory at Colgate (6-9, 2-2 PL) on Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court. READ MORE.
Army West Point 73 Loyola (MD) 59
The Army West Point men’s basketball team improved to 7-2 on the road with a critical 73-59 victory over Loyola Maryland on Saturday evening at Reitz Arena. The Black Knights limited the Greyhounds to a 2-for-16 shooting performance from beyond the arc. READ MORE.
Bucknell 98 Holy Cross 71
John Azzinaro connected on seven of Bucknell’s 16 3-pointers en route to a career-high 21 points, and the hot-shooting Bison steamed past Holy Cross 98-71 on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell improved to 4-0 in the Patriot League, at least temporarily moving into sole possession of first place pending unbeaten Loyola’s result against Army West Point later in the evening. READ MORE.
Boston U. 68 Lafayette 47
Highlighted by its highest rebound total in 17 years and junior Eric Fanning’s season-high 22 points, the Boston University men’s basketball team rolled to a 68-47 home victory over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon. READ MORE.
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