Kempton and Ross earn major Patriot League postseason awards

Complete Patriot League Release

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh men's basketball sophomore Tim Kempton has been named Patriot League Player of the Year while freshman Kahron Ross has garnered Rookie of the Year honors, as announced by the league on Monday. Kempton wins his second major award in as many seasons while Ross becomes Lehigh's fifth Rookie of the Year in the last nine seasons.

Kempton was also one of just two unanimous first team All-Patriot League honorees (along with Lafayette's Dan Trist) while Ross earned third team All-League honors as the only freshman to be named All-League. He was also named to the All-Rookie Team. Bucknell's Dave Paulsen was named Patriot League Coach of the Year while Luke Roh of Colgate earned Defensive Player of the Year laurels.

Kempton has been a dominant force on the court this season as he currently leads the Mountain Hawks in both scoring (15.1 points per game) and rebounding (8.6 per game), which stands sixth and first in the league, respectively. He owns 13 double-doubles this season to reach 19 for his career. Kempton was named Patriot League Player of the Week earlier this season after 50 combined points against American and Holy Cross, which included a career-high 26 points against the Crusaders. The Scottsdale, Arizona native has reached double-figure points in 19 straight games and tallied double-doubles against each of Lehigh's three power conference opponents: Villanova, DePaul and Arizona State. Kempton becomes Lehigh's fourth-ever Patriot League Player of the Year and first since C.J. McCollum in 2012. McCollum also won the award in 2010 while Austen Rowland earned the honor in 2004. All three seasons ended in Patriot League Championships.

Ross has jumped right into the role as starting point guard and excelled from the beginning. He currently stands third on the Mountain Hawks in scoring (10.4 points per game) and leads the league in assists with a 5.8 average. His 167 assists stand third in single-season school history. Ross has reached double-figure assists on five occasions, including four double-doubles. His first-career double-double was in Lehigh's big triple overtime win at Arizona State of the Pac-12 as Ross tallied 15 points and a school-record 14 assists. He hit a big game-tying jumper in the final seconds of double overtime to force a third overtime where the Mountain Hawks earned the 84-81 victory and their second win over a power conference opponent in the span of a month. Ross also has double-doubles against Holy Cross, Boston University and Bucknell.

Kempton, Ross and the Mountain Hawks earned the #3 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh will host defending league champion and sixth-seeded American on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Stabler Arena. Tickets are just $14 for the general public and Lehigh faculty/staff , and just $7 for students. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance by clicking here and utilizing the convenient print-at-home option. Fans can also call the box office at 610-758-4263 during normal business hours.

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2014-15 Men's Basketball All-Patriot League Team and Major Awards
Player of the Year: Tim Kempton, Lehigh (So., F/C)
Defensive Player of the Year: Luke Roh, Colgate (Sr., G)
Rookie of the Year: Kahron Ross, Lehigh (Fr., G)
Coach of the Year: Dave Paulsen, Bucknell

First-Team All-Patriot League
Chris Hass, Bucknell (Jr., G)
Tim Kempton, Lehigh (So., F/C)*
Damon Sherman-Newsome, Colgate (Sr., G)
Worth Smith, Navy (Sr., F)
Dan Trist, Lafayette (Sr., F)*
*Unanimous first-team choice

Second-Team All-Patriot League
Pee Wee Gardner, American (Sr., G)
Cedric Hankerson, Boston University (So., G)
Ethan Jacobs, Colgate (Sr., C)
Malcolm Miller, Holy Cross (Sr., F)
Tanner Plomb, Army (Jr., F)

Third-Team All-Patriot League
Seth Hinrichs, Lafayette (Sr., F)
Nick Lindner, Lafayette (So., G)
Jesse Reed, American (Jr., G)
Kahron Ross, Lehigh (Fr., G)
Kyle Wilson, Army (Jr., G/F)

All-Rookie
Nana Foulland, Bucknell (Fr., C)
Cam Gregory, Loyola Maryland (Fr., F)
Cheddi Mosely, Boston University (Fr., G)
Kahron Ross, Lehigh (Fr., G)
Andre Walker, Loyola Maryland (Fr., G)

Lehigh University Athletics

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Loyola University Maryland on March 4, 2025 , Loss , 73, to, 77

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Army on March 1, 2025 , Win , 89, to, 67

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Boston University on February 26, 2025 , Loss , 68, to, 79

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Lafayette College on February 22, 2025 , Loss , 70, to, 78

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Bucknell University on February 17, 2025 , Loss , 50, to, 67

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Holy Cross on February 15, 2025 , Win , 72, to, 60

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Navy on February 12, 2025 , Loss , 60, to, 63

Kempton and Ross earn major Patriot League postseason awards

Players Mentioned

Tim Kempton

Kahron Ross

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