Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lafayette began the second half on a 10-0 run, but the Lehigh men’s basketball team responded in a big way, outscoring the Leopards 47-33 the rest of the way to earn a hard-fought 75-68 win in front of an energized crowd in Stabler Arena on Saturday evening. Senior Austin Price led the Mountain Hawks (11-8, 5-3 Patriot League) with a season-high 24 points behind 8-of-13 shooting, including several clutch second-half plays to help Lehigh close out the victory.
“I thought Lafayette gave us every push that they could,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “Particularly, Nick Lindner played an outstanding second half. He was almost unguardable. We cut down on our turnovers, we changed a little bit of our philosophy and our guys were able to establish an interior presence. In the first half, we were three happy. If we make them, that’s great, but we’ve got to make sure that we have a balance. We were able to get to the free throw line, we were able to score in the interior and we were able to take control and establish some more of the toughness variables in this contest.”
Along with Price’s 24 points, classmate Tim Kempton had 19 points and seven rebounds while freshman Pat Andree posted 13 points and seven boards. Sophomore Kyle Leufroy scored nine points while junior Kahron Ross just missed a double-double, tallying eight points and nine assists compared to just two turnovers.
“One the most important things that separated the game was a run when we held them to two points over an extended period of time,” said Reed. “Our defense has to hold strong.”
Lehigh got off to a fast start, taking a 7-2 lead following an Andree jumper with 16:54 on the first-half clock. The Leopards pulled within one, but Kempton scored five straight points, including a three-pointer with 12:17 on the clock, to give Lehigh a 15-6 advantage.
Lafayette got as close as two on multiple occasion, but Lehigh’s lead reached seven as a Price jumper gave the Mountain Hawks a 22-15 advantage with 4:04 on the clock.
The Leopards used a late 7-0 run to even the score at 25, but a Price three-pointer gave him 10 points and gave Lehigh a 28-25 halftime advantage.
Lafayette staged a quick 10-0 run in the first 2:02 of the second half to take a 35-28 lead. A few minutes later, Lehigh scored four straight points to pull within two, but consecutive Lafayette treys in the span of 17 seconds gave the Leopards their largest lead at 45-37 with 13:07 remaining.
Lehigh immediately staged an 8-0 run, however, which includes treys from Price and Andree, to even the score at 45. Later, the Mountain Hawks used a 7-0 run capped off by a Price fastbreak layup to give his side a 54-47 advantage with 8:49 on the clock.
The Leopards pulled as close as one on multiple occasions, but a 5-0 Mountain Hawks’ surge gave them a six-point lead with 3:42 remaining. Lehigh wouldn’t trail by less than four the rest of the way as an emphatic Andree dunk with 26 seconds to go wrapped up the 75-68 win.
For the game, Lehigh shot 43.4 percent from the field (23-of-53), including 38.5 percent from three-point range (10-of-26). Lafayette shot 46.4 percent (26-of-56) and 45.8 percent from long distance (11-of-24). The Leopards held a 33-30 edge in rebounds.
Also on Saturday, Lehigh’s 2011-12 team which defeated Duke in the NCAA Tournament was on hand and was recognized at halftime in front of a season-high crowd in Stabler Arena.
“I love the environment tonight,” said Reed. “It was great to see the Lehigh Valley out watching basketball, and watching two teams that have traditionally had some great matchups. It was great to see some of our alumni back, guys who were part of a special season and really helped build what Lehigh basketball is now. For our crowd and our community to come out and support them, that’s fantastic.”
Lehigh will wrap up the first round of Patriot League play when it heads to Colgate on Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks return home on Monday, Jan. 30 to host Boston University at 7 p.m.
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