Wednesday, January 21
Stabler Arena
7:00 pm
Lehigh University
9-9, 3-4PL
61
vs
47
Navy
7-12, 3-4PL
1
2
F
Navy
28
19
47
Lehigh
29
32
61
Balanced team effort leads Lehigh past Navy, 61-47
1/21/2015 10:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Four different Mountain Hawks reached double-figure points and the defense allowed a season-low 47 points in a 61-47 win over Navy on Wednesday evening in Stabler Arena. The win marks Lehigh's second in a row as the squad moves back to .500 on the season at 9-9. The Mountain Hawks also defeated Navy for a tenth straight time and improve to 3-4 in Patriot League play, just two games out of first place with 11 league games still remaining.
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Freshman Brandon Alston led the way with 14 points and a career-high six rebounds, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Ten of his points came in the first half.
"Brandon stepped up and made those shots," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Not every shot was a great shot, but he was able to convert to give us a little bit of offensive life and that's what we need from him. He's got a scorer's mentality; he's got excellent shot mechanics. When the ball is released, we feel like it's got a pretty good chance of going in, particularly when he shoots good shots. That's been one of the challenges with Brandon, just helping him understand how to pick and choose his moments, how to work with his teammates in a positive way so the ball continues to move."
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Sophomore Austin Price added 11 points and four rebounds while junior Justin Goldsborough and sophomore Tim Kempton each had ten points apiece. Kempton added nine rebounds, falling just one short of his third-straight double-double. Lehigh turned the ball over just nine times as a team, including only one turnover from freshman point guard Kahron Ross. Ross finished the game with nine points and seven assists, all seven coming in the second half.
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"Ultimately, I thought Brandon's first half really helped us," said Reed. "I thought Tim got us established early and Brandon took over. In the second half, we got more of an offensive contribution from Justin Goldsborough, but it was really special to watch Kahron Ross in the second half almost pick the defense apart and find his opportunities."
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Tilman Dunbar led the Midshipmen with 13 points and seven of his team's ten assists. Brandon Venturini scored ten points, but on just 3-of-16 shooting.
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Wednesday was the Mountain Hawks' Coaches vs. Cancer game as the Lehigh coaching staff wore suits and sneakers to highlight the fact that while cancer remains a major health concern, everyone can take daily steps to reduce their risk of the disease.
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Navy got off to a hot start, taking an 8-2 lead after a Dunbar layup with 16:02 on the clock. Leading 10-6, the Mountain Hawks scored 15 of the next 20 points, due in large part to the hot shooting of Alston. Alston knocked down a three-pointer midway through the half then followed two minutes later with a long jumper then another trey just 33 seconds after that. A Price three-pointer (from Alston) gave Lehigh a 21-15 lead with 6:41 left in the first half.
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The Mids began to chip away over the ensuing minutes, pulling even at 26 following a Dunbar layup with 50 seconds remaining, but a Price three-pointer on the following possession helped Lehigh take a 29-28 lead at the half.
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Alston scored ten first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting while Kempton added seven points and Price had six. Lehigh shot 46 percent in the first 20 minutes (11-of-24) while the Midshipmen shot 39 percent (11-of-28).
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Navy took an early second-half advantage at 30-29, but that lead was short-lived as Lehigh broke a 34-34 tie with a 10-0 run, which included points from four different players. Ross knocked down a corner three to give Lehigh a 39-34 lead then two minutes later, junior Jesse Chuku drained a jumper to make it 44-34, forcing a Navy timeout with 13:32 on the clock.
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Both teams went on a long scoreless drought of over a three-minute span midway through the half until Navy pulled within six on two occasions. Lehigh had an answer, however, as seven straight points (all from freshmen), increased the margin to 15 (57-42). A Chuku three-pointer gave Lehigh its largest lead of 18 (61-43) as Lehigh went on to the 61-47 victory.
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Lehigh shot 45 percent for the game (23-of-51) and 41 percent from three-point range (7-of-17). Navy shot 38 percent (20-of-53) and 20 percent from long distance (4-of-20). The Mountain Hawks won the battle of the boards, 35-33.
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Lehigh will hit the road for the next two games as the Mountain Hawks travel to Lafayette on Saturday (2 p.m.) and Bucknell next Wednesday (8 p.m.).
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Team Stats
NAVY
LEHIGH
FG%
.370
.451
3FG%
.190
.412
FT%
.333
.667
RB
33
35
TO
10
9
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
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