Wednesday, January 14
Washington, D.C.
7:30 pm
Lehigh University
(7-9, 1-4PL)
59
at
62
American
(10-7, 3-2PL)
1
2
F
Lehigh
35
24
59
American
35
27
62
Gardner last-second three-pointer leads American over Lehigh, 62-59
1/14/2015 10:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Lehigh men's basketball team got off to a hot start and held a slim lead for much of the game, but American's Pee Wee Gardner knocked down a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining to hand the Mountain Hawks a heartbreaking 62-59 defeat on Wednesday evening. Sophomore Tim Kempton had a monster game with a season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds, scoring the game-tying layup with less than ten seconds remaining. However, the Eagles went the other way and hit a trey that improved their home record to 3-0 in Patriot League play.
"Essentially it was kind of true to form," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed about the last play. "(Assistant coach) Ryan Krueger did a nice job. He actually had a sheet, a paper, with what we could expect to see run. We talked about switching on that screen so we could come up and challenge. We just didn't execute. Unfortunately, that's as simple as it is. It's really disappointing because I thought we did a good job having them use more time in the back court, having to take some slower dribbles up. He really only had one option and that was to let it go, but unfortunately, we weren't up with him."
Kempton's effort was good for his eighth double-double of the season and 14th of his career as he finished 10-of-17 from the field against the defending Patriot League Champions and preseason favorites. Sophomore Austin Price scored 13 points while freshman Brandon Alston scored ten on 4-of-6 shooting.
Jesse Reed was the story offensively for American, tallying 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Only one other Eagles' player reached double-figure points.
"Everybody is extremely disappointed because we put ourselves in a position where we could potentially win that game," said Reed. "There were some things to build upon. We made some errors, we made some mistakes, but you wouldn't look at us and say our emotional energy level was low, they were flat, they did this or did that. It was ultimately a game that came down to the wire. When we're trying to put together a string of 40 minutes, it's nice to see that evolve and progress a little bit."
American knocked down a three-pointer on the game's first possession, but Lehigh answered with points on each of its following three possessions as a Price basket gave the Mountain Hawks a 6-3 advantage with 17:24 on the clock. The teams traded points over the ensuing minutes before Lehigh opened a five-point lead for the first time as a Kempton jumper made it 14-9 with 13:31 left in the first half.
Lehigh continued to click offensively, sparked by Alston who scored six points in just over three minutes as a jumper gave the Mountain Hawks a 19-14 lead with 12:09 on the clock.
Lehigh's lead hovered between three and six over the following minutes as a Kahron Ross offensive rebound led to a Kempton layup, giving the Mountain Hawks a 27-22 advantage with 6:55 left in the first half. American responded by going on an 8-2 run as a pair of Charlie Jones free throws gave American its first lead since the early going, making it 30-29 with 4:10 left in the half.
The teams traded leads over the final minutes as a pair of Price free throws tied the score 35-35 at the half.
Kempton led Lehigh with 13 first-half points and five rebounds behind 5-of-10 shooting. Alston added six points on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field. Reed led American with 16 of its 35 points. The Mountain Hawks shot 46 percent from the field (13-of-28) and did not hit a three-pointer (0-of-6) while American shot 46 percent (10-of-22) and 46 percent from long range (5-of-11).
Lehigh scored six of the first nine second-half points as a Kempton layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 41-38 advantage with 17:19 on the clock before Gardner immediately answered with a three.
Tied at 43, the Mountain Hawks scored five straight points including a four-point possession when Price knocked down a free throw on an American technical foul then followed with a three-pointer following nice ball movement. That gave Lehigh a 48-43 advantage with just over 12 minutes remaining.
The Eagles answered with a 7-0 run as a John Schoof three-pointer gave American a 50-48 lead with 8:55 on the clock. The teams traded baskets as a short Kempton jumper ended more than a three-minute scoreless drought to tie the score at 50 with 8:33 left in the second half.
American scored the next five, but Lehigh answered with four straight as an Alston three-pointer pulled the Mountain Hawks within one (55-54) with 5:35 remaining. The Eagles responded to go up 59-56 after a Reed layup, but Lehigh battled back to even the score at 59 after a Kempton post move and short jumper with just nine seconds remaining.
However, after a timeout, Gardner knocked down a three at the top of the key with just 0.8 seconds remaining to give American the 62-59 victory.
Lehigh shot 45 percent from the field (22-of-49), but just 15 percent from three-point range (2-of-13) while American shot 44 percent (21-of-48) and 39 percent from long distance (9-of-23). The Mountain Hawks dominated the boards, 37-24.
The Mountain Hawks return home to host Holy Cross on Saturday. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
AMERICAN
FG%
.449
.438
3FG%
.154
.391
FT%
.765
.647
RB
37
24
TO
14
8
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballC/F
/ Men's BasketballG
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