Saturday, December 20
Tempe, Ariz.
9:00 pm
Lehigh University
5-5
84
at
81
Arizona State
6-5
1
2
OT 1
OT 2
OT 3
F
Lehigh
32
32
4
7
9
84
Arizona State
24
40
4
7
6
81
Spirited Mountain Hawks come up with 84-81 triple OT win at Arizona State
12/21/2014 12:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Lehigh men's basketball team led for most of the game and found a way to fend off the Sun Devils' comeback attempts as the Mountain Hawks shocked Arizona State 84-81 in triple overtime to snap their 14-game home winning streak on Saturday evening. Freshman Kahron Ross had a monster game with 15 points and a school-record 14 assists, including a clutch jumper in the final seconds of double overtime to force a third overtime period. Sophomore Tim Kempton scored 16 points (all in the second half) and added 11 rebounds for his 11th-career double-double in a homecoming to Arizona. With the win, the Mountain Hawks improve to 5-5 on the season and 2-1 against power conference teams. They have defeated a member of the Big East (DePaul) and Pac-12 within a one-month span.
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"These are the games you love to play, these are the games you love to battle, these are the games you love to win," said Kempton. "It's great to see your hard work pay off and see it translate to a victory like this."
"I couldn't be more proud of our effort tonight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought our players showed tremendous resiliency and togetherness. We established ourselves on the defensive end early in the game and that resiliency came through later in the game, especially when we had to make key defensive stops at important times and come up with important rebounds. Our guys refused to lose and they showed the toughness and togetherness that we're looking for."
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Ross was one of four Mountain Hawks to reach double-figure points. He was the facilitator of an offense that came up with the big shot when they needed it most.
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"Kahron had ice water in his veins," said Reed. "He handled the situation extremely well. We went to him at important times when we needed a basket. We have a tremendous amount of accomplish in his ability to play mark. He answered the call."
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Sophomore Austin Price led the Mountain Hawks with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and a career-high five steals. Junior Justin Goldsborough also posted 10 points and 13 rebounds, including many key boards in the overtime periods, for his second-career double-double.
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The Lehigh defense was the story, especially early, as the Mountain Hawks held the Sun Devils to a season-low 24 first-half points. Arizona State is coming off a 20-win season and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013-14. ASU big man Eric Jacobsen who entered averaging 11.3 points and 8.2 rebounds coming in was held to just five points and five rebounds.
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Saturday marked Lehigh's longest game since February 14, 2009, an 82-75 loss at Army.
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Goldsborough got Lehigh on the board on the Mountain Hawks' first possession of the game. After Arizona State knocked down a three just over a minute into the game, Lehigh held the Sun Devils scoreless until another Shaquielle McKissic Trey with 15:36 remaining to make it 6-5 ASU.
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The defenses continued to dominate until Price caught fire, knocking down a three then turning a steal into a fastbreak dunk to give Lehigh a 12-8 lead, forcing a Sun Devils timeout with 11:46 on the clock.
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Arizona State scored ten of the next 16 points to tie the score at 18 with just over five minutes remaining, but the Mountain Hawks answered in a big way, ending the half on a 14-6 run to take a 32-24 lead into the locker room. Junior Jesse Chuku had four straight points during that stretch while sophomore Miles Simelton hit a three-pointer and Price wrapped up the first-half scoring with a driving layup.
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Price and Chuku each led Lehigh with seven first-half points while Ross had four points and seven first-half assists. Lehigh shot 45 percent from the field (13-of-29) and 46 percent from three-point range (6-of-13) while Arizona State shot 46 percent (10-of-22) and 38 percent from long range (3-of-8). The Sun Devils held a 19-12 edge in rebounds. Lehigh forced 13 Arizona State turnovers in the first half.
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Lehigh extended its lead to double figures at 37-26 following a Kempton jumper (his first points of the night) with 18:00 on the second-half clock. The Sun Devils scored the next five, but Lehigh scored five of the next seven points as a Price three made it 42-33 with 14:44 remaining in the second half.
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The Mountain Hawks responded as a Corey Schaefer three-pointer gave Lehigh a 12-point lead, then a Kempton three-point play gave Lehigh a 50-36 lead with 12:20 on the clock.
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Arizona State immediately answered with an 11-0 run as a Jonathan Gilling three-pointer pulled the Sun Devils within three (50-47) with 9:42 remaining. The lead fluctuated between three and seven over the ensuing minutes. With Lehigh leading 60-57 with 4:58 to go, the Sun Devils scored four of the next five points to tie the score at 61.
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With less than 30 seconds remaining, the Mountain Hawks had the ball tied at 64. Ross missed a shot deep in the shot clock. Kempton grabbed the rebound, but missed the put back to set up the Sun Devils with 9.9 seconds remaining. Lehigh's defense stood tall and forced a long jumper which was off the mark, forcing overtime.
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Lehigh's offense continued to struggle in overtime as the Sun Devils scored the first four points to take their first lead since the first half. However, Kempton got Lehigh on the board with two free throws with 1:57 on the clock then Price answered with a driving layup to tie the score at 68. Neither team could score the rest of the way and the Mountain Hawks made another defensive stop in the final seconds to force a second overtime.
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Arizona State again took an early lead in the second overtime, but a Ross jumper followed by a Price three-point play helped tie the score at 73 with 1:53 on the clock. A tough Sun Devils' jumper gave them the lead, but Ross hit a clutch jumper from just inside the three-point arc tied the score at 75 after two overtimes.
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Goldsborough came up big in the third overtime as a pair of free throws gave the Mountain Hawks a 77-76 lead, then made it 81-78 Mountain Hawks less than two minutes later. The Lehigh defense continued to come up with important stops and freshman Brandon Alston hit a free throw to give the Mountain Hawks an 84-81 lead. A desperation attempt was no good as Lehigh escaped with the victory.
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Lehigh shot 44 percent from the field (31-of-70) and 43 percent from three-point range (9-of-21). The Mountain Hawks shot 43 percent (30-of-70) and 30 percent from long distance (6-of-20). Lehigh won the battle of the boards, 48-44.
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The Mountain Hawks return to action when they travel to Baltimore on Sunday (Dec. 28) to face UMBC at 5 p.m.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
ASU
FG%
.443
.429
3FG%
.429
.300
FT%
.565
.517
RB
48
44
TO
22
19
STL
12
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
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