Wednesday, January 28
Lewisburg, Pa.
8:00 pm
Lehigh University
10-10, 4-5PL
62
at
68
Bucknell
12-10, 7-2PL
1
2
F
Lehigh
26
36
62
BUCKNELL
23
45
68
Mountain Hawks lose heartbreaker at Bucknell, 68-62
1/28/2015 10:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team opened a 16-point second-half lead, but Bucknell responded with lights-out shooting down the stretch as the Mountain Hawks lost a 68-62 heartbreaker on Wednesday evening in Sojka Pavilion. Sophomore Tim Kempton had 11 points and six rebounds, but was in foul trouble for most of the second half which limited his minutes. Freshman Kahron Ross led the offense with 18 points which included 3-of-5 from three-point range. Lehigh now returns home on Saturday to host Boston University at 2 p.m.
"We continued to give the ball up," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "In many cases, they were unforced turnovers. They were mental errors, just taking chances at a time when we needed to be secure with the basketball. We weren't and that helped fuel their run. After we built the lead, we just made some bad basketball plays to give them life and give them an opportunity to get right back into the game."
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Ross' 18 points came on 5-of-11 shooting, 3-of-5 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Kempton added six rebounds (all in the first half). Junior Justin Goldsborough enjoyed a strong game with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with five rebounds, but he too was in foul trouble as he fouled out in the final minute. Senior Conroy Baltimore played well off the bench, tallying four points and two rebounds in a season-high 13 minutes.
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Zach Thomas was the story for Bucknell. He scored a game-high 19 points, 15 coming in the second half. Thomas was a perfect 3-of-3 on three-pointers, all coming in the final minutes to turn a Bison deficit into a four-point lead. Bucknell ended the game by scoring 34 of the game's final 46 points.
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"Zach Thomas had an excellent game against Lafayette," said Reed. "He's a guy who can get hot in a hurry. He's got perimeter skills from a forward position. We were aware that he was a shooter. They ended up getting some deep penetration to give him some open opportunities. What are you going to do with the last one? He banks it in from almost the Sojka Pavilion logo. It's just one of those days when the momentum changed completely in this game and they ended up coming out with the victory."
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Both teams' offenses struggled in the early going. Bucknell scored first, but Lehigh answered with the next four points, an Austin Price jumper and Goldsborough layup, to make it 4-2 Mountain Hawks.
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The Bison answered with six straight points behind a pair of John Azzinaro threes, but Lehigh came right back with five in a row as a Ross three-pointer and Kempton post move and finish gave his squad a 9-8 advantage with 11:41 on the first-half clock.
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A Chris Hass three-pointer, his first points of the night, gave Bucknell a 13-11 lead, but the Mountain Hawks responded in a big way, staging a 10-0 run which began with a Kempton basket and included a Goldsborough layup, Corey Schaefer jumper and four straight free throws. Two Ross free throws gave the Mountain Hawks a 21-13 lead with 5:43 on the clock.
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From there, Lehigh struggled offensively the rest of the half, scoring just five points the rest of the way and none over the final three minutes. Bucknell ended the half on an 8-0 run to pull within 26-23 after 20 minutes of play.
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Goldsborough and Ross each had seven first-half points while Kempton had six points and six rebounds. Azzinaro led Bucknell with six points. Lehigh shot 35 percent in the first half (10-of-29) to Bucknell's 27 percent (7-of-26).
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Lehigh quickly extended its lead in the second half, scoring six of the first eight points of the half, four coming from Goldsborough, to make it 32-25.
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Minutes later, a Bucknell three-pointer pulled the Bison within five at 35-30, but the Mountain Hawks responded with an 8-0 run capped off by a Ross three-pointer to give Lehigh a 43-30 lead, forcing a Bison timeout with 14:04 on the clock.
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Lehigh eventually extended its lead to 16 on multiple occasions, beginning with a Kempton three-point play to make it 48-32 with 11:09 left in the second half.
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With the Mountain Hawks leading 50-34, the Bison scored nine of the next 12 points as a J.C. Show three-pointer pulled Bucknell within 53-43, forcing a Lehigh timeout with 6:58 remaining.
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The Bison run continued as they scored the next five points then pulled within two following a Thomas three-point play with 3:12 on the clock.
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Bucknell's offense continued its potent shooting as Thomas hit three consecutive three-pointers, the last one being a long three which was banked in, to give the Bison a 64-60 advantage with 1:27 remaining. Thomas' three-pointer less than a minute earlier gave Bucknell its first lead since early in the first half. Lehigh pulled back within a single possession, but the Bison hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the 68-62 final.
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For the game, Lehigh shot 43 percent from the field (25-of-58) and 33 percent from three-point range (4-of-12). Bucknell shot 38 percent (21-of-56) and 38 percent from long distance (9-of-24). The Bison won the battle of the boards, 39-32.
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Lehigh will return home for two straight games as the Mountain Hawks host Boston University on Saturday (1 p.m.) before welcoming Army next Wednesday (7 p.m.).
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
BUCKNELL
FG%
.431
.375
3FG%
.333
.375
FT%
.727
.654
RB
32
39
TO
11
10
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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