Sunday, November 30
Stabler Arena
2:00 pm
Lehigh University
2-4
100
vs
74
Penn State Mont Alto
4-2
1
2
F
Penn State Mont Alto
29
45
74
Lehigh
53
47
100
Mountain Hawks roll past Penn State Mont Alto, 100-74
11/30/2014 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - All 14 Mountain Hawks who saw action scored at least two points as the Lehigh men's basketball team defeated Penn State Mont Alto 100-74 on Sunday in Stabler Arena. Sophomore Austin Price scored 15 points to lead the offense while junior Jesse Chuku tallied 13 and freshman Brandon Alston had 10. Junior Khalid McCaskill, sophomore John Ross Glover, sophomore Georgios Pilitsis and freshman Tyler Jenkins all saw their first action of the season and combined to score 27 points and help Lehigh to its second straight win.
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"We went in against a team we should be superior to. We established ourselves fairly early in the game and built a comfortable lead, which I was pleased to see," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We also had the opportunity to see a variety of combinations and a number of different players gained game experience. In some cases, that could be very valuable for us as we continue to progress. If there's foul difficulty or injury, other people have gained some experience and might be able to contribute at a higher level for us."
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Price scored his 15 points in just 15 minutes and now has 29 points over the last two games in a total of 26 minutes. He finished 7-of-13 from the floor and was one of four Lehigh players to dish four assists. Chuku's 13 points came on 6-of-7 shooting as he's knocked down 9-of-10 over the last two games. Alston was 4-of-6 from the field while adding two rebounds, a block and steal.
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Transfers McCaskill and Glover scored their first points in a Lehigh uniform, tallying nine and eight, respectively. Jenkins also made his collegiate debut and tallied seven points on 2-of-4 shooting, to go with four assists. Junior Devon Carter set a career high with seven points while adding three rebounds and two steals. Â
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"We didn't necessarily knock down our jump shots early in the game," said Reed. "However, we stuck after it, we didn't lose confidence and we continued to get fairly strong looks. If you continue to get good looks, and our players continue to be in the gym working on their game, we anticipate and expect positive outcomes."
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Penn State Mont Alto took an early 2-0 lead, but the Mountain Hawks responded. They build their first double-digit lead at 19-8 following a pair of Kahron Ross free throws with 11:12 left in the first half. Lehigh's advantage gradually increased, reaching 20 just under six minutes later as a Price jumper made it 36-16 Mountain Hawks with 5:23 on the first-half clock.
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Lehigh eclipsed 50 first-half points behind six straight points from Glover to end the half. A Glover layup made it 49-23 with 1:12 remaining then he added two free throws and a short jumper as the first half expired to make it 53-29 after 20 minutes of play.
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An up-tempo second half saw both teams pushing the pace. The Mountain Hawks scored 24 of the first 35 second-half points as a Chuku jumper gave Lehigh a 77-40 lead with 12:47 on the clock. The lead remained in the 30s over the ensuing minutes, but the Nittany Lions caught fire midway through the half. They eventually pulled within 25 with four minutes remaining then 24 with 1:24 on the clock, but it wasn't nearly enough. A pair of Jenkins free throws with 50 seconds remaining gave the Mountain Hawks 100 points for the first time since Dec. 1 2012 when Lehigh defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 102-62.
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Lehigh shot 46 percent from the field (35-of-77) and 30 percent from three-point range (9-of-30). Penn State Mont Alto finished at 45 percent (27-of-60) and 35 percent from long distance (7-of-20). The Mountain Hawks held a 46-37 edge in rebounds.
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Lehigh will remain home on Wednesday to host Saint Francis (Pa.) at 7 p.m.
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"Now we have a chance to build momentum going into our next game," said Reed. "We have a chance to build our confidence. We have a chance to grow and formulate a little bit more strength as a team as we move forward into the next part of our nonleague schedule."
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Team Stats
MONTALTO
LEHIGH
FG%
.450
.455
3FG%
.350
.300
FT%
.650
.778
RB
37
46
TO
19
8
STL
6
12
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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G/F
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