Wednesday, November 26
Chicago, Ill.
8:00 pm
Lehigh University
1-4
86
at
74
DePaul
2-1
1
2
F
Lehigh
41
45
86
DePaul
30
44
74
Mountain Hawks earn impressive 86-74 win at DePaul
11/26/2014 11:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
| Audio: Coach Reed Postgame | Audio: Schaefer Postgame
CHICAGO - DePaul scored the game's first points, but the Lehigh men's basketball team immediately responded and led for the game's final 37:51 in an impressive 86-74 win over the Blue Demons on Wednesday evening at Allstate Arena. The Mountain Hawks handed DePaul its first loss of the season while handing the Big East just its third loss of the year. Senior Corey Schaefer scored a career-high 17 points to lead the offense while sophomore Tim Kempton posted his fourth double-double in the first five games and 10th of his career.
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"I was really pleased with the energy of our team tonight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought we played at a high level against a very good team, a team that represents the Big East Conference, a conference that is rich in history in the game of basketball. Tonight, we had a number of players step up and perform key roles for us, whether it's Miles Simelton in a homecoming game, being able to solidify us and playing with confidence, or Corey Schaefer who really settled the tone offensively and defensively from the start of the game."(11/26/2014) Men's Basketball at DePaul, 11/26/14
Four Mountain Hawks scored double-figure points as sophomore Austin Price posted 14 on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, while junior Justin Goldsborough recorded 10 points and five rebounds. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor. Playing in front of many friends and family as part of a homecoming to the Chicago area, sophomore Miles Simelton added nine points in his first-career start. Junior Jesse Chuku also posted eight points, three rebounds and two blocks.
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"We had a number of players contribute at a very high level tonight," said Reed. "We shot the ball well and made enough plays to walk away with a quality win in Chicago."
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The win marked Lehigh's first victory over a Big East team since Nov. 26, 2008 at Rutgers. It was Lehigh's first win over a BCS conference foe since the 2012 NCAA Tournament victory over Duke. Wednesday's victory came in front of a nationally-televised audience on Fox Sports 1.
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The 86 points marks Lehigh's most since scoring 92 in the season opener against Rider last season.
Schaefer took control early, scoring 11 of his 17 points in the first half.
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"I was a little bit passive the first four years trying to find my role," said the senior captain. "Coaches and everybody on the team told me to be aggressive and just have fun out there. Guys did a good job of finding me. I was hunting my shot a little bit more tonight."
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DePaul scored on its first possession, but Lehigh responded with an 8-0 run, holding the Blue Demons scoreless for the next 3:53. A Kempton jumper got the scoring started while Simelton and Chuku answered with threes on consecutive possessions to make it 8-2 Mountain Hawks with 17:21 on the first-half clock, forcing a Blue Demons' timeout.
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Leading 10-7, Lehigh staged a 9-0 run. Schaefer began the run with a pull-up jumper and was followed by two Kempton free throws, a Goldsborough post move. The run was capped off by a Schaefer three-pointer, forcing DePaul's second timeout with 11:23 left in the first half.
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Lehigh's largest lead swelled to 14 just over one minute later, but the Blue Demons slowly inched back. They staged a 7-0 run to cut Lehigh's lead in half at 25-18. Still holding a seven-point lead late in the half, the Mountain Hawks' defense got a big stop and senior Stefan Cvrkalj knocked down a three-pointer on the other end to give Lehigh a double-digit, 36-26 lead with 2:46 on the first-half clock.
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Schaefer ended an 11-point half with a long three-pointer to make it 41-30 Mountain Hawks after 20 minutes of play. Schaefer led the way with 11 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Kempton had 10 points and five rebounds. Myke Henry led DePaul with 15 of its 30 first-half points.
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Through the early stages of the second half, Lehigh's lead hovered between nine and 13. Leading by its halftime margin of 11, Lehigh scored four straight points behind a Simelton jumper and Goldsborough layup, which made it 58-43. DePaul responded with an 8-2 run to pull within 60-51 with 11:09 on the second-half clock, forcing a Lehigh timeout.
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The Mountain Hawks answered with nine of the next 12 points as a Simelton jumper and Price three-pointer made it 65-51. Less than two minutes later, Goldsborough had a big dunk off an inbounds pass to help Lehigh regain its largest lead at 69-54 with 8:37 left in the second half.
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DePaul cut Lehigh's lead to nine at 71-62 following a Billy Garrett Jr. three with 6:35 remaining. The Blue Demons continued to increase the pace and pressure over the ensuing minutes, but couldn't pull any closer than three possessions. Several times, they pulled within eight on numerous occasions, but the Mountain Hawks always had an answer. A Henry free throw pulled DePaul within 80-73 with 2:09 remaining, but the Mountain Hawks closed the game with six of the final seven points for the 86-74 victory.
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Lehigh shot 57 percent from the field (29-of-51) and 50 percent from three-point range (9-of-18). DePaul finished at 37 percent (22-of-60) and 33 percent from long distance (8-of-24). The Mountain Hawks held a 33-32 edge in rebounds.
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"I think it helps promote confidence for our players within each other and in what we're trying to do as a team," said Reed. "We've been working hard throughout the preseason to put the pieces together. We've been able to do that in stretches, but we hadn't been able to string it together completely. Tonight, we shot the ball better than we have in other games and we also defended at a higher level. It was nice to see both ends of that come together."
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Lehigh returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Penn State Mont Alto at 2 p.m. in Stabler Arena.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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CHICAGO - DePaul scored the game's first points, but the Lehigh men's basketball team immediately responded and led for the game's final 37:51 in an impressive 86-74 win over the Blue Demons on Wednesday evening at Allstate Arena. The Mountain Hawks handed DePaul its first loss of the season while handing the Big East just its third loss of the year. Senior Corey Schaefer scored a career-high 17 points to lead the offense while sophomore Tim Kempton posted his fourth double-double in the first five games and 10th of his career.
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"I was really pleased with the energy of our team tonight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought we played at a high level against a very good team, a team that represents the Big East Conference, a conference that is rich in history in the game of basketball. Tonight, we had a number of players step up and perform key roles for us, whether it's Miles Simelton in a homecoming game, being able to solidify us and playing with confidence, or Corey Schaefer who really settled the tone offensively and defensively from the start of the game."
Four Mountain Hawks scored double-figure points as sophomore Austin Price posted 14 on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, while junior Justin Goldsborough recorded 10 points and five rebounds. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor. Playing in front of many friends and family as part of a homecoming to the Chicago area, sophomore Miles Simelton added nine points in his first-career start. Junior Jesse Chuku also posted eight points, three rebounds and two blocks.
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"We had a number of players contribute at a very high level tonight," said Reed. "We shot the ball well and made enough plays to walk away with a quality win in Chicago."
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The win marked Lehigh's first victory over a Big East team since Nov. 26, 2008 at Rutgers. It was Lehigh's first win over a BCS conference foe since the 2012 NCAA Tournament victory over Duke. Wednesday's victory came in front of a nationally-televised audience on Fox Sports 1.
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The 86 points marks Lehigh's most since scoring 92 in the season opener against Rider last season.
Schaefer took control early, scoring 11 of his 17 points in the first half.
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"I was a little bit passive the first four years trying to find my role," said the senior captain. "Coaches and everybody on the team told me to be aggressive and just have fun out there. Guys did a good job of finding me. I was hunting my shot a little bit more tonight."
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DePaul scored on its first possession, but Lehigh responded with an 8-0 run, holding the Blue Demons scoreless for the next 3:53. A Kempton jumper got the scoring started while Simelton and Chuku answered with threes on consecutive possessions to make it 8-2 Mountain Hawks with 17:21 on the first-half clock, forcing a Blue Demons' timeout.
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Leading 10-7, Lehigh staged a 9-0 run. Schaefer began the run with a pull-up jumper and was followed by two Kempton free throws, a Goldsborough post move. The run was capped off by a Schaefer three-pointer, forcing DePaul's second timeout with 11:23 left in the first half.
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Lehigh's largest lead swelled to 14 just over one minute later, but the Blue Demons slowly inched back. They staged a 7-0 run to cut Lehigh's lead in half at 25-18. Still holding a seven-point lead late in the half, the Mountain Hawks' defense got a big stop and senior Stefan Cvrkalj knocked down a three-pointer on the other end to give Lehigh a double-digit, 36-26 lead with 2:46 on the first-half clock.
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Schaefer ended an 11-point half with a long three-pointer to make it 41-30 Mountain Hawks after 20 minutes of play. Schaefer led the way with 11 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Kempton had 10 points and five rebounds. Myke Henry led DePaul with 15 of its 30 first-half points.
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Through the early stages of the second half, Lehigh's lead hovered between nine and 13. Leading by its halftime margin of 11, Lehigh scored four straight points behind a Simelton jumper and Goldsborough layup, which made it 58-43. DePaul responded with an 8-2 run to pull within 60-51 with 11:09 on the second-half clock, forcing a Lehigh timeout.
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The Mountain Hawks answered with nine of the next 12 points as a Simelton jumper and Price three-pointer made it 65-51. Less than two minutes later, Goldsborough had a big dunk off an inbounds pass to help Lehigh regain its largest lead at 69-54 with 8:37 left in the second half.
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DePaul cut Lehigh's lead to nine at 71-62 following a Billy Garrett Jr. three with 6:35 remaining. The Blue Demons continued to increase the pace and pressure over the ensuing minutes, but couldn't pull any closer than three possessions. Several times, they pulled within eight on numerous occasions, but the Mountain Hawks always had an answer. A Henry free throw pulled DePaul within 80-73 with 2:09 remaining, but the Mountain Hawks closed the game with six of the final seven points for the 86-74 victory.
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Lehigh shot 57 percent from the field (29-of-51) and 50 percent from three-point range (9-of-18). DePaul finished at 37 percent (22-of-60) and 33 percent from long distance (8-of-24). The Mountain Hawks held a 33-32 edge in rebounds.
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"I think it helps promote confidence for our players within each other and in what we're trying to do as a team," said Reed. "We've been working hard throughout the preseason to put the pieces together. We've been able to do that in stretches, but we hadn't been able to string it together completely. Tonight, we shot the ball better than we have in other games and we also defended at a higher level. It was nice to see both ends of that come together."
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Lehigh returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Penn State Mont Alto at 2 p.m. in Stabler Arena.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
DPU
FG%
.569
.367
3FG%
.500
.333
FT%
.905
.846
RB
33
32
TO
17
13
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballC/F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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