Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team led for the majority of the game and held off several Bucknell comeback attempts, beating the first-place Bison 79-71 on Wednesday evening in Stabler Arena. Seniors Austin Price (25 points) and Tim Kempton (24) combined for 49 points as Lehigh (14-10, 8-5 Patriot League) earned the regular season sweep of Bucknell (19-7, 11-2) and handed the Bison their first loss since the Mountain Hawks won at Bucknell last month.
Between Lehigh’s wins over Bucknell (Jan. 11 and Feb. 8), the Bison had won seven straight games, all by double figures.
“It was a great battle between two very good teams, two teams that were going at it pretty hard,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “Bucknell doesn’t beat themselves. They’re a team that distributes the ball. Their main four find ways to score. Our guys just continued to battle and fight. When we work together, it’s amazing how good we can be.”
Kempton posted his second straight double-double and 14th of the season, finishing with 24 points and 11 rebounds. He also eclipsed 1,000 career rebounds in the win, becoming just the second player in school history and third in Patriot League history to reach that plateau. Price scored 18 of his season-high 25 points in the second half, finishing the evening 5-of-9 from three-point range, including a big trey with 41 seconds remaining to give Lehigh a 72-67 advantage.
Sophomore Kyle Leufroy added 14 points, all in the first half, finishing the evening 5-of-7 from the field. Junior Brandon Alston scored seven points while freshman Jordan Cohen had two points and a game-high five assists.
“I thought Jordan came in and not only gave us a defensive spark, but also offensively, really moved the ball well and created a lot of open opportunities for other guys,” said Reed.
Lehigh jumped out to early leads of 2-0 and 4-3 before Bucknell used a mini 5-0 run to open an 8-4 advantage before the game was three minutes old.
The Mountain Hawks eventually tied the score at 12 following a Price three-point play with 15:50 on the clock. The teams went back and forth over the ensuing minutes with neither team leading by more than three until Kempton capped off a 5-0 Lehigh surge with a layup, giving the Mountain Hawks a 23-19 advantage with 11:54 remaining in the first half.
A few minutes later, Lehigh used a 7-0 run capped off by a Leufroy three-pointer and Kahron Ross layup, giving the Mountain Hawks a 37-29 advantage and forcing a Bucknell timeout with 5:18 on the clock.
The Bison used a 4-0 surge to pull within 43-40 following 20 minutes of play.
“I thought our defensive intensity and energy in the first half was really critical,” said Reed. “Nana Foulland is a big weapon, but there were times when our defensive energy and pressure was so high that it took him off some of his normal looks and made some of the post entry passes a little bit more difficult, which gave us a terrific defensive game plan and made Bucknell go to something else.”
The second half was highlighted by runs as Lehigh began the second on a 5-0 run to take a 48-40 lead following an Alston layup. Bucknell immediately responded with a 9-0 run of its own as a Foulland jumper gave the Bison a 49-48 advantage with 15:05 remaining.
Lehigh came back with a vengeance, staging a 13-0 run to take its first double-digit advantage of the evening. The run began with three straight three-pointers, two by Price and one by freshman Pat Andree, and ended with four consecutive free throws, giving Lehigh a 61-49 lead with 12:07 left in the second half.
Bucknell responded by scoring 14 of the next 18 points as a Zach Thomas layup pulled the Bison within 65-63 with 5:56 on the clock. A Kempton post move ended a 5:07 Lehigh scoring drought and gave the Mountain Hawks a four-point advantage. Bucknell pulled within two on multiple occasions down the stretch, but Price hit a big three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining to give Lehigh a five-point advantage. From there, Lehigh hit 7-of-8 free throws to close out the 79-71 victory, the Mountain Hawks’ eighth win in their last 12 games vs. the Bison.
For the game, Lehigh shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59), including 47.4 percent from three-point range (9-of-19). Bucknell shot 38.8 percent (26-of-67) and 30.4 percent from long distance (7-of-23). The Mountain Hawks controlled the boards, 42-33. Lehigh also shot 90 percent from the free throw line (18-of-20). Bucknell shot 92.3 percent (12-of-13).
The Mountain Hawks will now hit the road this weekend when they play at Holy Cross this Sunday at 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
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