BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh placed five players in double figures, including three with career highs, as the Mountain Hawks rolled to a 96-33 victory over Swarthmore on Wednesday evening and remained perfect at Stabler Arena this season. Senior Jose Olivero scored a game-high 17 points, while sophomores Greg Page (12) and Matt Szalachowski (11) and freshman Zahir Carrington (10) all established career highs as Lehigh improves to 3-6 on the season. With the loss, the visiting Garnet fall to 1-4.
Lehigh again shot the ball very well from the field on Wednesday, hitting on 57 percent of its attempts, including 61 percent in the second half. The Mountain Hawks owned the backboards, out rebounding their opponents 53-21, and forcing 19 Garnet turnovers. Senior Jason Mgebroff was the fifth Mountain Hawk to hit for double digits as the Washington native sank three of four shots from the field for ten points. Page pulled down a team-best ten boards as he recorded his first career double-double. Freshman Marquis Hall led the Brown and White in assists yet again, as he handed out five and junior Bryan White swatted a team-high two shots.
Swarthmore handed out eight assists on 12 field goals, but hit on just 12 of 55 from the field. Dillon McGrew scored a team-high eight points, while Sean Johnson and Steve Wolf both netted five tallies.
Head coach Billy Taylor expressed his thoughts afterwards. “It was good to be home tonight; we got our legs underneath us, and were able to play a lot of guys, which is always nice. Hopefully we can build on what we’ve started over these past few days and keep it going on Saturday against Central Connecticut.” He added, “We have a few days here where the guys can get some much needed rest and re-charge for what will be a very difficult game for us on Saturday.”
Swarthmore scored the game’s first points on a three by McGrew. From there however, it was all Lehigh as the Mountain Hawks scored the game’s next 35 points, including 12 from Olivero. The Garnet eventually scored their next basket at the 10:15 mark of the half on a jumper by Noam Fliegelman. The Mountain Hawks would lead by as many as 40 points, which came with 1:06 left in the half on a lay up by White.
In the second half, Lehigh continued to pour it on as Taylor got everyone into the game, including senior captain Adam Hyncik, who scored four points on two-of-three shooting and dished out two assists. Freshman Dave Buchberger also saw his first varsity action in a Lehigh uniform as the Cincinnati native netted two points, pulled down four caroms and recorded one steal.
Lehigh returns to action on Saturday evening when the Mountain Hawks welcome Central Connecticut State to Stabler Arena for a non-conference showdown. Tip-off is set for 7:05 and tickets can be purchased at the arena box office prior to tip-off, as well as by logging onto lehighsports.com.
On Thursday, November 30, fans are invited to meet Lehigh head coach Billy Taylor and select student-athletes at the first-ever Lehigh basketball luncheon. The event will take place at Starters Restaurant on Route 378 in Bethlehem and will begin at 12:00 p.m., running until 1:00. Coach Taylor and members of the team in attendance will field questions from fans and alumni. Cost of the all-you-can-eat buffet is $11. The event will also be streamed on Lehigh’s website at lehighsports.com later that afternoon, for those who cannot make it to Starters.
