Wednesday, February 5
West Point, N.Y.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
12-12, 5-6PL
51
at
70
Army
12-10, 8-3PL
1
2
F
Lehigh
19
32
51
Army
36
34
70
Second half surge not enough in 70-51 loss at Army
2/5/2014 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Trailing by 17 at the half, the Lehigh men's basketball team pulled within eight but Army had an answer, pulling away to beat the Mountain Hawks, 70-51 on Wednesday evening. Senior Mackey McKnight led Lehigh with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting while adding six rebounds and five assists. The defeat snaps Lehigh's four-game winning streak as the Mountain Hawks return home to host Loyola Saturday afternoon.
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"While our defense was holding strong through the first media timeout, really the difference in the game was from the 15 minute mark to the seven minute mark," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Those eight minutes, we failed to execute and convert offensively. We had four turnovers and five missed shots, either layups or shots relatively close in the paint. We ended up giving up about nine possessions over an eight-minute stretch which allowed them to make that run."
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Freshman Tim Kempton added 12 points, 10 coming in the second half. He shot 5-of-11 from the field while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. No other Mountain Hawks had more than six points.
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Tanner Plomb was a thorn on Lehigh's side, scoring 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 5-of-6 from three-point range. The Mountain Hawks held the Patriot League's second leading scorer Kyle Wilson to nine points on just 4-of-12 shooting.
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"When you put yourself in the position of being down as much as we were at the half, you have to play near-perfect basketball, and that's too difficult to do against most teams" said Reed. "You're playing with fire. The same energy, passion and mental toughness to convert, take care of the basketball and finish plays [in the second half] is the same type of stuff that we're capable of in the first half but just didn't do. I'm hoping this team can grow and learn from that."
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Plomb hit a three-pointer on Army's first possession to make it 3-0 less than a minute in. Kempton scored Lehigh's first points off a dish from sophomore Jesse Chuku to pull within 3-2 with 17:30 on the clock.
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Chuku grabbed an offensive rebound and finished the layup to give Lehigh a 4-3 lead, but the Black Knights responded with a 9-0 run. It began with another Plomb trey and ending with a Wilson runner to make it 12-4 with 12:07 left in the first half.
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Freshman Shane Whitfield knocked down a pair of free throws to end nearly a four-minute scoreless drought, but the Black Knights promptly answered with an 8-0 run to take a 20-6 lead following a Kevin Ferguson layup with 9:34 on the clock, forcing Reed to call timeout.
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The run extended to 13-0 following a Wilson score, but Lehigh scored five straight in just 37 seconds coming out of the under-eight media timeout. An Austin Price free throw, McKnight driving layup and Justin Goldsborough block then ensuing layup made it 25-13, forcing Army to call timeout with 6:11 on the clock.
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Two Chuku free throws pulled Lehigh within 10 (25-15), but the Mountain Hawks only scored four points the rest of the half and the Army offense scored 11 to take a 36-19 lead into the locker room.
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Lehigh shot just 28 percent in the first half (7-of-25) while Army shot 52 percent (14-of-27). The Black Knights hit 2-of-3 three-pointers while the Mountain Hawks missed all five they took. Army held a 21-12 rebounding advantage. McKnight led Lehigh with six first-half points on 3-of-4 shooting.
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The Mountain Hawks came out of the locker room with a vengeance, scoring on their first three possessions to pull right back into the game. Schaefer started with a jumper just seconds in while McKnight followed with the next four points.
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Lehigh's run eventually reached 14-5 as two straight Kempton baskets pulled Lehigh within 41-33 with 15:24 remaining.
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The Black Knights began to rebuild their lead from there, scoring 15 of the next 22 points to go back up 56-40 with 7:46 on the clock. A tough finish by Wilson gave Army its biggest lead (58-40) with 6:43 to go.
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However, the Mountain Hawks had one last run in them. Two Chuku free throws and threes from McKnight and Schaefer pulled Lehigh within 58-48, forcing Army to call timeout with 5:22 still remaining.
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A McKnight free throw pulled Lehigh within three possessions (60-51) with 3:33 on the clock, but the Mountain Hawks' offense went cold and Army scored the game's final 10 points for the 70-51 final.
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Lehigh shot 36 percent from the floor (19-of-53) and 27 percent from three-point range (3-of-11). The Black Knights shot 43 percent (26-of-60) and 36 percent from long distance (5-of-14). Army won the battle of the boards, 42-32.
The Mountain Hawks return home to host Loyola on Saturday. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in Stabler Arena. 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
ARMY
FG%
.358
.433
3FG%
.273
.357
FT%
.556
.813
RB
32
42
TO
12
10
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
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