Lehigh University
Bucknell
Lehigh can't stop Bison
9/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Upper Marlboro, MD – Senior Matt Logie scored 20 points, but it was not enough as Lehigh’s season came to a close against Bucknell in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday at the Show Place Arena by a final score of 52-47. Lehigh finishes its season with a record of 16-12, while the Bison advance to the semifinals with a 14-14 mark. Lehigh trailed for a good portion of the first half, as neither team could get on track early. The Mountain Hawks tied the score at 10 on a jumper by Logie at the 12:32 mark and sophomore Dayne Mickelson gave the Mountain Hawks a 12-10 lead on their next possession. The two teams would trade leads for the next 2:51, until Ra Tiah found Matt Crawford on an inbounds play with only one second on the shot clock. Lehigh would lead for the rest of the half. The Bison had a chance to retake the lead with Lehigh up 18-17, but junior forward Earl Nurse blocked a pair of shots on the same Bucknell possession. Senior guard Matt Logie and Nurse followed that defensive stand with a pair of buckets to stretch the Mountain Hawk advantage to five. Lehigh would build the lead to eight, and enter the intermission with a 25-17 lead. Logie scored 13 of Lehigh’s 25 first half points and finished the half on 6-9 from the field and 1-3 from three point range. No other player on either team scored more than four points in the opening 20:00. Lehigh stepped up its defensive efforts, holding Bucknell to just 17 points and .304 shooting and forcing 10 turnovers. The second half saw Lehigh go cold as Bucknell battled back into the game. Logie kept it up in the second half, hitting another field goal, and then finding sophomore Nick Monserez, who made a bucket, was fouled and completed the three-point play at 17:01. Logie would then assist on senior Mike Cowgill’s first hoop of the game on the next possession, as the Mountain Hawks lead grew to ten at 36-26. Patriot League Rookie of the Year Kevin Bettencourt would hit a pair of threes to cut the Lehigh lead to just four with 13:49 to play. Senior Boakai Lolugba got inside for a dunk and Lehigh led by just a single point. Lolugba had a chance to dunk Lehigh’s lead at the 11:06 mark, but missed the slam. A Lolugba free throw knotted the score and a pair of Ben Slater free throws then gave the Bison a 40-38 lead with under six minutes to play. Bucknell extended its advantage to 45-38, when a pair of Tiah free throws ended a 9:35 scoreless stretch for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh was forced to foul down the stretch, but a pair of Bison turnovers enabled the Mountain Hawks to cut the lead to 48-44 with :13 to play. Logie drained a three after a pair of Dan Blankenship free throws and the score was 50-47 with just 4.8 seconds to play, but another pair of Blankenship free throws iced the game. "We knew it would be a low scoring battle," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We didn’t come with the same sense of urgency as Bucknell. It was a heck of a year, though, and we surprised a lot of people." Logie finished with a game high 20 and team best seven rebounds. Freshman guard Mitch Gilfillan was Lehigh’s second leading scorer with six points. In double figures for Bucknell were Bettencourt and Blankenship, who scored 16 and 13, respectively. Pulling down a game best 10 rebounds for Bucknell was Lolugba. The loss ends the Mountain Hawks season. Lehigh finished with a 16-12 overall record and 8-6 in Patriot League play. The 16 wins were the best for Lehigh since the 1990-91 season. Top Performers
Player/School | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
Matt Logie, Lehigh | 20 | 7 | 3 |
Kevin Bettencourt, Bucknell | 16 | 2 | 0 |
Dan Blankenship, Bucknell | 13 | 3 | 4 |
Boakai Lolugba, Bucknell | 8 | 10 | 0 |
Mitch Gilfillan, Lehigh | 6 | 2 | 1 |
Matt Quinn, Bucknell | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Scoring
Team | 1st | 2nd | Final | Team Record |
Bucknell | 17 | 35 | 52 | 14-14 |
Lehigh | 25 | 22 | 47 | 16-12 |
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