Lehigh University
Army
Poor shooting haunts Lehigh
9/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
West Point, NY – Turnovers and poor three-point shooting haunted Lehigh on Wednesday evening as the Mountain Hawks dropped their Patriot League opener 69-62 to Army (7-7, 1-0) at Christl Arena. Lehigh (3-11, 0-1) shot just 8.3% from behind the arc and committed 20 turnovers in the loss. Lehigh hung around all game but in the end could not find a way to come away with a win. The Mountain Hawks trailed 35-30 at the half and stayed within six for most of the second half, cutting the lead to three with 1:59 remaining, but could not get any closer. "I thought our guards did a great job guarding on the perimeter, but offensively it was a struggle all night," said head coach Sal Mentesana. "To win on the road you can’t commit 20 turnovers because it forces you to make too many plays. We have to put this behind us and get ready for Colgate." Senior Scott Taylor led the Mountain Hawks with 16 points and three rebounds before fouling out with 12.5 seconds left in the game. Junior Matt Logie chipped in with 16 points before fouling out with 44 seconds to go. Junior Matt Crawford added 14 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks. Lehigh played without starting center Eric Heil who injured his eye in practice on Tuesday afternoon. Heil will miss 7-14 days due to stitches on the inside of his eyelid. Excellent defense by sophomore Ra Tiah held the league’s leading scorer, Chris Spatola (18.0 ppg.) to just nine points but strong play from Charles Woodruff and Dax Pearson were too much for the Mountain Hawks to contain. Woodruff finished with 18 points and three rebounds while Pearson scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Lehigh returns to action on Saturday evening when it plays host to Colgate at Stabler Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30. Tickets are available by calling (610) 7LU-GAME.
