Sunday, February 20
Stabler Arena
2:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
67
vs
66
Lafayette
Knutson putback gives Lehigh last-second 67-66 win over Lafayette
2/20/2011 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sophomore Gabe Knutson's offensive rebound and putback with five seconds remaining gave the Lehigh men's basketball team a thrilling 67-66 win over archrival Lafayette in front of 2,323 faithful on Sunday at Stabler Arena. The basket capped off a final 6:08 which saw the Mountain Hawks (15-12, 6-6 Patriot League) outscore the Leopards (10-17, 5-7), 15-7. The win propels Lehigh into sole possession of third place in the league standings heading into the final week of the regular season.
Fans can relive the instant classic with CBS College Sports encore presentations of the game (all times Eastern): Monday (2 a.m., 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.) and Tuesday (4 a.m.).
Fans can relive the instant classic with CBS College Sports encore presentations of the game (all times Eastern): Monday (2 a.m., 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.) and Tuesday (4 a.m.).
Down by one with 15 seconds remaining, the Mountain Hawks forced Lafayette's Jim Mower to throw the inbounds away, giving them one final chance to net the game-winner. Following a Lehigh timeout, sophomore C.J. McCollum made a move into the lane, but his bank shot was off the mark. Fellow sophomore Holden Greiner kept the ball alive, allowing Knutson to come down with the board. He finished the short floater with five seconds on the clock, putting the Stabler Arena crowd into a frenzy.
"We tried to make a play at the end for the seniors," said Knutson. "It's good to get the win, especially against our rivals."
Sunday also marked Senior Day as Rob Keefer, Michael Ojo, David Safstrom and Prentice Small were all honored prior to their final regular season game at Stabler Arena.
"This game will definitely be a great memory for me," said Keefer, who finished with 10 points on the afternoon. "Hopefully, we can finish the season strong and [ultimately] get another Patriot League Championship."
Lafayette did have one final opportunity following Knutson's putback, but Tony Johnson's three-pointer was off the mark as time expired.
"This was a character win," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "It would have been easy when we weren't doing well offensively to become individualistic, but we continued to share the basketball [and it paid off at the end].
"Today was important because it was a wonderful opportunity to honor a tremendous senior class," Reed continued. "It's a group of individuals who represent character and class."
Greiner was stellar all game, finishing with his second-career double-double via 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Knutson posted 12 points and seven rebound - six coming after halftime - while McCollum (16) and Keefer (10) also finished in double figures.
Jared Mintz led Lafayette with 18 points and eight rebounds while Mower added 12 points.
The Leopards held a 59-52 lead with 6:08 remaining, but the Mountain Hawks stormed back with a 7-0 run, which included layups from Greiner and freshman Kevin McCarthy. Small later found junior Jordan Hamilton for a key three-pointer to even the score at 59 with 4:04 to go.
Lafayette went on to reopen a three-point, 66-63, lead with only 1:38 on the clock, but the Mountain Hawks continued to claw back. Two McCollum free throws pulled Lehigh within 66-65. The Lehigh defense then forced a missed jumper from Rob Delaney. McCollum had a shot with 17 seconds remaining, which was off the mark, but that led into the inbounds opportunity which Lehigh defended well, giving the Mountain Hawks their last-second chance.
An up-and-down first half saw Lehigh jump out to a 11-6 lead just over five minutes into the game. The Mountain Hawks fed off the energy of its seniors as the combination of Small, Safstrom and Keefer accounted for the team's first nine points. After a two-minute scoreless drought, McCollum finished an emphatic dunk to the delight of the Lehigh faithful.
A Knutson jumper gave Lehigh a 13-8 lead with 13:20 on the clock, but that's when Lafayette responded with a 13-4 run over the next 5:05 to take a 21-17 advantage with 8:25 to go in the first half.
The run grew to 18-6 as a Levi Geise jumper put Lafayette up, 26-19, with 5:52 remaining. With the Leopards' lead up to 31-21, the Mountain Hawks responded with 12 of the final 17 points of the half to pull within 36-33 after 20 minutes. The run was capped off by an alley-oop from freshman Mackey McKnight to Knutson off the inbounds as time expired.
Lafayette upped its lead to as much as 50-41 early in the second, but the Mountain Hawks used a 6-0 run, capped off by a Keefer layup, to pull within 50-47 with 11:54 on the clock. The Leopards pushed it back to seven (54-47), but a 5-0 run pulled Lehigh within 54-52 with 7:03 remaining.
The Leopards once again extended their lead back to 59-52 with 6:08 to go, but that's when the Mountain Hawks began a comeback that they won't soon forget.
Lehigh won the battle of the boards, 41-37, and have now held the rebounding edge in four straight games and seven of its last eight. The Mountain Hawks finished shooting 39 percent (24-of-61) and 25 percent (4-of-16) from three-point range. Lafayette finished at 46 percent (26-of-57) and 35 percent (6-of-17) from long range.
The Mountain Hawks hit the road for a pair - at Bucknell on Wednesday and Holy Cross on Saturday - to wrap up the regular season. The game at Holy Cross will be nationally televised on CBS College Sports, as announced on Thursday. Tickets are on sale and may be purchased on Lehighsports.com or by calling the ticket office at (610) 7LU-GAME.
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