Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team opened a 41-15 first-half lead then fought off several Bucknell comeback attempts to defeat the Bison 80-65 on Wednesday evening. The win marked the Mountain Hawks’ fourth straight as Lehigh remains in a tie for second place in the Patriot League standings at 8-5 and moves within two games of the first-place Bison. Sophomore Kahron Ross led the way for Lehigh with a career-high 24 points while junior Tim Kempton posted his second straight double-double with 23 points and 12 boards.
“It was a great start and an important start for us because we needed to establish ourselves,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “After a bit of an emotional high in a rivalry game (at Lafayette Monday), it’s easy to let your guard down. Fortunately for us, we came ready to play. Plays worked out positively for us. I liked the attack. We ended up getting into a decent flow and we scored the basketball. It was impressive we were able to force some turnovers and score off some turnovers, particularly in the first half.”
Kempton’s double-double marked his seventh this season and 27th of his career. For the second straight game and fifth time in the last eight games, Lehigh eclipsed 50 percent shooting from the field, finishing at 52.6 percent (30-of-57) after starting the game hitting 14 of its first 20 shots.
The win marked Lehigh’s fourth in its last six games at Sojka Pavilion dating back to 2011. It was also Lehigh’s fifth wire-to-wire victory of the Patriot League season. The Mountain Hawks also wrapped up a perfect stretch of three wins in five days and four in eight.
Ross finished 10-of-15 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range. Junior Austin Price added 16 points, 11 in the first half while freshman Kyle Leufroy scored 12 points and grabbed eight boards. Senior Jesse Chuku filled up the stat sheet with five points, three rebounds, two steals, an assist and block.
“Kahron was terrific and we really needed him to play that way,” said Reed. “Bucknell’s defense took away some of our other looks and it was his turn to step up in that moment. He did so effectively and he did so with a great deal of confidence and poise. You can sense from him over the last two weeks he has a bit of a moxie to him. That has translated into increased confidence that his teammates feel, it resonates and carries over. On the flip side, you have Tim Kempton who is an emotional bundle and plays with so much passion, which becomes contagious. It’s nice to be able to insert somebody like Kahron who is calm, cool and collected who can get everybody settled.”
Lehigh took an early 6-2 lead following a Price jumper with 17:15 on the first-half clock. Bucknell pulled within 6-4, but the Mountain Hawks responded in a big way, staging an 11-0 run with field goals on four straight possessions. The run began with a Kempton three-point play and continued with consecutive three-pointers from Leufroy and Chuku. Following the under-16 media timeout, a Kempton layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 17-4 lead with 15:06 on the clock.
The Bison ended the run with a Zach Thomas three-pointer, but a Ross jumper followed by Leufroy fastbreak layup off a nifty feed from Price, gave the Mountain Hawks a 21-7 advantage with just over 12 minutes left in the first half.
Lehigh continued to play tremendously on both ends of the floor as its lead extended. A Price trey gave his squad a 26-10 lead with 10:45remaining in the first then Price followed with a steal and layup to make the score 28-10, forcing a Bucknell timeout.
Not long after, Ross scored five straight Mountain Hawk points as his three-pointer gave Lehigh a 33-13 advantage with 8:30 on the clock. Lehigh’s run eventually reached 13-2 as a Ross layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 41-15 lead with 6:10 on the clock.
Bucknell began to catch fire as the first half came to a close, scoring 14 of the final 18 first-half points to pull within 45-29 after 20 minutes of play.
The Mountain Hawks shot 59 percent from the field in the first half (17-of-29). Ross scored 13 first-half points while Price tallied 11. Kempton had nine points and nine rebounds.
Bucknell quickly scored the first four points of the second half to get the crowd to its feet but the Mountain Hawks responded with five of the next seven points to regain a 15-point, 50-35 lead with 17:59 on the clock.
A Stephen Brown layup pulled the Bison within 13 at 53-40, but a jumper from Kempton and three-pointer from Kempton gave Lehigh a 58-40 advantage with 15:20 on the clock.
Bucknell continued to battle back, responding with a 9-0 run capped off by a three-pointer to cut Lehigh’s lead in half and pull within nine at 58-49, forcing a Lehigh timeout with 12:53 remaining.
The Mountain Hawks wouldn’t let the Bison pull any closer the rest of the game. Lehigh’s lead fluctuated between nine and 14 over the ensuing seven minutes until the Mountain Hawks pulled away. Leading 71-59, Lehigh scored nine of the next 11 points to open an 80-61 lead following a Ross jumper with 3:25 remaining.
Neither team scored for the next 2:12 and both teams emptied their benches down the stretch as Lehigh wrapped up the 80-65 victory, its fourth straight win, all coming in the last eight days.
Lehigh shot 53 percent for the game (30-of-57) and 41 percent from three-point range (7-of-17). Bucknell finished at 42 percent (23-of-55) and 29 percent from long distance (6-of-21). The Bison held a slight 34-32 edge in rebounds.
Lehigh returns home to host Holy Cross next Monday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network.
OTHER GAMES IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Navy 71 Loyola (MD) 51
Navy improved to 10-2 on the road to establish a program record for most road wins in a season. Navy was 9-4 in true road games in 1985 and 9-3 in 1987. The Mids are 12-3 in combined road/neutral games this season. READ MORE.
Holy Cross 67 Lafayette 53
The Crusaders came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, using a quick 6-2 spurt to build their lead back up to eight points. READ MORE.
Boston U 71 American 51
BU shot 71.4 percent for a 41-29 halftime lead and later used a 19-3 run late in the second to claim its fourth straight win against American. READ MORE.
Leave a Reply