Lehigh University
Penn St
Penn State outlasts Lehigh
9/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
State College, PA – Lehigh’s early season struggles continued on Wednesday evening as the Mountain Hawks fell to Penn State 61-48 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Mountain Hawks trailed by just three at the half, 33-30, and by just four with just under 12 minutes to go in the game but a 17-4 run by Penn State that finished the game, gave Penn State the win. Both teams struggled to score from the field in the latter part of the half as Lehigh recorded just on field goal over the last 12 minutes and the Nittany Lions recorded just one field goal in the final eight minutes. "I am very proud of the way we battled tonight," said head coach Sal Mentesana. "Penn State is a Big Ten team that is a lot bigger stronger and faster than us. I thought we were able to match their intensity especially in the first half, but they just wore us out in the end." Matt Crawford scored 12 points and pulled in nine rebounds to lead Lehigh. Matt Logie, Scott Taylor, and Alan Goff each chipped in with seven points and Alex Jensen and Eric Heil each added six points to the effort. Sharif Chambliss led all scorers with 20 points for the Nittany Lions. Chambliss was 6-of-8 from the floor including 5-of-6 from behind the three-point arc. Tyler Smith chipped in with 13 points and seven rebounds while Jan Jagla rounded out the Lions in double figures with 11 points. Penn State shot 39.2% from the floor and outrebounded Lehigh 33-30 in the win. Lehigh returns to action on Saturday evening when it plays host to New Hampshire with tip-off scheduled for 7:30.
