Lehigh University
Bucknell
Hall's last second shot caps comeback win
1/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Junior Marquis Hall hit an off-balance jumper in the lane with 1.0 second remaining to lift Lehigh to a dramatic 61-59 come-from-behind win over Bucknell at Stabler Arena on Wednesday evening. The Mountain Hawks trailed by nine at halftime, but fueled by Hall’s 13 second half points, Lehigh was able to win its second straight game and improve to 13-7 overall and 3-3 in the Patriot League. Hall finished with a team-high 16 points, while classmate Zahir Carrington registered his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Bucknell falls to 5-15 overall with the loss and 2-4 in league action.
Hall spoke about his game-winning shot afterwards. “I knew where the basket was even though I was off-balance and I knew that I didn’t want to give them (Bucknell) another shot at the other end. So I was trying to be aggressive and get off a good shot.” He continued, “Coach Reed had some words with me in the second half about staying aggressive and that was what I tried to do in the final minutes.”
Reed offered his thoughts. “We did not come out tonight with the purpose, energy or passion that we needed. We were giving up easy baskets, not pressuring the ball and that allowed Bucknell to seize the early lead.” He continued, “Unfortunately I had to get into them at halftime and explain what we weren’t doing well. Give our guys credit though because in that second half they played with passion and purpose, we defended hard, we contested shots and we were able to come away with the win.”
Reed then commented on the play of Hall. “That was a huge shot from Marquis. He wasn’t being the aggressive, attacking type of player we need him to be early on, and I explained that to him. In order for us to be successful, we need him to remain aggressive and you saw that in the final eight minutes where he scored 13 points, including the last shot.”
The Mountain Hawks found themselves down ten with 19:18 remaining in the game, and again down by ten with 17:21 left. Two straight baskets and a free throw by Lehigh trimmed BU’s lead to five though with just over 13 minutes to play. Lehigh then got to within four on a three-pointer by Keefer with 12:14 on the clock, and a Phil Anderson jumper made the score 42-40 in favor of the visitors with 9:39 remaining. Two free throws by sophomore Michael Ojo tied the game at 49 at the 6:26 clip, marking the first time since 4:48 remained in the first half that the score was tied.
Bucknell took the lead back on a Behan jumper, but Hall got into the lane for a gorgeous lay up high off the glass on Lehigh’s next possession to tie things up at 51. Two free throws by Carrington with 2:13 on the clock gave Lehigh its first lead of the second half, but Castleberry came down the other end and hit a three to put the Bison up 56-55 at the 1:56 mark. Keefer was fouled on the next possession and calmly sank a pair at the line to put the home team back up one and following two more free throws, this pair by Hall, Lehigh was in front 59-56 with 27 seconds left. Bucknell never folded though and on its next time down court Cohen nailed a long three-pointer to tie the score at 59 with 20 seconds to go. Lehigh called a timeout and drew up a play in which the ball would be in Hall’s hands and the captain responded with the game-winner. Bucknell had time for one final shot but the in-bounds pass was tipped by Hall, and the clock expired.
Lehigh finished the game shooting 39-percent from the floor, including a 47-percent showing in the second half. The Mountain Hawks pulled down 34 rebounds, led by Carrington’s 11, while Hall dished out a team-high four assists. Lehigh committed only seven turnovers and sank 11-of-18 shots from the free throw line. With the win, the Mountain Hawks improve to 18-1 under Brett Reed when holding opponents under 60 points.
Bucknell hit on 47-percent of its field goals and placed three players in double figures including Justin Castleberry and Patrick Behan with 18 apiece, and Bryan Cohen with ten. The Bison totaled 33 caroms, led by Cohen, Castleberry and Enoch Andoh with six each, while as a team they turned the ball over 17 times.
Bucknell came out on fire hitting 57-percent of its shots in the first half en route to a 30-21 halftime lead. Behan led the way with nine points on four-of-five shooting, while Castleberry added seven on three-of-four shooting. Lehigh hit on only 31-percent from the field with Buchberger sinking three-of-four attempts for seven points. Anderson pulled down four rebounds and Hall and Keefer both handed out three assists.
The teams remained close during the early going as a Carrington lay up brought Lehigh to within two at 8-6 with 17:44 remaining before intermission. Behan hit a jumper on Bucknell’s next possession, but Keefer answered with a three to make the score 10-9 in favor of the Bison. Freshman John Adams sank a jumper at the 8:20 mark for Lehigh to knot the score at 16 but Bucknell scored the game’s next three points to go in front 19-16. Hall hit from downtown with 4:48 left in the half, which tied the game at 21, but from there the Bison scored nine unanswered points to take a 30-21 advantage into halftime.
Lehigh will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when the Mountain Hawks play host to the Holy Cross Crusaders at Stabler Arena. Tip-off is set for 1:05 and tickets can be purchased in one of three ways: by calling 610-7LU-GAME, by visiting the Lehigh Athletics Ticket Office, located in Grace Hall, or by logging onto Lehighsports.com.
Service Electric 2 Sports Post-Game Show
Video courtesy Service Electric 2 Sports
