Courtesy of LehighSports.com
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team fought back from a nine-point first-half deficit to take a late seven-point lead, but Yale rallied to force overtime where the Bulldogs defeated the Mountain Hawks, 89-81 on Thursday evening. Senior Tim Kempton led Lehigh with a career-high 30 points while sophomore Kyle Leufroy scored 20 points and freshman Pat Andree added 11.
With the loss, the Mountain Hawks fall to 0-2 on the season following a pair of tight games that were determined in the final seconds.
“Yale is a good team. Xavier was a good team, so sitting at 0-2 is not my concern,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “My concern is our commitment to make sure that we defend on a consistent basis. We need to have better execution towards end-of-game situations. Unfortunately, today, whether it was turnovers, missing wide open people or taking bad shots, that destroyed us when we need to be able to convert on offense. Defensively, we allowed Yale to shoot 50 percent in the second half and 50 percent in overtime. That’s a formula for disaster. That’s what I’m disappointed about and that’s what I’m frustrated about.”
Junior Kahron Ross and sophomore Matt Holba each scored nine points while Leufroy tied a career high with five assists. Leufroy finished the evening 4-of-9 from three-point range while Andree was 3-of-6. Kempton shot 11-of-20 from the field and also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for his 34th-career double-double.
“I thought Tim gave us a scoring presence and he gave us emotional energy,” said Reed. “There were some things that he did defensively that make me scratch my head because it amounts to points, just from miscommunication. But he is a beast. That guy can score the basketball. He is a handful and we needed him out there.”
Ross scored four of the game’s first six points to give the Mountain Hawks a 4-2 lead. Yale responded to open an 8-5 advantage, and held the lead for most of the ensuing minutes. Leading 11-9, the Bulldogs scored nine of the next 12 points as an Anthony Dallier three-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 20-12 advantage with 10:36 on the first-half clock.
A Blake Reynolds trey gave the Bulldogs a 27-18 lead a few minutes later, but the Mountain Hawks had an answer. They came out of a timeout on a 9-0 run, which included three-pointers from Andree and Leufroy, which tied the score at 27 with 4:45 remaining in the half.
Yale used a mini 4-0 surge to take a 34-30 advantage, another Leufroy trey pulled the Mountain Hawks within 36-35, but the Bulldogs ended the half with the final four points to take a 40-35 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Leufroy finished the first half with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting while Kempton added 10 points and five boards. Andree had a stellar half, scoring eight points on 3-of-5 shooting while grabbing seven boards, a game high through 20 minutes.
The Mountain Hawks pulled even just over five minutes into the second half as a Holba layup made the score 46-46 with 14:27 on the clock. Yale retook a lead, but another Holba layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 54-53 advantage with 11:47 remaining.
Lehigh’s lead reached four at 59-55 following a Leufroy three-pointer, then eventually six as an Andree trey gave the Mountain Hawks a 66-60 advantage with 6:35 on the clock. The lead swelled to seven following a drive to the basket and emphatic slam from Kempton, which made the score 71-66 with 3:48 on the clock.
Yale answered with seven straight and nine of the next 11 points to even the score at 73 and force overtime.
In the extra session, the score was tied at 75 and 78. Lehigh took an 80-78 lead following a fastbreak dunk from Price, but Yale responded with 11 of the final 12 points of regulation and the Mountain Hawks were held to just one point over the final 1:53.
“It is very early, so there’s a long way to go and there’s a lot to learn,” said Reed. “However, I do have the expectation that our upperclassmen would be able to apply the things that we’ve talked about, the things that we emphasize, and be better in those circumstances. If we’re going to be a good team, we need to make sure we control games so we’re not put in those situations, but then when we are, that we can convert, execute and give us an opportunity to score, without turning it over or shooting bad shots. Defensively, we have to be able to hold teams to one shot and we have to take away some of the things that are their biggest strengths.”
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 47 percent (29-of-62), including 39 percent from three-point range (7-of-18). Yale finished at 47 percent (34-of-73) and 39 percent from long distance (7-of-18). Lehigh won the battle of the boards, 38-36.
Lehigh returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Princeton at 2 p.m. Tickets are available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by clicking here.
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