Saturday, February 1
Boston, Mass.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
12-11, 5-5PL
82
at
80
Boston University
15-8, 8-2PL
1
2
OT 1
F
Lehigh
26
47
9
82
Boston University
41
32
7
80
Lehigh erases 15-point halftime deficit for thrilling 82-80 OT win at Boston U
2/1/2014 4:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOSTON - Down 15 at the half, the Lehigh men's basketball team forced overtime, setting the stage for senior Mackey McKnight who broke an 80-80 tie with a layup with 0.5 seconds remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a thrilling 82-80 win on Saturday afternoon. The Mountain Hawks have now won four straight games, erasing a halftime deficit each time. In the process, Lehigh handed Boston University its first-ever Patriot League loss at home. The Mountain Hawks improve to 12-11 and 5-5 in league play while the Terriers fall to 15-8 and 8-2 in the Patriot League.
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"This was a hard-fought win," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We had a deficit, but fortunately for us, we showed great resolve as we have throughout the year. We had a number of different players step up and make key contributions, culminating by Mackey McKnight's tremendous finish."
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It marked the 10th time in Lehigh's last 11 games that the game went down to the final seconds (or overtime). The Mountain Hawks avenged a last-second defeat to the Terriers in January.
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Lehigh improved to 3-0 in overtime, defeating Colgate (double overtime), Navy and now Boston University. In the Navy game, McKnight gave the Mountain Hawks the victory in similar fashion, hitting a tough shot with time winding down in the extra session.
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Sophomore Jesse Chuku finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks. No points were bigger than his two free throws with 15 seconds left in regulation to help force overtime.
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"When I got to the free throw line, I didn't hear anything," said Chuku. "I zoned out completely. I imagined I was at practice and these were the free throws I had to hit so I don't have to run. That's all I thought."
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Freshman Tim Kempton led the way with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. McKnight finished with 16 points and seven assists, knocking down 6-of-10 from the field. Sophomore Justin Goldsborough reached double-figure points again, posting 11 on 5-of-8 shooting while adding three blocks.
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Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year D.J. Irving scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-17 from the floor.
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Big men Dom Morris and Kempton traded baskets in the early going with the score at 4-4 less than two minutes into the game. From there, the Terriers staged a 10-0 run capped off by an Irving layup which forced Lehigh to call timeout with 13:05 on the clock.
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A Shane Whitfield free throw snapped nearly a six-minute scoreless drought, pulling Lehigh within 14-5 with 12:58 on the clock. Boston University went up by as much as 11, but Lehigh staged a 9-2 run which began with a Goldsborough three-point play and ended with a Miles Simelton jumper to pull the Mountain Hawks within 18-14 with 8:31 left in the first half.
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The Terriers ended the half by scoring 27 of the final 39 points. They regained a 10-point, 27-17 lead following two John Papale free throws with 5:06 left in the first half.
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Kempton and Goldsborough scored Lehigh's final seven first-half points, but Papale knocked down a three in the final seconds to make it 41-26 at the half.
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Lehigh shot 42 percent in the first half (11-of-26) and did not hit a three (0-of-4). Boston University shot 47 percent (14-of-30) and 36 percent from long range (4-of-11). The Terriers held a 20-15 edge on the glass. Goldsborough and Kempton led Lehigh with nine first-half points each. Irving had 12 for Boston University.
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The Mountain Hawks came out of the locker room on fire, staging a 13-4 run, using a trio of three-pointers (two from Chuku and one from Austin Price) to get right back into the game. Chuku's second trey pulled Lehigh within six (45-39) with 17:04 on the clock.
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Irving answered with consecutive threes to make it 51-39, but Lehigh used a 6-0 run as a Corey Schaefer steal and layup quickly pulled the Mountain Hawks back within six (51-45) with 14:30 remaining.
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The Terriers again extended their lead to 11 (56-45), but a Schaefer three-point play pulled Lehigh within eight with 12:38 to go
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Trailing 61-50, the Mountain Hawks staged a 13-2 run, beginning with a McKnight layup. A Kempton post move tied the score at 63, then junior Stefan Cvrkalj knocked down a three-pointer to give Lehigh its first lead of the game (66-63) with 5:12 on the clock.
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The Terriers answered with four straight points to take a 67-66 lead then a Papale corner three broke a tie and gave Boston University a 72-69 lead with just over one minute remaining. However, McKnight answered with a layup then after Morris missed a free throw, Chuku capitalized. He grabbed Lehigh's second offensive rebound of the possession and calmly knocked down both free throws to even the score at 73 with 15 seconds left in regulation.
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Irving got off an off-balance jumper from the top of the key, which didn't fall, sending the game into overtime.
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The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a five-point lead in overtime, but the Terriers responded with a 6-0 run. Down by one, McKnight hit a layup to give Lehigh an 80-79 lead with 20 seconds on the clock, then after Morris hit just one-of-two from the line, McKnight converted a driving layup down the left side to give Lehigh a 82-80 lead. With just 0.5 seconds left, the Terriers' desperation heave fell well short giving the Mountain Hawks a big victory over the preseason Patriot League favorites.
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"One of the biggest things that we needed to do in the second half was to communicate better, and play hard," said Reed. "It seemed as if in the first half, Boston University was quicker to the basketball. They were getting loose balls, getting offensive rebounds. They had their hands on the basketball, even with deflections. We needed to toughen up a little bit and show more resolve."
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The Mountain Hawks shot 53 percent from the field (32-of-61) and 36 percent from three-point range (5-of-14). Boston University shot 44 percent (29-of-66) and 46 percent from long distance (10-of-22). The Terriers held a 38-34 edge on the glass.
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Lehigh remains on the road when it heads to Army on Wednesday to face the Black Knights at 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks return home to host Loyola next Saturday. Tickets are available online, including a print-at-home option, or by calling the ticket office at 610-7LU-GAME (610-758-4263).
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
BOSTONU
FG%
.525
.439
3FG%
.357
.455
FT%
.722
.545
RB
34
38
TO
12
13
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
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