Courtesy of LehighSports.ocm
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team led by as many as 18 and led by nine with under two minutes remaining, but Loyola staged a furious comeback, capped off by a three-pointer from Andre Walker with just 0.8 seconds remaining to hand the Mountain Hawks (7-7, 1-2 Patriot League) a heartbreaking 84-83 loss on Thursday evening. Four Lehigh players finished with double-figure points, led by a season-high 23 points from senior Austin Price.
“We struggled a little bit offensively, but mishaps and turnovers ultimately turned into immediate points,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “Unfortunately, when you allow a team to shoot 60 percent in the second half and you have turnovers, it creates problems.”
The Mountain Hawks turned the ball over 18 times, as did Loyola. Price shot 6-of-8 from three-point range while adding three steals. Senior Tim Kempton posted his ninth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds, along with four assists. Junior Kahron Ross had 15 points and nine assists, to move into sole possession of fourth place on Lehigh’s career assist list, while freshman Jordan Cohen had 10 points and seven assists of his own.
“I thought our defense and our defensive presence in the beginning of the game was very good,” said Reed. “I thought we were stingy and I thought we were tough. We made some mistakes, but our energy level was high. Then our energy level dropped. Perhaps it was fatigue. Our bench and rotation was a little bit shorter and guys were playing more minutes (with Kyle Leufroy out due to illness). But at the end of the day, there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from this game.”
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 10-2 early on, beginning with a three-pointer from Price before another Price trey gave Lehigh the eight-point advantage with 16:54 remaining in the half. The Greyhounds fought back to within six on multiple occasions as a Jarred Jones three-point play pulled Loyola within 16-10.
The Mountain Hawks used a 6-0 surge behind treys from Cohen and Price, giving Lehigh a 25-13 advantage with 10:45 on the clock.
The teams went back and forth over the remaining minutes of the half as Lehigh’s lead remained between eight and 12. The Greyhounds pulled within 36-29, but the Mountain Hawks outscored Loyola 10-5 over the final 2:54 as a Cohen trey as the half expired gave Lehigh a 46-34 lead following 20 minutes of play.
Lehigh extended its lead early in the second half, eventually reaching 18 following a three-pointer from junior Brandon Alston, which made the score 60-42 with 13:52 left in the second half.
Loyola used a 10-1 run to quickly cut the Mountain Hawks’ lead in half as a trey pulled the Greyhounds within 61-52 with 11:41 on the clock.
Over the ensuing minutes, Loyola pulled as close as seven, but the Mountain Hawks responded to go up 13 following a Matt Holba layup with 6:29 remaining. The Greyhounds again answered, pulling within 75-70 with 3:59 remaining, but a corner trey from Price gave Lehigh a 78-70 lead. The Mountain Hawks still led by nine as the clock went under two minutes, but Loyola chipped away and eventually had the ball in the final seconds, down two. For the second straight year Walker converted a game-winning shot against the Mountain Hawks, this time draining a tough three with less than one second remaining to give Loyola the 84-83 victory.
Lehigh shot 57.1 percent from the field (28-of-49), including 45.8 percent from three-point range (11-of-24). Loyola finished at 50 percent (26-of-52) and 50 percent from long distance (11-of-22). The Greyhound held a 29-22 edge in rebounds.
“There were some positives tonight,” said Reed. “We’ve gotten to the points in games when the shot clock hits 16 and we start to panic. Tonight we didn’t. We continued to work it and we ended up getting good point production, even towards the second half of the shot clock. However, the thing we’ve been talking to our team about is defense and we gave up 50 points in the second half. At the end of the day, you give up 50 second-half points and you allow nearly 60 percent from the floor, you’re going to have some problems, no matter what your offense produces.”
The Mountain Hawks will look to bounce back on Sunday when they remain home and host American at 2 p.m. Tickets are available and can be purchased online by clicking here
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