Lehigh University
Navy
Mountain Hawks upended by Navy 85-78
2/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Navy’s Chris Harris exploded for 40 points and the Midshipmen snapped Lehigh’s seven-game win streak at Stabler Arena with an 85-78 victory over the Mountain Hawks on Wednesday evening. Freshman C.J. McCollum notched his second straight double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Zahir Carrington also recorded a double-double with 15 points and ten boards but it was not enough as the Brown and White falls into a first place tie in the Patriot League with Navy with a 6-3 league mark. The Midshipmen up their league record to 6-3 and move to .500 overall at 12-12.
Lehigh head coach Brett Reed commented on Harris’ offensive performance following the game. “Some of his shots were terrific,” Reed explained. “We needed to get some more stops and not allow him to get as many looks as he did. They (Navy) made 14 three-pointers and we only made four so that proved to be a big difference.”
Reed continued, “We’ve had trouble with Navy of late. We haven’t been able to get the stops we need or get the baskets we’ve needed on the other end. If we see them again in the postseason hopefully we can reverse that trend.”
Lehigh connected on 43% of its shots from the floor, but only 28% from three-point range. The Mountain Hawks struggled from the foul line, hitting only 18-of-29 free throws, but they did out rebound their opponent 48-34. Senior Marquis Hall led the way with eight assists while freshman Gabe Knutson was the third Lehigh player in double digits with 11 points. Lehigh outscored Navy 30-22 in the paint and forced the Midshipmen into 13 turnovers.
Harris sank 10-of-21 shots on the night, including eight three-pointers. The senior guard also made 12-of-13 free throws, grabbed two rebounds and handed out a pair of assists. The Midshipmen shot 41% as a team from the floor and 45% from three-point range. Romeo Garcia led the visitors with seven rebounds, while O.J. Avworo handed out a game-high 11 assists. The Midshipmen forced 15 Mountain Hawk turnovers and scored 18 points off of those TOs.
The two teams came out cold in the beginning with the first points not scored until nearly two minutes gone when Knutson got inside for a lay-up. A three-pointer from Hall gave Lehigh a 7-4 lead at the 15:44 mark, while a McCollum jumper a minute later made the lead six at 10-4. McCollum got free for a trifecta of his own with 13:29 on the clock to make the score 13-7 but Navy scored the next four as the Midshipmen got within two points on Avworo’s lay-up at the 12:41 mark.
Harris began heating up when he drilled a three with 10:59 left before halftime to tie the game at 17, while another Harris three, this one coming at the 8:33 mark, gave Navy its first lead of the evening at 20-19. Ten more points from the Midshipmen, capped by a Greg Brown three, gave the visitors a 29-19 lead with 6:44 to go in the half but a McCollum free throw and Holden Greiner jumper made the score 31-24 at the 5:22 mark. Two Harris free throws gave the Midshipmen a 12-point bulge with 2:42 to go but Lehigh closed the half on a 10-2 run to send the game into halftime with the Mountain Hawks trailing 43-36.
McCollum scored ten first half points to lead the Brown and White, while Greiner came off the bench to hit for eight. The Mountain Hawks shot 37% from the field and 33% from three-point range but grabbed 24 rebounds as a team led by Knutson’s six. Senior Dave Buchberger led the Brown and White with three helpers and the Lehigh bench scored 13 points to Navy’s ten.
Harris scored 21 points in the opening 20 minutes on five-of-11 shots, with all five of his field goals coming from beyond the arc. Avworo scored five points in the half and also dished out five helpers, while Garcia and T.J. Topercer led the charge on the glass with four rebounds each.
Lehigh came out of the gate on fire in the second half scoring the first nine points to surge in front 45-43 on a Carrington bucket at the 17:57 mark. Harris came down and answered with a three however and the Midshipmen were back on top 46-45. The score was tied twice in next few minutes before Jordan Sugars got inside for a lay-up to put the visitors ahead 55-53 at the 12:45 mark. A Mark Veazey basket with 11:22 to go gave Navy a four point bulge, while Greg Brown’s three-pointer at the 10:29 mark put the visitors in front 60-55.
With Navy ahead by three McCollum shook free a sank a jumper to pull Lehigh within one, while a Michael Ojo basket with 6:28 on the clock again made it a one-point affair. Harris’ three at the 4:31 mark put Navy in front 71-66 and two more baskets by the Midshipmen put Lehigh in a ten-point hole with 3:05 to play. The Mountain Hawks scored eight of the next ten points however, to get within four at 78-74 and following a pair of Harris free throws McCollum slashed his way to the hoop for another score to make it an 80-76 game. Lehigh then forced a Navy turnover, but Carrington was whistled for an offensive foul on the ensuing possession and the Midshipmen sank five-of-six free throws in the final 30 seconds to come away with the road victory.
Lehigh returns to the court on Saturday evening when the Mountain Hawks play host to the Army Black Knights at Stabler Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:05 and tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME, by logging onto Lehighsports.com or at the arena box office prior to tip-off.
Lehigh Basketball - Navy Post-Game Extra
