Lehigh University
Bucknell
Knight shines as Lehigh tops Bucknell at Stabler
2/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Mountain Hawks started the first half slowly as the Bison were able to build a 20-7 lead eight minutes into the contest. Lehigh would battle back, despite shooting just 29 percent from the field. The Brown and White did their damage from the free throw line, shooting 13 or 16 from the stripe in the opening half. In the final seconds of the half Knight converted a steal and a lay-up to give Lehigh a 30-29 lead at the half. Knight led all scorers with 13 points while Jose Olivero chipped in nine.
Bucknell would re-take the lead after the break and but never built its lead bigger than four points. James Anderson hit a pair of free throws with 6:30 remaining to vault Lehigh into the lead. The Mountain Hawks would build their lead to five before the Bison mounted a late run. A pair of Darren Mastropaolo free throws tied the game at 54 with just seven seconds remaining. From there Knight took the inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and buried a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to propel the Mountain Hawks to victory.
“Joe had something to prove this weekend,” said coach Billy Taylor after the game. “He wanted to go out there and prove he was an elite player.”
Knight finished with 24, shooting just 6 of 15 from the field, but connecting on a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe. In the second half he became the 25th Lehigh player to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Knight also added five rebounds and four assists. The Mountain Hawks got nine points apiece from senior Nick Monserez and sophomore Jose Olivero as well as a solid six point six rebound effort from junior James Anderson.
“We got a tremendous team effort and had contributions from a lot of different players and you have to give Joe credit for stepping up and making a play at the end,”
Abe Badmus led Bucknell with 15 points. Kevin Bettencourt added 12 points and Charles Lee 10 points and eight boards for the Bison.
The Mountain Hawks finish their four game home stand with a 3-1 record. They will return to the court on Friday night against Army. Tip off set for 7:00 from Christl Arena in
