Saturday, January 18
Worcester, Mass.
4:00 PM
Lehigh University
8-11, 1-5
42
at
61
Holy Cross
9-9, 3-3
1
2
F
Lehigh
18
24
42
Holy Cross
27
34
61
Offense struggles in 61-42 loss at Holy Cross
1/18/2014 6:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WORCESTER, Mass. - After taking a 14-8 lead, Holy Cross ended the first half on a 19-4 run to take a nine-point halftime lead as the Crusaders continued the momentum in the second, downing the Lehigh men's basketball team 61-42 on Saturday. Freshman Austin Price led the way with 13 points, 11 coming in the first half. The loss marks Lehigh's fifth in a row as the Mountain Hawks will look to bounce back at Navy on Wednesday evening.
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"Ultimately, I thought we showed some energy at the beginning of the game," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Give a lot of credit to Jesse Chuku, who really attacked the glass and provided a spark for us. We ended up having our hands on a lot of those loose basketballs. Unfortunately, we hit a lull and we weren't executing or converting on offense. We scored 36 points in the final 36 minutes in the game; that puts a lot of pressure on us across the board. It's really hard to beat anybody when you score 42 points."
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Freshman Shane Whitfield played a spirited second half, scoring nine points while adding four rebounds as Lehigh pulled within 13. However, the Crusaders quickly erased any momentum the Mountain Hawks had created to win by 19.
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Junior Corey Schaefer scored six points (all in the second half) while sophomore Justin Goldsborough had four in Lehigh's lowest point total of the season.
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Four Crusaders finished with double-figure points, led by 14 points and seven rebounds from Malcolm Miller.
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Sophomore Jesse Chuku set the tone early with a defensive rebound on the game's opening possession followed by an offensive rebound that led to the game's first points. A fastbreak three from Price gave the Mountain Hawks a 4-2 lead with 17:40 on the clock. Dave Dudzinski responded but a layup from senior Mackey McKnight made it 6-4 with 16:23 left in the first half.
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Price's second three of the half, made it 11-6 with 14:48 on the clock. He hit another less than two minutes later to make it 14-8 with 12:53 left in the first half.
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Lehigh's offense struggled the rest of the half, scoring just four points (baskets from freshmen Miles Simelton and Tim Kempton). Holy Cross took advantage, going on a 19-4 run to make it 27-18 Crusaders after 20 minutes of play.
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Down 27-16 following a Malachi Alexander jump shot, a Kempton jumper ended the 19-2 drought to pull Lehigh within single digits after 20 minutes of play.
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Lehigh shot 27 percent from the field (7-of-26) and 38 percent from three-point range (3-of-8) in the opening half. Holy Cross shot 40 percent (10-of-25) and 22 percent from long distance (2-of-9). The Mountain Hawks held a 19-17 edge in rebounds. Price led the way with 11 of Lehigh's 18 first-half points. Chuku had five rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
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The Crusaders continued their hot play early in the second half, extending their lead to 16 (42-26) following a Justin Burrell three-pointer with 15:16 on the clock.
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Schaefer scored Lehigh's next four points to pull the Mountain Hawks within 14 (44-30) with 11:26 remaining. However, Lehigh's deficit reached 18 (50-32) following a Miller jumper with 7:52 left in the second half.
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The Mountain Hawks answered with five straight points, all by Whitfield behind two free throws and a three-point play. He scored seven straight Lehigh points to make it 50-37 with 5:44 on the clock.
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The Crusaders answered with nine of the next 13 points as an Alexander offensive rebound and putback made it 59-40 with less than two minutes remaining.
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The teams traded baskets the rest of the way for the 61-42 final.
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The Mountain Hawks shot 30 percent from the field (16-of-54) and 23 percent from three-point range (3-of-13) while Holy Cross shot 44 percent (24-of-55) and 25 percent from long distance (5-of-20). The Crusaders won the battle of the boards, 36-33.
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Lehigh remains on the road next Wednesday (Jan. 22) at Navy before hosting Lafayette on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available online, including a print-at-home option, or by calling the ticket office at 610-7LU-GAME (610-758-4263). Individual game tickets are only five dollars (in advance) and season tickets are also available.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
HC
FG%
.296
.436
3FG%
.231
.250
FT%
.636
.667
RB
33
36
TO
12
7
STL
3
4
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
4
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
2
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