Lehigh University
Army
Black Knights ecape with win over Lehigh
9/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bethlehem, PA — Lehigh's struggles continued as it lost a heartbreaker 77-72 to Army Saturday night at Stabler Arena. The loss is Lehigh’s sixth straight, and drops the Mountain Hawks to 1-7 in the league and 4-17 overall, while the Black Knights improve to 10-11 overall and 4-4 in the league.
The brother tandem of J.P. and Chris Spatola proved to be too much as Chris finished with 28 points and J.P. chipped in 16 points and 5 assists. Both hit crucial free throws down the stretch for the Black Knights. Junior Matt Logie led a balanced Mountain Hawk attack with 19 points.
Army came out firing in the first half shooting 54% from the field and a blistering 67% from three-point land. Brothers J.P. and Chris Spatola combined to go 6-8 from behind the arc to pace the Black Knights. Chris finished the first half with 14 points while J.P. chipped in 5 assists. Lehigh had an answer in junior Matt Crawford and sophomore Alex Jensen. Crawford played solid contributing six tough points, while Jensen caught fire at the end of the half nailing 3 three-pointers. The Mountain Hawks went into the locker room down only 37-32 despite shooting just 36% from the field.
Matt Logie opened the second half with eight early points including two threes, and Jensen continued his hot shooting nailing a three to give Lehigh a 47-43 lead with 16:00 minutes remaining in the half. Army battled back to pull within one at 52-51 behind a three-pointer by J.P. Spatola and the solid free throw shooting of Chris Spatola. Lehigh countered when junior Zlatko Savovic hit a fall away jumper and Logie drove strong to the hole to give Lehigh a 56-51 advantage. Army regained the lead on a three by Josh Wilson and two free throws by Chris Spatola, but Scott Taylor went strong to the hole off a nice feed from Logie to tie the game at 68-68 with four minutes remaining. J.P. Spatola hit a high runner off the glass with 2:40 left to give Army a 71-70 lead. The Black Knight hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.
Senior Scott Taylor continued his consistent play notching 13 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double, and Jensen finished with 12 points, all coming off three-pointers. Charles Woodruff also played well for Army contributing 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Lehigh returns to action Wednesday when the Mountain Hawks travel to Colgate. Game time is scheduled for 7:45.
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