Courtesy of LehighSports.com
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team connected on 14-of-23 three-pointers, led by a career-high tying 24 points from sophomore Kahron Ross and season-high 22 from senior Jesse Chuku, as the Mountain Hawks earned a big 77-74 win at Navy on Wednesday evening. With their sixth straight win, the Mountain Hawks remain in a two-way tie for second place in the Patriot League standings with three regular season games remaining. The win is also Lehigh’s third straight on the road.
“We struggled at times and we didn’t do a great job defending all night. Fortunately for us, we had players such as Jesse Chuku and Kahron Ross utilizing that three-point line,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “Shooting over 60 percent from the three-point line and getting 14 made three-point field goals was the story of the game. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to keep pace.”
The 14 made treys marked a season high and were Lehigh’s most since also making 14 on Nov. 12, 2013 against Rider.
Ross scored 20 of his points in the second half as he was 6-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range over the final 20 minutes.
“Kahron has been terrific for us,” said Reed. “He was almost flawless. That was an aggressive defense he was going against and he was able to find his moments and find his opportunities. One of them was a great pass from Tim Kempton out of a double team and another came from a quick skip to him. He was a recipient of team basketball, but I’m proud of him for stepping up in the moment when we really needed it. It was a sticky time, but he carried us and really pushed us through.”
Meanwhile, Chuku’s 22 points came on 6-of-7 shooting (all from three) and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Chuku’s six made threes was a career high. Junior Tim Kempton added 14 points and nine rebounds while freshman Kyle Leufroy had 10 points and five boards.
Chuku opened the scoring with a three-pointer on the game’s first possession, but Navy responded with the next five points. A Kempton jumper evened the score at five, but Navy responded to take leads of 7-5 and 9-8.
With Lehigh back on top 10-9, the Midshipmen staged an 8-0 run as a Shawn Anderson trey gave Navy a 17-10 lead with 11:37 remaining in the first.
The Mountain Hawks immediately answered with Chuku’s third three-pointer of the first half and a Ross driving layup, which pulled them back within 17-15.
Lehigh eventually tied the score as a long three from Price as the shot clock expired pulled his squad within 19-18, then just under three minutes later, a Tyler Jenkins corner trey evened the score at 21 with 6:20 on the clock.
The score stood tied at 24 and 28, then Lehigh took a 31-30 lead on Chuku’s fourth trey of the half with 49 seconds on the clock. However, Navy responded with a three on its ensuing possession to take a 33-31 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Chuku finished the first half with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, all from three-point range.
Navy scored the first four second-half points, but a pair of three-pointers in less than a minute, from Ross and Leufroy, pulled the Mountain Hawks within two at 39-37.
The Mids re-opened a five-point lead, but a Kempton layup and Chuku three-pointer evened the score at 45 with 14:22 remaining. Lehigh’s run reached 7-0 following a Ross layup which gave Lehigh a 47-45 advantage.
The Mountain Hawks wouldn’t trail the rest of the way, but it wasn’t easy. The teams went back and forth and Navy responded to even the score at 52, 54 and 56 in the middle stages of the half. A big play came with just over six minutes remaining as Kempton grabbed a huge offensive rebound and kicked it out to Ross, who hit a big trey with 6:17 on the clock to give the Mountain Hawks a 59-56 lead. Ross hit another three with 4:37 on the clock to give Lehigh a 62-58 advantage and yet another trey with 2:34 remaining to make the score 66-60, Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh’s lead continued to increase, reaching 11 at 72-61 following a Ross free throw with 42 seconds remaining. Navy made it interesting down the stretch, pulling as close as two with less than one second remaining, but the Mountain Hawks closed out the 77-74 win.
For the game, Lehigh shot just 44 percent from the field (22-of-50), but 61 percent from three-point range (14-of-23). Navy shot 52 percent from the field (28-of-54) and 32 percent from long distance (6-of-19). Rebounds were tied at 31.
The Mountain Hawks return home on Sunday, Feb. 21 for their Senior Day Game against archrival Lafayette. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m
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