Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Trailing 14-6, the Lehigh men’s basketball team scored 34 of the next 41 points and wouldn’t look back, picking up a dominating 84-53 win over visiting Army West Point on Saturday evening in Stabler Arena. The 31-point win marked Lehigh’s largest margin of the season and largest-ever margin of victory vs. Army. The Mountain Hawks won their sixth straight game to move to 14-13 on the season, 9-7 in the Patriot League, good for sole possession of fourth place in the league standings.
“When we move the ball quickly, we have people in skill positions to be able to make a play,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “Statistically, to have four guys in double figures, to have 18 assists on our 27 field goals, there were a lot of times that that ball was moving. It was pretty basketball at times. We had our moments where maybe we got a little impatient, but for the most part, I was really pleased with the way in which we moved the basketball.
Sophomore Pat Andree led Lehigh with 23 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Classmate Jordan Cohen tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists while junior Lance Tejada scored 12 on 5-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three-point range. Freshman Marques Wilson added 10 points, seven boards, two assists and two steals. Nine of the ten Mountain Hawks who played got on the scoreboard.
“James Karnik was in foul trouble and it forced us to play a smaller lineup, but the one thing about that is when Pat plays the center position, we have so many skill players on the floor,” said Reed. “It stretches the floor in so many tremendous ways, which gives us a lot of advantages for drivers to drive and creators to create shots for other people.”
Army jumped out to an early 14-6 lead following a Tommy Funk three-pointer, but Lehigh answered with a 15-2 run, capped off by a Kyle Leufroy three-pointer and Cohen jumper, giving the Mountain Hawks a 21-16 lead midway through the first half.
Lehigh’s run eventually extended to 34-7 as a 13-0 straight rally ended with three-pointers from Wilson and Andree to give the Mountain Hawks a 40-21 advantage with 1:40 on the first-half clock. Army scored the final four points of the first half to pull within 40-25 after 20 minutes of play.
The Black Knights pulled within 14 less than a minute into the second, but the Mountain Hawks quickly scored seven straight points to take a 49-28 lead. Army couldn’t pull any closer than 15 the rest of the way as Lehigh continued to extend its lead, reaching 25 (74-49) following a Cohen layup with 4:14 remaining and eventually 31 after a three-pointer from freshman Shane Acoveno, which gave the Mountain Hawks an 84-53 lead, which proved to be the final.
For the game, Lehigh shot 47 percent from the field (27-of-57), including 45 percent from three-point range (13-of-29). Army finished at 29 percent (22-of-75) from the floor and 18 percent from long distance (6-of-34). The Mountain Hawks held a 52-41 edge in rebounds.
The 53 points allowed, along with Army’s final shooting percentages all marked season bests for the Lehigh defense.
“When you start looking at not only the blocks (4), but also the steals (8), that’s a lot of defensive influence in a game,” said Reed. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
Lehigh is now set to head to Loyola next Wednesday night (Feb. 21) for its final regular season home game. The Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season by hosting archrival Lafayette on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m.
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