Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Coming off its fifth straight win, the Lehigh men’s basketball team heads to Navy for a Wednesday night matchup featuring two of the teams tied for second in the league standings. Opening tipoff in Alumni Hall is set for 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks’ 64-59 win over Holy Cross improved their record to 9-5 in the Patriot League and pushed them into a tie with Navy and Boston University, just one game behind first-place Bucknell with four regular season games remaining.
Lehigh is coming off a gritty win over the Crusaders Monday as the Mountain Hawks won despite shooting just 36.7 percent from the field. Their shooting percentage was the lowest in any win this season. Instead, Lehigh relied on its defense, especially in crunch time. With Holy Cross leading 49-41 with 8:06 remaining, the Mountain Hawks staged an 18-0 run over the next seven minutes as a pair of free throws from junior Tim Kempton gave Lehigh a 59-49 advantage with 57 seconds on the clock. In the end, Lehigh held Holy Cross scoreless for 7:25. The Crusaders made one last-ditch effort to pull closer in the final minutes, but couldn’t get any closer than three and the Mountain Hawks hit their free throws to wrap up the victory, their fourth straight home win and fifth straight overall. The five-game winning streak is Lehigh’s longest since winning five in a row in December of 2013.
After not scoring in the first half, Kempton scored 15 second-half points to post his third straight double-double, eighth of the season and 28th of his career. The reigning Patriot League Player of the Week added 12 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal. Classmate Austin Price scored a team-high 20 points, his sixth 20+ point effort of the season, while sophomore Kahron Ross scored 17, his third straight game with 16 or more points. Ross was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line over the final 17 seconds and 6-of-6 over the final 1:06.
Despite struggling from the field and finishing with just 18 made field goals, the Mountain Hawks got to the free throw line. Lehigh finished 24-of-31 from the charity stripe (including 21-of-25) in the second half, a season high for made free throws. Lehigh also turned the ball over just twice in the second half and just nine times for the game. The 64 points scored were Lehigh’s lowest since scoring 64 against Navy on Jan. 20 and the lowest number of points scored in any win this season. It also marked the Mountain Hawks’ fourth single-digit win of the league schedule (compared to five double-digit victories). Lehigh swept the regular season series with Holy Cross for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
The win proved crucial as the Mountain Hawks kept pace with Navy and Boston University, who both won Saturday. Lehigh, Navy and Bucknell are all just one game behind first-place Bucknell. The Mountain Hawks will look to avenge a 69-64 home loss to the Midshipmen.
Navy enters Wednesday’s game with an 18-9 record and 9-5 Patriot League record as the Mids are tied for second in the league standings. The Midshipmen lost three-of-four games from Jan. 27 through Feb. 6, but they’ve responded by winning two straight – at Loyola and at Lafayette. Shawn Anderson leads the team in scoring with his 12.5 points per game. Tilman Dunbar averages 11.1 points and a team-leading 3.5 assists per contest. Jace Hogan averages 10.2 points while Will Kelly comes in at 9.7 to go with a team-leading 5.5 rebounds per game. Kelly also leads the Patriot League, and is among the nation’s leaders, with 72 blocks this season.
Lehigh’s Jan. 20 loss against Navy snapped an 11-game winning streak against the Midshipmen. That streak helped the Mids take a 44-28 lead in the all-time series. Last season, Lehigh earned wins of 61-47 and 59-53 over the Midshipmen, one season after slim two-point and seven-point victories. Prior to this season, Navy’s previous win came on Feb. 10, 2010 in Stabler Arena by an 85-78 final. The Midshipmen swept the season series during Lehigh’s 2009-10 Patriot League Championship campaign. The teams first met in 1910-11, a 31-24 Navy victory. Lehigh’s first win was in 1925-26 by a 25-23 final.
The Mountain Hawks return home on Sunday, Feb. 21 for their Senior Day Game against archrival Lafayette. Tip is set for 12 p.m.
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