Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BOSTON – Trailing by 21 with 7:41 remaining, the Lehigh men’s basketball team went on a 17-5 surge over the next four minutes to pull within nine with 3:34 still remaining, but that’s as close as the Mountain Hawks (7-6, 1-1 Patriot League) would get as they dropped a 75-61 final at Boston University on Monday. The loss marks Lehigh’s first in nearly a month, snapping a four-game winning streak,while the Terriers improved to 7-1 at home this season. Senior Tim Kempton and junior Kahron Ross each scored 16 points for the Mountain Hawks.
“The defensive resolve didn’t show up until later in the second half,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “Our backs were against the wall and we had no choice. I was extremely disappointed with the way in which we started that second half. We gave up far too many points. Kyle Foreman made two good shots and Cedric Hankerson made a semi-contested shot. Boston University made some plays in that stretch, but it seemed like we were on the verge of falling back on our heels. It wasn’t until we got more assertive, more aggressive, more intense and more determined later, that were we able to change the direction of the game.”
With Kempton’s 16 points, he moved from 14th to 12th in Patriot League history for career points, currently owning 1,662. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Ross shot 5-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, dishing three assists to move into a tie for fourth place in school history with 437 career helpers.
“I don’t feel like we had the right players making the right attacks against their zone,” said Reed. “We’ve worked against a 2-3 zone and we’ve had success against a 2-3 zone. But in a night when we were on our heels, we were on our heels defensively and we were on our heels offensively. It’s a shame because that’s not the way we play.”
Price also added 11 points, eight coming after halftime. He opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but the Terriers responded with the next eight points to take an early 8-3 advantage.
A Ross trey pulled Lehigh back within one at 8-7, but not long after, the Terriers used a mini 5-0 run to take a 15-9 advantage with 11:30 left in the first half. Boston University’s margin eventually swelled to 23-13 following a Justin Alston jumper, but the Mountain Hawks scored seven of the next nine points, capped off by a Kempton layup to pull Lehigh within 25-20.
A three-pointer gave the Terriers a 33-24 lead with 1:51 remaining in the first, Kempton answered with a three-point play, but Boston University headed to the locker room with a 38-29 halftime advantage.
Kempton began the second half with a jumper, but the Terriers scored seven of the next nine points and eventually used a 9-0 run to take a 50-33 lead with 17:15 on the second-half clock.
A Tyler Scanlon trey gave the Terriers their largest lead of the afternoon at 62-39 with 9:56 remaining. BU led 63-42 with 7:41 on the clock, but that’s when the Mountain Hawks made a furious comeback. Price began the run with five straight points then freshman Pat Andree hit a floater to pull Lehigh within 63-49.
Lehigh remained active defensively, forcing turnovers and wrapping up the 17-5 run with a Brandon Alston three-pointer, pulling the Mountain Hawks within 68-59 with 3:47 still remaining. That’s as close as Lehigh would come, however as the Mountain Hawks didn’t score again until the final minute and the Terriers closed out the 75-61 win.
For the game, Lehigh shot 34.9 percent (22-of-63), including just 26.7 percent from three-point range (8-of-30). Boston University shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) and 34.6 percent from long distance (9-of-26). The Terriers won the battle of the boards, 41-39.
The Mountain Hawks now return home on Thursday to host Loyola at 7 p.m.
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