Saturday, March 1
2:00 PM
Lehigh University
57
vs
74
Colgate
Mountain Hawks fall to Colgate in regular season finale, 74-57
3/1/2014 5:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Colgate jumped out to a 24-9 lead and the Lehigh men's basketball team couldn't recover as the Mountain Hawks dropped their regular season finale 74-57 on Saturday in Stabler Arena. Despite the loss, Lehigh clinched the #6 seed and will travel to Holy Cross for the Patriot League Quarterfinals on Wednesday.
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"Colgate played very well and they seemed to be more aggressive from the beginning," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "They scored points in the paint and were capitalizing on our offensive miscues with some run-outs and had some opportunities there. It was very apparent that they came to play and they took the game right from the onset."
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Lehigh sophomore Jesse Chuku and freshman Tim Kempton both posted double-doubles. Chuku had a team-high 17 points along with 11 rebounds for his third-career double-double while Kempton had 14 points and 14 boards for his sixth and second in the last two games. Â The big men combined for 31 of the Mountain Hawks' 57 points.
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"You start looking at the second half and the production of a Tim Kempton and a Jesse Chuku, there was pride displayed by those two guys," said Reed. "It's about getting five guys out there to do the right things. Unfortunately, we came up empty and we had turnover after turnover in multiple possessions to start the game. We had no offensive flow, no offensive rhythm."
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Colgate was led by Damon Sherman-Newsome who had 28 points including 11-of-12 from the free throw line.
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The Raiders scored the first five points, but the Mountain Hawks responded with a 9-2 run beginning with an Austin Price layup and ending with a Kempton jumper to make it 9-7 Lehigh with 15:59 left in the first half.
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Colgate responded in a big way with a 17-0 run to begin pulling away. A Sherman-Newsome three gave the Raiders a 24-9 lead with 11:18 on the clock.
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Junior Stefan Cvrkalj broke more than a five-minute scoreless drought with a three then Chuku added a trey just 40 seconds later to pull Lehigh within nine (24-15) with 10:16 remaining.
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The Raiders answered with an 8-2 run to take a 32-17 lead with 6:32 on the clock. Colgate's lead hovered between 12 and 16 the rest of the half as the Raiders took a 42-26 lead into the locker room.
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Colgate scored the first five second-half points to take a 19-point, 47-28 lead, but the Mountain Hawks inched back within four after a Corey Schaefer layup with 17:01 left in the half. A Luke Roh layup gave Colgate a 55-39 lead, but the Mountain Hawks scored four straight behind an emphatic Chuku dunk, a Chuku tip-in and Kempton layup to make it 55-45 with 8:36 on the clock.
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However, the Raiders used an 11-1 run to take a 20-point (66-46) lead with 5:34 left in the second half. Lehigh pulled back within 14 after a Mackey McKnight layup with 3:12 remaining, but Colgate went back up 19 to erase any doubt.
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Lehigh shot 35 percent from the field (19-of-55) and 25 percent from three-point range (5-of-20). The Raiders finished at 48 percent (25-of-52) and 38 percent from long distance (8-of-21). The Mountain Hawks won the battle of the battle of the boards, 37-31.
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With the out-of-town results, the Mountain Hawks clinched the #6 seed and a bye into the Patriot League Quarterfinals on Wednesday. Lehigh will travel to Holy Cross on Wednesday to face the Crusaders at 7 p.m.
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"You start off every season with high aspirations," said Reed. "You want to be in position to compete for a championship. Unfortunately, we played in some tough environments in situations where we were close. Tonight was not indicative of what we've done throughout the year. There is hope - there is the opportunity - but certainly, a disappointment today.
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"You play a quarterfinal game, a semifinal game and a championship game and then you've got a new set of dreams," Reed continued. "But it can't just be dreams. It's got to be something that's really grounded and has some grit to it as well."
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