Wednesday, March 5
Worcester, MA
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
14-18
48
at
54
Holy Cross
19-12
1
2
F
Lehigh
24
24
48
Holy Cross
28
26
54
Mountain Hawks fall just short in PL Quarterfinals at Holy Cross, 54-48
3/5/2014 9:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WORCESTER, Mass. - Despite shooting just 32 percent from the field and 14 percent from three-point range, the Lehigh men's basketball team battled for 40 minutes and were within two in the game's final minute. In the end, third-seeded Holy Cross made just enough plays to down the Mountain Hawks 54-48 in the Patriot League Quarterfinals Wednesday evening. Senior Mackey McKnight ended his decorated career with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
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"When it's all said and done, I don't have any regrets," said McKnight. "I left it all out on the floor. I've tried to build a legacy that everybody remembers you by. I have faith these guys will get better. They have a bright future ahead of them."
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"As I stood in front of the guys after the game, I was actually pretty proud," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "There was a tremendous amount of passion and tremendous amount of heart on display tonight. We didn't convert the way we needed to, but there were other times earlier this season when I thought we lost some of our toughness and I was disappointed with that. With the exception of the beginning of the second half, we played with great intensity and teamwork on defense, but we didn't convert the way we needed to offensively."
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The Mountain Hawks trimmed a 12-point second-half deficit down to two in the final minute, but Dave Dudzinski hit a short jumper and Lehigh couldn't score the rest of the way.
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Sophomore Justin Goldsborough was a spark, scoring eight second-half points on 4-of-5 shooting along with four rebounds and a block. Freshman Tim Kempton finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
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After Holy Cross broke the ice, Lehigh scored the next five points behind a Kempton offensive rebound and putback, then McKnight three to make it 5-2 with 17:36 left in the first half.
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The Crusaders answered with the next seven points as an Eric Green jumper made it 9-5 Holy Cross with 15:49 on the clock.
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Lehigh came back with seven of the next nine points as a three-pointer from freshman Austin Price and jumper from sophomore Jesse Chuku gave the Mountain Hawks a 12-11 lead with 12:19 remaining.
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Holy Cross answered with six straight points to take a 17-12 advantage before layups from Kempton and junior Stefan Cvrkalj pulled Lehigh within one (19-18) with 6:02 left in the first. The Mountain Hawks held the Crusaders scoreless for 4:50, broken by a pair of Anthony Thompson free throws that gave Holy Cross a 21-18 lead with 4:22 remaining.
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The Crusaders opened a 28-20 lead, but the Mountain Hawks scored the final four first-half points, behind a Schaefer jumper and McKnight driving layup, to pull within 28-24 after 20 minutes of play.
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Lehigh shot 29 percent in the first half (10-of-34) and 18 percent from three-point range (2-of-11). Holy Cross shot 42 percent (11-of-26) and 44 percent from long distance (4-of-9). Holy Cross held a 20-19 edge in rebounds. Kempton led the way with eight first-half points to go with six rebounds. McKnight had seven points.
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Holy Cross scored the first eight second-half points to take a 36-24 lead before McKnight ended the run with a free throw.
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A Justin Burrell three-pointer helped the Crusaders retake a 12-point, 39-27 lead, but the Mountain Hawks chipped away.
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Lehigh went on a 10-3 run as McKnight and Goldsborough combined for all of Lehigh's points. A Goldsborough hoop pulled the Mountain Hawks within five (42-37) with 10:15 on the clock.
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The Crusaders went back up by nine (49-40) following a Burrell trey with five minutes remaining, but Lehigh wouldn't back down. The Mountain Hawk defense bore down while the offense got a three from Cvrkalj, two Price free throws, a Goldsborough Dunk and consecutive McKnight layups to pull within two (50-48) with 58 seconds on the clock.
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However, Dudzinski hit a big shot 20 seconds later to give Holy Cross a four-point advantage. Cvrkalj had a good luck on the ensuing possession, but the shot wouldn't fall and the Crusaders knocked down two free throws for the 54-48 final.
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"I thought this was our game," said McKnight. "We've been in this situation all season. I had faith that we'd pull it out, but Dudzinski made a good shot. He made a turnaround jumper I didn't think he was going to make. He's a great player, he made that shot and they deserved to win."
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Lehigh finished at 32 percent from the field (20-of-62) and 14 percent from three-point range (3-of-21). Holy Cross shot 40 percent (21-of-52) and 35 percent from long distance (6-of-17). The Mountain Hawks won the battle of the boards, 40-34.
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The Mountain Hawks end their season 14-18 highlighted by a big win at regular season champion Boston University. Lehigh also owned win streaks of five and four games, respectively, defeating a pair of teams who made the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
HC
FG%
.323
.404
3FG%
.143
.353
FT%
.833
.545
RB
40
34
TO
12
12
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
2
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