Friday, November 15
Bronx, N.Y.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
1-2
72
at
80
Fordham
2-1
1
2
F
Lehigh
44
28
72
Fordham
41
39
80
Mountain Hawks drop hard-fought 80-72 battle at Fordham
11/15/2013 10:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BRONX, N.Y. - Despite career-high scoring efforts from senior Mackey McKnight (31 points) and junior Corey Schaefer (13), the Lehigh men's basketball team struggled in the second half, falling at Fordham on Friday evening, 80-72. McKnight scored 22 of his points in the first half, including one outburst of 12 straight Lehigh points. The Mountain Hawks return to action in less than 48 hours when they travel to Houston to face the Cougars.
"It would have been very nice for us to walk away with a win here at Fordham," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "This (Fordham) was a team that played with a great deal of pride. They have athleticism and strength. Unfortunately, although it was a close game, we weren't able to pull it out on the road."
Â
Despite foul trouble, freshmen Tim Kempton and Austin Price added 11 and seven points, respectively. Sophomore Jesse Chuku pulled down12 rebounds, reaching double figures for the second time in the first three games.
Â
McKnight finished 11-of-18 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He added five assists to eclipse 400 for his career. Schaefer scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half.
Â
"In order to keep perspective, it's important to remember that a lot of our players never played much college basketball," said Reed. "To go on the road against a team like Fordham is a significant challenge. It's a learning experience. Statistically, not a lot of teams win on the road in college basketball. Tonight was one of those cases when we gave ourselves a chance, but didn't quite do everything that we needed. Hopefully we can take the lessons learned and apply them moving forward so we'll be successful."
Â
Branden Frazier led the Rams with 24 points while two others reached double figures.
Â
Fordham got out to a quick 10-0 lead, using the transition game in the early going as a pair of three-point plays helped spark the run.
Â
Two McKnight free throws gave Lehigh its first points and was a sign of things to come. A nifty hook shot from Kempton made it 10-4 with 16:30 remaining.
Â
A dunk from sophomore Justin Goldsborough off a feed from McKnight made it 12-6 with 14:28 on the clock.
Â
A Jon Severe layup gave Fordham a 16-7 lead, but the Mountain Hawks scored six of the next eight points behind a Kempton layup, two Schaefer free throws and a Schaefer jumper to make it 18-13 with 11:26 remaining. McKnight assisted on that basket to give him his 400th career assist.
Â
The run continued as a Kempton hoop followed by Schaefer fastbreak layup extended the run to 10-2 run, pulling the Mountain Hawks within 18-17. That forced Fordham to call timeout with 9:41 on the first-half clock.
Â
McKnight caught fire at the end of the first half, scoring 12 straight Lehigh points and 15-of-17, beginning with two free throws with 8:24 remaining. Following three straight layups, he knocked down a pair of free throws with 5:28 on the clock to even the score at 30. He followed that with a jumper and layup to round out the impressive run.
Â
After a Schaefer jumper, McKnight added a three-point play to make it 39-36 Mountain Hawks with 2:18 to go. The New Orleans native wrapped up the first half with a driving layup as time expired to make it 44-41 after 20 minutes of play.
Â
McKnight had 22 first-half points to lead the way while Schaefer added 10. It marked the fourth straight half that Lehigh eclipsed 40 points.
Â
Like they had in the first, the Rams began the second with a bang, scoring the first eight points to retake a 49-44 lead.
Â
Lehigh immediately responded with four straight from Price, his first points of the game. A Goldsborough layup helped Lehigh regain a 50-49 lead with 16:55 remaining.
Â
The Mountain Hawks extended that lead to 53-49 after a coast-to-coast layup which ended in a three-point play from McKnight with 13:59 on the clock. Fordham broke a 5:38 scoreless drought with four straight points, but Kempton drained a jumper then a free throw to give Lehigh a 56-53 lead with 11:25 on the clock.
Â
Mandell Thomas answered less than a minute later with a three to tie the score at 56, then Fordham extended its run to 9-0 as a Frazier jumper made it 63-56 with 9:35 left in the second half.
Â
A three by Schaefer helped a struggling offense, pulling Lehigh within 65-61 with 8:21 still on the clock. Lehigh hung around four over the next four minutes until a Frazier jumper gave the Rams a 73-65 lead with 2:21 remaining.
Â
The Mountain Hawks wouldn't go away quietly however, as a Kempton layup and Price three pulled Lehigh to within 73-70 with 1:19 to go.
Â
However, Lehigh couldn't get that big stop and never had the ball again with a chance to tie. McKnight capped off a stellar game with an offensive rebound and putback to make it 75-72 with 20 seconds to go, but Fordham scored the last eight points behind free throws and a dunk as time expired for the 80-72 final.
Â
Lehigh shot 41 percent from the field (26-of-63) and 14 percent from three-point range (3-of-22) while Fordham came in at 39 percent (29-of-74) and 17 percent (3-of-18) from long distance. Fordham used a big second-half rebounding advantage to win the battle of the boards, 52-35.
Â
The Mountain Hawks return to action on Sunday when they head to Houston to face the Cougars. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. locally) on ESPN3.
Â
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
FOR
FG%
.413
.392
3FG%
.136
.167
FT%
.850
.731
RB
35
52
TO
12
12
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
31
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Season Preview: Men's Basketball
Thursday, October 31
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, October 30
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, February 07
Men's Basketball vs SUNY Oneonta
Thursday, November 16
