Wednesday, January 7
West Point, N.Y.
7:00 pm
Lehigh University
7-7, 1-2PL
71
at
60
Army
10-4, 1-2PL
1
2
F
Lehigh
28
43
71
Army
28
32
60
Lehigh’s defense shines in impressive 71-60 win at Army
1/7/2015 9:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Lehigh's defense was on top of its game from the get-go, holding the league's leading offense to just 28 first-half points and just 60 for the game in an impressive 71-60 win on Wednesday evening. The 60 points were by far a season low for Army as its previous low was 72. The Black Knights were averaging 79.2 points per game coming in. Four Mountain Hawks finished with double-figure points, led by sophomore Tim Kempton who had 19 points and ten rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season (and 13th of his career).
"What I saw from our team was a high level of commitment, a high level of energy and a high level of communication," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought they worked well together, really pulled together when they needed to and were there to challenge shots. Tonight, we didn't allow Army to get in their normal rhythm. It wasn't a night where everyone felt like they were on. We've had some slower play to begin games, lower energy plays to begin games and we've ignited some fires of some pretty good players. Tonight, we seemed to hold it down and hold it under control and I really liked the fact that we were able to get some key rebounds when we needed to."
Freshman Kahron Ross had an impressive bounce back game with 13 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Junior Justin Goldsborough tallied 13 points while senior Corey Schaefer had ten points and a career-high seven rebounds (with ten points and five rebounds coming out of halftime). Senior Stefan Cvrkalj enjoyed a strong game as well with five points, five rebounds, three assists, a block and steal.
Army was led by 17 points by Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Kyle Wilson, but the Mountain Hawks held him to 6-of-18 shooting. The Black Knights shot just 34 percent from the field after entering with a sizzling 47 percent field goal percentage.
"We were fortunate to be able to turn Army's defensive pressure and aggressiveness against them, whether it was spacing the floor or playing the pick and roll," said Reed. "I thought Kahron did an excellent job of continuing to probe and look. He found some people for some finishes, even a beautiful lob play to Justin Goldsborough. We were able to attack at the rim because we were rolling and driving hard at the rim. It was really pleasing to see Corey Schaefer come out as aggressively as he did to begin the second half and help establish us."
Goldsborough got Lehigh on the board on its first possession, but Army responded with eight straight points behind a pair of threes and a Kevin Ferguson dunk. Lehigh answered by scoring six of the next eight points, beginning with a Goldsborough offensive rebound and layup. Ross also had a driving layup then a long Goldsborough jumper pulled the Mountain Hawks within 10-8 with exactly 14 minutes on the first-half clock.
Army responded with eight of the next 11 points as a Tanner Plomb trey gave the Black Knights an 18-11 lead with 10:24 left in the first. Junior Jesse Chuku answered with a three on the following possession, but not long after, both teams went nearly four minutes without any points. Another Goldsborough basket ended the drought, but eventually, Army's sixth three-pointer of the half helped the Black Knights regain a seven-point, 23-16 lead.
The Mountain Hawks responded with a 9-0 run, beginning with a Kempton jumper and concluding with a Cvrkalj fastbreak three, to give Lehigh its first lead of the game (25-23) with 3:28 on the clock. Down three in the final seconds, Ross converted a three-point play to even the score at 28 after 20 minutes of play.
Goldsborough led Lehigh with eight first-half points while Ross had seven points, four assists and three rebounds. Lehigh shot 39 percent from the field (11-of-28) to Army's 37 percent (11-of-30).
The teams traded baskets early in the second half until Lehigh staged an 8-0 run behind four straight points from Kempton and drives to the basket from Schaefer and sophomore Austin Price. That gave Lehigh a 38-32 lead with 17:43 left in the second half, forcing an Army timeout.
Another Price layup extended the run to 10-0 and gave the Mountain Hawks an eight-point lead. However, Army answered with the next four to pull within 40-36. A Schaefer three-pointer helped Lehigh regain a seven-point lead at 46-39 with 14:10 left in the second half, but Army answered with 11 of the next 13 points as a Kyle Wilson trey gave the Black Knights a 50-48 lead, forcing a Lehigh timeout with 10:26 on the clock.
The Mountain Hawks immediately answered with a vengeance, staging an 11-0 run behind consecutive three-point plays from Kempton, a Goldsborough layup and three straight Lehigh free throws, to take a 59-50 lead with 8:11 left in the second half.
Lehigh continued to roll, eventually opening a 12-point, 68-56 lead with 3:36 remaining. Army couldn't pull any closer than nine the rest of the way as the Mountain Hawks held on for their first Patriot League victory of the young season.
The Mountain Hawks shot 46 percent for the game (26-of-57) and 27 percent from three-point range (3-of-11). Army shot 34 percent (21-of-62) and 29 percent from long distance (9-of-31). Lehigh won the battle of the boards, 39-38.
Lehigh returns home on Saturday to host Loyola. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
ARMY
FG%
.456
.339
3FG%
.273
.290
FT%
.696
.600
RB
39
38
TO
16
16
STL
4
7
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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