Sunday, February 23
Easton, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
14-15,7-9
71
at
77
Lafayette
10-17, 6-10
1
2
F
Lehigh
34
37
71
Lafayette
36
41
77
Hard-fought battle goes to Lafayette, 77-71
2/23/2014 3:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. - Despite Lafayette shooting 10-of-15 from three-point range and grabbing 13 offensive rebounds, the Lehigh men's basketball team hung tough and had a chance to tie the score in the final minute, but the Leopards prevailed 77-71 on Sunday afternoon at the Kirby Sports Center. Freshman Tim Kempton led the charge with his fifth-career double-double and fourth-career 20-point game.
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"It was a hard-fought game," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We could look to those three-point shots, but we struggled rebounding. We gave them extra possessions and for an efficient offensive team, that's a dangerous thing to do on our part."
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Kempton finished with 20 points on 6-off-8 shooting and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. He added 13 rebounds for his fifth-career double-double and first since the Patriot League opener at Colgate. Senior Mackey McKnight scored 15 points and added two assists, moving within four from tying and five from breaking Marquis Hall's Lehigh career assists record.
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 "I thought Tim's interior presence was important," said Reed. "We capitalized fairly well, but our turnover rate in the post was a little higher than we would have liked. It was one of those days where I don't think we necessarily got the best games from some of our key players, yet we were right there against a team that's playing very well."
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Lafayette, who has won six of its last seven games, was led by Joey Ptasinski with 23 points on 5-of-8 from three-point range. The Mountain Hawks held All-Patriot League performer Seth Hinrichs to just four points on 1-of-7 shooting, but four other Leopards wound up in double figures.
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Kempton got the scoring started just 14 seconds into the game, but Lafayette answered with seven of the next nine points as a Bryce Scott jumper gave the Leopards a 7-4 lead with 16:44 on the clock. Five straight points from McKnight in just 28 seconds helped Lehigh regain a 9-7 advantage.
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The Leopards opened a 17-11 lead with 12:39 remaining following Ptasinski's second three-pointer of the first half.
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Trailing 19-16 midway through the first, junior Stefan Cvrkalj knocked down a pair of three-pointers in just 33 seconds to give Lehigh a 20-19 lead with 8:59 on the clock.
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After a Dan Trist jumper, Kempton answered on the other end with a short jumper to make it 22-21.
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An Austin Price layup with 5:01 remaining, followed by a transition three off a feed from Shane Whitfield, gave Lehigh a 31-26 lead less than a minute later.
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Leading 34-29 following Cvrkalj's third three of the half, Lafayette ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 36-34 advantage following 20 minutes of play.
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Kempton led the way with 10 first-half points while Cvrkalj had nine. McKnight, Price and Chuku had five each. Lehigh shot 50 percent in the first half (12-of-24) and 67 percent from three-point range (6-of-9). Lafayette shot 45 percent (14-of-31) and 50 percent from long distance (4-of-8). The Leopards held a 20-14 edge on the glass, led by 10 rebounds from Hinrichs.
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A pair of Kempton free throws and a Corey Schaefer corner three accounted for the first five second-half points, giving Lehigh a 39-36 lead. The Leopards responded, however, with a 9-2 run as a basket by Trist made it 45-41 Leopards, forcing a Lehigh timeout with 16:06 on the clock.
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The run extended to 11-2 behind a Nick Lindner layup, making it 47-41. Lehigh answered with four straight points and eight of the next 10 as a monster jam from Price pulled Lehigh within 51-49 with 11:27 remaining.
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Price fell awkwardly and had to be tended to by the trainers and after the delay, Lafayette regrouped. The Leopards responded with an 8-0 run to take a 59-49 lead with 9:46 on the clock.
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Lehigh wouldn't go quietly and in less than two minutes, cut the deficit in half with a Kempton jumper and Whitfield three-point play. A McKnight three and Kempton free throw pulled the Mountain Hawks within four (62-58) with 6:37 still remaining.
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The margin stayed between four and six for most of the remaining minutes until Lehigh forced a turnover with 40 seconds on the clock. Down just three (71-68), the Mountain Hawks had a chance to tie the score, but a turnover gave the ball back to Lafayette. The Leopards hits 6-of-6 free throws in the final 34 seconds as McKnight knocked down with a three to pull within two (73-71), but that's as close as the Mountain Hawks would get.
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Lehigh shot 49 percent from the field (26-of-53) and 53 percent from three-point range (9-of-17). Lafayette shot 46 percent (26-of-56) and 67 percent from long range (10-of-15). Lafayette was an incredible 86 percent (6-of-7) from three-point range in the second half. The Leopards held a 34-29 edge in rebounding.
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Lehigh now travels to Bucknell on Wednesday to face the Bison. The Mountain Hawks return home for the regular season finale next Saturday, Mar. 1 against Colgate. Tickets are available online, including a print-at-home option, or by calling the ticket office at 610-7LU-GAME (610-758-4263).
"Finishing out the remainder of this week is important," said Reed. "Bucknell plays with a great deal of pride. They're a team that will utilize the three-point line well and a team that will also rebound. Although stylistically there are differences, the blueprint will remain the same. We have to play very strong defense, we have to rebound at a very high level, we have to be efficient on offense and not turn the ball over. We have to do all those things at a higher level than we did today."
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
LAFAYETT
FG%
.491
.464
3FG%
.529
.667
FT%
.769
.714
RB
29
34
TO
15
8
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
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