Lehigh returns home for Wednesday night showdown vs. American
1/10/2012 2:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team looks to bounce back from a tough league-opening loss at Holy Cross when it hosts rival American on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks fell behind early on Saturday, but put forth a valiant second-half comeback which fell just short. Wednesday features two of the three Patriot League squads who own double-digit victories on the season (12 for Lehigh and 10 for American).
Wednesday's game will be televised live on Service Electric TV 2 Sports in the Lehigh Valley. Six of Lehigh's seven remaining home games will be televised by Service Electric while the seventh (vs. Navy) will air live nation-wide on CBS Sports Network.
Junior C.J. McCollum led the way with 27 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Nineteen of those points came in the second half as Lehigh staged a comeback which fell short. McCollum's three-pointer with 1:29 remaining pulled the Mountain Hawks within five (78-73), but that's as close as they would get. McCollum is now up to 1,653 career points, good for 11th in Patriot League history; he needs only two points on Wednesday to enter the top 10 while three points would put him in sole possession of ninth.
Senior Justin Maneri and freshman Corey Schaefer also played especially strong games on Saturday; Maneri finished with six points and five rebounds in 13 minutes while Schaefer posted seven points and an assist. He also didn't turn the ball over, his fourth straight game without a turnover. Schaefer only has eight turnovers all season (in 279 minutes of action), which includes only one turnover in his last nine games (113 minutes). In addition, junior Holden Greiner scored 14 points to eclipse 500 for his career (currently 504). Sophomore Mackey McKnight dished out five assists, his third straight game with 5+ helpers; he has 28 assists over his last six games overall.
After playing much of the season on the road, the Mountain Hawks return home for five of their next seven, with one of their road contests being a short ride to Lafayette. Lehigh is looking to improve to 5-0 at home and win its sixth straight home game dating back to last season. Should they win, the Mountain Hawks would improve to 1-1 after two league games for the third straight season.
Lehigh is 14-7 in its first Patriot League home games all-time, which includes two straight victories and wins in eight of the last 10. The only two losses in the last 10 home league openers have been to American in 2008 and Navy in '09. In Patriot League home openers all-time, Lehigh owns the following record against each of the squads: Army (4-0), American (3-1), Navy (3-1), Fordham (2-1), Lafayette (1-1), Colgate (1-1), Bucknell (0-1) and Holy Cross (0-1).
American has enjoyed an up-and-down season, coming in with the league's third best overall record at 10-6, with quality wins including Quinnipiac, Cornell and Saint Joseph's while dropping games against UMES, Saint Francis (Pa.) and Mount St. Mary's. Charles Hinkle has emerged, averaging a Patriot League leading 20.6 points per game while averaging 5.1 rebounds as well. Hinkle is a Vanderbilt transfer while Troy Brewer, the team's second leading scorer, also transferred from the SEC (Georgia). Blake Jolivette is next up with 8.4 points per game while Daniel Munoz averages 6.8. Center Tony Wroblicky leads the way in rebounding (5.6) while Munoz owns a team-leading 66 assists.
American holds a 21-14 edge in the all-time series, including a 6-4 advantage over the past 10 matchups. Lehigh beat the Eagles three times during its 2009-10 Patriot League Championship season, but American responded to sweep two games a year ago. The sides first met in 1960-61, a 71-61 American victory before Lehigh got into the win column with a 63-47 victory in 1964-65.
Lehigh hits the road Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip at Colgate. The Mountain Hawks will return to Stabler Arena next Wednesday (Jan. 18) to host Bucknell at 7 p.m. in a matchup of preseason number one against two. Tickets for all home games are now on sale and may be purchased on Lehighsports.com or by calling the ticket office at (610) 7LU-GAME.
Follow Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LehighMensBasketball
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Date:
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January 11, 2012
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Opponent:
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American Eagles
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Tip-off:
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7:00 PM
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Arena/Capacity:
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Stabler Arena/5,600
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Location:
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Bethlehem, Pa.
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Lehigh's Record:
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12-5 overall, 0-1 Patriot League
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American's Record:
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10-6 overall, 1-0 Patriot League
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Series:
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American leads, 21-14
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Radio:
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Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM with Matt Kerr and Greg Falkenbach '72. Pregame coverage gets underway at 6:30 PM.
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Television:
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Service Electric TV 2 Sports
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Internet Video:
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Lehighsports.com
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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