Basketball teams remain undefeated with wins over Navy
1/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Lehigh’s hoopsters remained perfect in Patriot League play on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks picked up wins over Navy. In the men’s game in In the men’s game during the afternoon, Lehigh placed three players in double figures and used some clutch free throw shooting and tight defense down the stretch to pull away for the road win in a game that saw 52 fouls called. With the win Lehigh improves to 9-7 on the season and stays perfect at 3-0 in league play, while the Midshipmen fall to 4-11, 0-3 in the Patriot League. Knight added nine rebounds, four assists and four steals on the afternoon, while Jason Mgebroff scored 12 points and added five assists. Jose Olivero battled an early eye poking to score 10 points, including seven in the final 2:25 to aid the Lehigh cause. Navy was led by Taj Matthews and his 16 points, while George O’Garro (14), David Hooper (12) and Greg Sprink (10) also all hit for double figures for the Midshipmen. The two teams battled feverishly for the first twenty minutes, with neither team able to open up a lead bigger than seven points. Knight scored 14 points in that half, and also added three steals, while Mgebroff hit for 11 tallies and established a career-high in assists with four, to propel Lehigh to a 38-33 lead heading into the locker room. Mgebroff and Knight pulled down a team high four boards in the half as well. The Mountain Hawks shot 47 percent from the field and connected on eight of nine free throws, while also out rebounding the Midshipmen 15-11. Navy was led by Matthews, who scored 13 points, including three shots from behind the arc, but the Midshipmen hit only 39 percent from the field and turned the ball over ten times in the first half. Lehigh came out strong in the second half, with a quick 6-0 run, but Navy answered with six unanswered points of its own. The Mountain Hawks then took control of the contest and opened up that 16-point lead with 9:55 remaining on a free throw by Kyle Neptune. But Navy slowly chipped away at the lead and eventually tied it at the 4:13 mark. Knight would then take the game over and did not allow Lehigh to lose, scoring, assisting and helping lead Lehigh to the victory. For the game, Lehigh shot 42 percent while Navy hit on 38 percent of its shots. Lehigh was out rebounded by the Mids 40-35, but had 15 assists to Navy’s 11. Head Coach Billy Taylor, coaching in his 75th career game, was pleased with the way his team came back, but would have liked to see his Mountain Hawks put the game away earlier. “Our guys battled Navy the entire game. We knew that they (Navy) would come after us in the second half and make a run and they did. Joe Knight stepped it up down the stretch, as did Jose with big shots and the rest of the guys rebounded well and played very good defense.” Later that night inside Stabler Arena, the women trailed at halftime but rallied for the 12-point win. The victory improves Lehigh’s record to 11-4 overall and 3-0 in the Patriot League, while the Midshipmen suffer their first league setback (6-9 overall and 2-1 against league opponents). Lehigh and Holy Cross are now tied atop the league standings with 3-0 records. Lehigh trailed at the half for only the fourth time all season as the Mountain Hawks headed to the locker room behind by three, 32-29. Lehigh shot 40 percent for the half and out-rebounded the Midshipmen 23-12, but still trailed on the scoreboard. Jessica DePalo scored eight points in the half, while Hynoski netted six and pulled down an incredible ten boards in the first twenty minutes of action. Sara Ellis and Chantal St. Laurent both dished out three assists, while Ellis also added three steals in the half. The Midshipmen had two players score nine points, Lauren Skrel and Ashley Pelzek, while Nikki Curtis added eight tallies. Curtis also grabbed five rebounds and Navy forced Lehigh into ten first half turnovers. As a team, Navy connected on 7-of-15 shots from long-range in the first half. “We gave them too many three-point looks in the first half, and we knew that was something we needed to correct in the second,” said Lehigh head coach Sue Troyan on the first half of play. The second half was a different story, as Lehigh shot a blistering 58% from the floor in out-scoring the Midshipmen by 15 points. For the game, Lehigh controlled an incredible 41-19 rebounding margin as the Mountain Hawks dominated the glass from the get-go. Lehigh shot 48% from the floor on the night, while assisting on 21-of-27 field goals on the night. Mary Hynoski continued her run as the league’s leading rebounder, as her 14 boards on Saturday give her a 13.3 rebound average in league games – by far tops in the conference. Jessica DePalo added 24 points – her fifth 20+ point contest of the season, while Jenny Callan added nine points and five rebounds. Guard Chantal St. Laurent added six assists with no turnovers in the win. “I told Mary that she has a chance to lead the league in rebounds if she keeps this up,” Troyan said. “She gave us another terrific effort on the glass tonight.” The double-double was Hynoski’s third of the season. The women are back in action on Tuesday, when they host Penn in a non-league affair at Stabler Arena at 7:00. League play resumes Friday, when the men visit Colgate, and the women host the Raiders. Both contests tip-off at 7:00.
