Lehigh University
No. 3 UConn
Lehigh battles but falls short at No. 3 UConn
12/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Hartford, CT – Freshman Jose Olivero scored a career-high 17 points, and Lehigh hung around all night with No. 3 Connecticut, but in the end, the Huskies proved to have too much firepower, as they defeated the Mountain Hawks 75-55 in front of 16,103 at the Hartford Civic Center. With the loss, Lehigh falls to 1-3 on the season, while the Huskies improve to 5-1.
Lehigh looked outmatched in the beginning as the Mountain Hawks missed their first six shots and trailed 9-2 in the early going. But, the team stuck with head coach Billy Taylor’s game plan and were able to tie the score at 24 on a jumper by junior Dayne Mickelson at the 2:43 mark of the first half, to leave the near capacity crowd stunned. Senior Ra Tiah led Lehigh with eight points in the first half, including two three pointers, one of which was from five feet beyond the arc. Fellow senior Austen Rowland netted seven points in the first half, and dished out a team high three assists, as Lehigh trailed going into the locker room 37-26 after a late 11-2 run by the Huskies to end the stanza.
The Huskies came out in the second half and appeared to be ready to blow away the Mountain Hawks, but Lehigh kept the game close by slowing the tempo down. Olivero hit for 11 of his points in the second half, as he hit all five of his free throws and pulled down two rebounds. Mickelson ended the night with eight points on four of five shooting, while freshman Jason Mgebroff pulled down a team high seven rebounds. Tiah scored 11 points and ripped off two steals. Junior Ben Gordon scored a game high 19 points, and recorded five steals on the night.
Lehigh will return to action on Wednesday when the Mountain Hawks play host to Swarthmore from Stabler Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:00.
Photo (c) 2003, Associated Press
