Courtesy of LehighSports.com
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead and led 57-45 with 9:39 remaining, then defense carried the Mountain Hawks (7-5, 1-0 PL) the rest of the way in a 66-59 win at Army West Point in the Patriot League opener on Friday evening. Senior Tim Kempton had a double-double by halftime (11 points, 10 rebounds) and finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. The win marked Lehigh’s 10th straight Patriot League regular season victory dating back to last year.
“On a night when we did not make free throws and we did not make perimeter shots, we were still able to win on the road and that’s a testament to our defense,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “We established ourselves in the second half. There was good pressure and intensity on the ball. Not only were we disruptive to take them out of some of their natural rhythm on the catch, but we were also good enough to slide our feet and get back in front of the drive without having to over help consistently. I’m proud of our guys for that. On a night when it would have been easy to drop a game with our shooting numbers, we were able to pick up a win because defense travels.”
With his 14 rebounds, Kempton moved into sole possession of third place in Patriot League history for career rebounds. The nation’s active career leader in boards has reached 888, passing Stephen Lumpkins of American who tallied 883. Kempton also moved from 16th to 14th in career points, now with 1,646.
Senior Austin Price and sophomore Kyle Leufroy each scored 12 points while junior Kahron Ross added 10. The Mountain Hawks held the Black Knights to just 35.5 percent shooting.
Army jumped out to early leads of 3-0, 5-3 and 9-8, but Lehigh responded by staging an 11-4 run, which included four points apiece from Kempton and Price. A Price layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 19-12 advantage with 10:38 left in the first half.
With Lehigh leading 20-13, the Black Knights scored eight of the next 11 points to pull within 23-21 following one of Luke Morrison‘s two first-half three-pointers.
Army pulled as close as one at 30-29 then again at 32-31, but a Kempton three-point play with just over one minute on the clock gave the Mountain Hawks a 35-31 halftime lead, which proved to be the halftime score.
Lehigh began the second half on a 7-0 run to extend its run to 10-0 from the end of the first half. Leufroy began the half with a trey then converted a layup with 17:13 remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a 42-31 advantage.
A Price driving layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 47-36 lead with 15:26 on the clock, Army pulled within single digits, but Lehigh had an answer, upping its lead to 12 at 57-45 following two Kempton free throws with 9:39 left in the second half.
From there, defense was the theme on both sides. Lehigh was scoreless over the next 5:30 before a Price layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 59-47 lead with 4:09 remaining. Despite scoring just nine points over the final 9:39 of the second half, Lehigh remained comfortably ahead. The Black Knights pulled as close as six at 62-56 with 16 seconds remaining, but a Leufroy layup and two Ross free throws helped wrap up the 66-59 win.
For the game, Lehigh shot 44.6 percent from the field (25-of-56), including 20.0 percent from three-point range (3-of-15). Army finished at 35.5 percent (22-of-62) and 34.4 percent from long distance (11-of-32). Final rebounds were tied at 40. The Mountain Hawks were just 13-of-25 (52 percent) from the free throw line.
“I always want our team to be building towards something,” said Reed. “Today, we can take the fact that we played defense, we didn’t have a good offensive night and we still won. That is a building block for our entire season.”
Lehigh continues Patriot League play on Monday when it plays at Boston University. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The Mountain Hawks return home next Thursday, Jan. 5 to host Loyola at 7 p.m.
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