LARAMIE, Wyo. – Lehigh concluded play in the 2005 BCA Invitational on Wednesday, dropping a tough 66-41 contest to the Butler Bulldogs inside of the Arena-Auditorium on the campus of the University of Wyoming.
The Mountain Hawks were led in scoring by junior
Kyle Neptune, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, and grabbed ten rebounds to give himself his first career double-double.
With the loss, Lehigh falls to 1-2 on the season, while the Bulldogs, who placed four players in double figures, led by A.J. Graves and Avery Sheets with 14 points apiece, improve to 2-1.
Head Coach Billy Taylor talked about the experience his Mountain Hawks had in Wyoming. “I can speak for the entire team when I say we really enjoyed our time here. Everything was done in a first-class manner. I just wish today’s result could have turned out a little better.” He continued, “I think we weren’t sharp in our execution today. We were a little sloppy, turning the ball over and not making crisp cuts. We can’t make excuses because this was Butler’s third game in three days, so we both had to deal with it.”
Lehigh shot just 40 percent from the field on the day and turned the ball over 19 times. The Mountain Hawks did out rebound their third straight opponent however, grabbing 32 caroms to the Bulldogs 25.
The Mountain Hawks suffered through a tough first half, scoring only 12 points, and went to the locker room trailing by 17. Lehigh connected on just 25 percent of its field goals in the opening 20 minutes, and was 0-7 from three-point range. Sophomore Bryan White led the Brown and White with six points on two-of-two shooting and also grabbed two rebounds. Neptune dished out two assists, while James Anderson added three boards and two points.
For Butler, A.J. Graves came out on fire, connecting on four of seven shots for nine points, while Avery Sheets sunk two three-pointers en route to six points. The Bulldogs shot 39 percent in the first half, including 46 percent from beyond the arc, and out rebounded Lehigh 17-16.
The second half saw Lehigh give extended minutes to its newcomers, and Philip Anderson responded with five points, while John Gourlay scored two.
Lehigh returns to action on Sunday, November 20, when the Mountain Hawks open up the home portion of their schedule welcoming Princeton to Stabler Arena. Lehigh is 32-8 all-time at home under Taylor, which is the best mark of any coach in school history. Service Electric 2 Sports will televise the game live, with Mike Zambelli, Rich Baska and Nathan Jameson calling all of the action. Fox College Sports Atlantic will then re-play the game on Tuesday evening beginning at 5:00. The game can also be heard live locally on WLVR-FM, as well as around the world on lehighsports.com with streaming provided by Yahoo! Sports. Veteran Matt Kerr and Greg Falkenbach ’72 will provide the commentary.
Tickets for the game and all Lehigh home games can be purchased at anytime on lehighsports.com, or by visiting the Lehigh Athletics Ticket Office, located in Grace Hall, during normal business hours, or by calling 610-7LU-GAME.
