Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team opened a 19-point second-half advantage, Navy responded with a 25-4 run to take a lead, but the Mountain Hawks came back to beat the Midshipmen, 65-63 in the Patriot League Quarterfinals on Thursday in front of a raucous Stabler Arena crowd. With the win, Lehigh advances to the league semifinals for the first time since 2013 and will host No. 6 seed Americanon Sunday at 2 p.m. Junior Tim Kempton was sensational, scoring 12 of Lehigh’s final 19 points down the stretch, including a three-point play with 40 seconds remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a lead for good.
“That got really sticky for a minute. I’m really proud of our guys,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “We’ve talked a lot about growth with our team throughout the course of the year. In November or December, we would’ve folded in those moments and we would’ve folded in that situation. We started to show that evil side of us where we were not really all together. But then we pulled together and we ended up having some good sharing of the basketball against a very tough defensive team. Our unity ended up pulling us through a time when the pressure could have busted us.”
Kempton finished the evening with 22 points and 17 rebounds, his seventh double-double in the last eight games. He has now posted 45 points and 35 boards over his last two games, reaching 12 double-doubles on the season and 32 in his career.
“Tim was willing us on the glass in the first half,” said Reed. “He had 11 of our 22 rebounds. They had 13 extra shots in the first half just by rebounding the basketball and with turnovers. Tim helped neutralize that. He brought that passion and brought that energy. It really electrified the crowd as well. He really helped to will our team to victory tonight.”
Freshman Kyle Leufroy added 17 points, knocking down both of his three-pointers and converting key free throws in the final minute. Sophomore Kahron Ross added nine points and six assists while senior Jesse Chuku scored eight points.
“We needed him Kyle in the worst way,” said Reed. “Navy’s defensive intensity and pressure was trying to neutralize Kahron Ross and Tim Kempton while Austin struggled shooting the basketball. Fortunately, Austin had a terrific finish that gave us some go-ahead points late. Kyle was great to fill that void, along with Devon Carter, who gave us some wing scoring in the first half.”
The win marks Lehigh’s 10th in a row and gives the program its longest winning streak since the 1925-26 season when it won a school-record 11 straight games.
Both teams got off to a slow start with just four combined points, two per side, scored in the game’s first 3:49. A Devon Carter three-pointer pulled the Mountain Hawks within 6-5 with 13:53 on the clock, breaking a 3:54 scoreless drought and giving his squad a boost.
With Lehigh trailing 7-5, Leufroy answered with a 5-0 run of his own, knocking down a three-pointer then finishing a drive to the basket to give the Mountain Hawks a 10-7 advantage with 11:56 on the clock.
Navy responded with the next four points, but Lehigh promptly went on a 12-2 run to open a nine-point lead. The run began with a Kempton basket and finished with a pair of Kempton free throws to give Lehigh a 22-13 advantage with 6:26 left in the first half.
Navy followed by scoring five of the next seven points to pull within six. Leading 26-20, Lehigh staged a 9-1 run capped off by a Ross jumper, making the score 35-21 and forcing a Navy timeout with 1:18 left in the first half. The Mids knocked down a pair of free throws to pull within 35-23 at the half.
Kempton enjoyed a monster first half with eight points and 11 rebounds while Ross and Leufroy each added nine points apiece. Lehigh shot 50 percent from the field (11-of-22) while Navy shot 26 percent (9-of-35).
After two minutes without scoring from either side, Lehigh posted seven straight in the span of 1:02 as a Leufroy three-pointer, Kempton layup and Chuku layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 42-23 lead, forcing a Navy timeout.
The Midshipmen immediately responded with an 8-0 run of its own, which included a pair of three-pointers. A Shawn Anderson trey pulled Navy within 44-31 with 15:22 on the second-half clock.
The run continued as the Mids pulled within eight at 46-38 following an Anderson jumper with 12:18 remaining. A few minutes later, an Anderson layup pulled the Midshipmen within three at 46-43. A pair of Will Kelly free throws tied the score while a Tilman Dunbar three-point play gave Navy a 48-46 lead with 6:58 on the clock, capping off the 25-4 run.
The teams went back-and-forth over the ensuing minutes as Kempton scored Lehigh’s next nine points to continue giving the Mountain Hawks a two-point lead. His ninth straight Lehigh point gave his squad a 55-53 advantage with 3:42 on the clock.
Tied at 57 with less than one minutes remaining, Kempton completed a three-point play. After a pair of missed free throws, Kempton grabbed his 17th rebound and Leufroy knocked down five free throws down the stretch to help Lehigh close out the 65-63 victory.
Lehigh shot 38 percent for the game (21-of-55) and 21 percent from three-point range (3-of-14). Navy finished at 35 percent (20-of-58) and 33 percent from long distance (7-of-21). The Midshipmen held a 41-38 edge in rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks will now host sixth-seeded American in the Patriot League Semifinals this Sunday at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
OTHER PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Army West Point 79 Colgate 72
American 69 Boston U 64
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