Saturday, January 31
Stabler Arena
2:00 pm
Lehigh University
11-10, 5-5PL
89
vs
86
Boston University
8-13, 4-6PL
1
2
F
Boston University
23
63
86
Lehigh
45
44
89
Lehigh holds on to beat Boston University 89-86 for third straight home win
1/31/2015 5:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team outscored Boston University 45-23 in the first half before holding off a valiant Terriers' second-half comeback to pick up an 89-86 win on Saturday afternoon in Stabler Arena. Sophomore Tim Kempton led the offense with 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists while freshman Kahron Ross tallied his third-career double-double with 18 points and ten assists, marking his second straight game with 18 points. With the win, Lehigh improves to 11-10 overall and 5-5 in Patriot League play while the Terriers fall to 8-13 and 4-6 in the league.
"Boston University showed some pride," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought our defense was very good in the first half and we moved the ball very well. I thought in the second half, we ended up getting stagnant after beating some of their pressure in getting to the half court. We had no answer for the dribble penetration that they ultimately put on us. They were scoring at the rim and scoring at the rim quickly, without even passing the basketball."
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Sophomore Austin Price enjoyed a strong game with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Junior Jesse Chuku scored 12 points, all in the first half, on 4-of-8 shooting and 3-of-5 from three-point range.
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Five Terriers reached double-figure points, led by Eric Fanning who had 24 points. Boston University's five starters, and Fanning off the bench, combined for all 86 of its points.
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"They were on a roll and we were unable to stop them," said Reed. "It was really unfortunate that it came down to the stretch, but you have to give Eric Fanning credit. He was in attack mode and as he was attacking, it was a big challenge for us because of their ability to spread the floor."
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Lehigh's defense allowed just 23 first-half points, a season-best for a second straight game. The Mountain Hawks also allowed 23 in their previous game at Bucknell. Meanwhile, Lehigh's 89 points marked a season high against a Division I school.
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Lehigh got off to a hot start from the get-go and it carried through the first half. Leading 6-4, Kempton hit a jumper and layup on consecutive possessions to give the Mountain Hawks a 10-4 lead. Kempton scored eight of Lehigh's first ten points on the afternoon.
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A Price three-pointer gave the Mountain Hawks a 16-8 lead with 11:51 on the first-half clock then just over a minute later, he completed a three-point play to give Lehigh its first double-digit lead at 21-11. Leading 23-13, the Mountain Hawks used a 7-0 surge which included a Justin Goldsborough three-point play and another Kempton basket, to make it 30-13 with 7:39 on the clock.
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The lead continued to swell as a Brandon Alston three-point play and Chuku three-pointer, made it 37-18 with 4:40 remaining. A minute later, Corey Schaefer followed with a pull-up jumper to give the Mountain Hawks their first 20-point advantage at 39-18 with 3:42 left in the first half.
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A Boston University three-point play pulled the Terriers within 19 in the final minute, but Chuku hit a contested three as time expired to make it 45-23 after 20 minutes of play.
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Lehigh shot 64 percent in the first half (18-of-28) and 80 percent from three-point range (4-of-5). Boston University shot 36 percent (10-of-28) and 17 percent from long distance (2-of-12). Chuku had 12 first-half points which included 3-of-3 from long range while Kempton had ten points and three rebounds.
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The Terriers came out of the locker room on fire, scoring the first ten points to pull within 45-33 and force a Mountain Hawks' timeout with 17:34 on the clock.
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On the ensuing possession, Kempton scored Lehigh's first points of the second half via a layup, which helped spark the Mountain Hawks' offense. Lehigh began to build its lead back up, reaching 17 (54-37) after a pair of Kempton free throws with 15:02 remaining.
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Lehigh's lead reached 20 after a Price three-pointer which made it 64-44 with just over 11 minutes to go. The lead remained between 14 and 20 over the ensuing minutes until Boston University made one last run. With the Mountain Hawks leading 64-44, the Terriers scored six straight points as a Fanning layup pulled the Terriers within 64-50 with 9:14 on the clock.
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Lehigh went on to open a 16-point lead with 7:02 remaining, but the Terriers wouldn't back down. Boston University pulled to single digits after a Cheddi Mosely jumper made it 74-65 with exactly four minutes left in the second half.
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Ross responded with a big three-pointer at the top of the key to momentarily stop the bleeding and give the Mountain Hawks a 12-point, 77-65 advantage. However, Boston University would not go away.
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The Terriers continued to claw back as a Mosely layup pulled the Terriers within 81-75. Boston U continued to pressure and force turnovers, which made it interesting, but the Mountain Hawks were 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the final minute, including a perfect 8-of-8 for Ross. Even with the success from the charity stripe, Boston University found itself down three with eight seconds remaining. John Papale got a decent look at a three-pointer as time expired, but it was off line as Lehigh held on for the victory.
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"We'll take it. It wasn't the way we drew it up, but we survived," said Reed. "Hopefully, in these situations when we're trying to close out games, we can learn, grow, adjust and stick to a formula that works and produces a positive result. It could have been easy for our guys to totally lose focus and lose faith, but I'm glad a young freshman (Kahron Ross) stepped up to the line and made key free throws when he needed to and we were able to close out the win."
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Lehigh shot 55 percent from the field (29-of-53) and 57 percent from three-point range (8-of-14). Boston University shot 49 percent (31-of-63) and 28 percent from long distance (7-of-25). The Mountain Hawks held a 33-26 edge in rebounds.
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Lehigh will remain home on Wednesday to host Army at 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks then hit the road next Saturday (Feb. 7) at Loyola.
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Team Stats
BOSTONU
LEHIGH
FG%
.492
.547
3FG%
.280
.571
FT%
.773
.719
RB
26
33
TO
6
12
STL
6
2
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
18
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
9
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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