Lehigh University
Bucknell
Lehigh falls to Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion
2/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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LEWISBURG, Pa. – Lehigh had one of those nights on Wednesday as the Mountain Hawks offense seemed to be stuck in neutral and they fell to the Bucknell Bison 72-51 at Sojka Pavilion. With the loss Lehigh falls to 15-12 overall and 5-8 in the Patriot League, while the Bison up their record to 7-21 overall and 4-9 in league action. Three Lehigh players hit for double figures led by Zahir Carrington with 15 points, while Marquis Hall added 11 and Rob Keefer scored 10. Patrick Behan netted a game-high 23 points for the Bison as he connected on 10-of-16 shots.
“Tonight was a game of spurts,” Lehigh head coach Brett Reed commented afterwards. “We certainly did not shoot the basketball with much consistency and part of that were the shots we took. Give Bucknell credit for the way they came out and attacked us from the start. They played a good game and forced us to try and increase the tempo in the second half. Unfortunately at times the frenetic pace did not work well for us.”
The Mountain Hawks shot 32-percent for the game, including 23-percent from the three-point line. Lehigh struggled from the foul line yet again as the Brown and White connected on only 10-of-17 from the charity stripe. Carrington pulled down 12 rebounds on the night while freshman John Adams ripped down five and recorded a pair of steals. Prentice Small, who received his first career start, handed out a team-high three assists and added six points.
Bucknell shot 47-percent for the game, including a 50-percent mark in the second half. Joining Behan in double figures were Bryan Cohen with 17 points, including a 4-of-5 showing from three-point range, and Justin Castelberry who hit for 13 tallies. The Bison totaled 40 team rebounds, led by Behan’s nine, while Darryl Shazier handed out a team-high four assists. Bucknell shot 10-for-11 at the free throw line and scored 41 points in the second half.
Lehigh scored a season low 15 points in the first half on 17-percent shooting. The Mountain Hawks took two more shots than the Bison in the opening 20 minutes, but made seven fewer field goals. Carrington and Keefer were the lone Lehigh players to score more than two points as they hit for four and three points, respectively. Carrington pulled down seven of the Mountain Hawks 19 rebounds, while Small and Keefer handed out one assist apiece.
Bucknell connected on 44-percent of its shots in the first half en route to a 31-15 halftime advantage. The Bison sank five-of-seven from three-point range and also hit both of their free throw attempts. Behan connected on six-of-nine attempts from the floor en route to 12 points, while Cohen sank a trio of three-pointers on his way to nine first half tallies. The Bison ripped down 20 boards, led by Behan’s five, while Cohen and Shazier handed out two assists each. Bucknell outscored Lehigh 12-6 in the paint and received eight points from its bench.
Lehigh got to within 13 early in the second half on buckets by Buchberger and Hall, but the Bison lead quickly went up to 18. A three-pointer by G.W Boon made the score 41-21 with 16:10 remaining, while a Behan lay up again pushed the home team’s advantage to 20 points. A Small lay up and three-pointer by senior Matt Szalachowski got the Brown and White to within 48-34 with 9:27 to go, but back-to-back Bison three-pointers made the score 54-34 with 8:26 to go and all but sealed the victory as the Mountain Hawks got no closer than 19 the rest of the way.
Lehigh returns to action on Saturday afternoon when the Mountain Hawks close out their regular season schedule with a trip to Worcester, Massachusetts to take on the Holy Cross Crusaders. Tip-off from the Hart Center is set for 3:30 and all of the action will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM as well as Lehighsports.com with Steve Lomangino calling the action.
