Sunday, November 22
New York, N.Y.
4:00 pm
Lehigh University
0-4
61
at
88
Columbia
2-2
1
2
F
Lehigh
22
39
61
Columbia
41
47
88
Columbia surges past Mountain Hawks
11/22/2015 7:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK - Columbia broke open a close first half and wouldn't look back as the Lehigh men's basketball team pulled within 14, but couldn't get any closer in an 88-61 loss on Sunday. Junior Tim Kempton led Lehigh offensively with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 7-of-9 from the free throw line, while also adding seven rebounds. Senior Jesse Chuku scored 14 points while sophomore Kahron Ross tallied eight points and seven assists.
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"It was disappointing that we weren't able to get a little bit more push in the second half," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought we scored the ball in the second half much better, showed some life and some heart, but we were unable to get stops. The story of the game was being unable to protect the paint. They were driving at will and using the three-point shot against us and we didn't do a good enough job of marking shooters."
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Lehigh did pull within 14 in the second half, but Columbia pulled away down the stretch, especially in the game's final minutes when both teams had cleared their bench.
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The teams went back-and-forth in the early going as a pair of three-pointers, from Chuku and junior Austin Price, gave the Mountain Hawks a 6-4 advantage with 17:53 on the first-half clock. The back-and-forth play continued over the ensuing minutes as the Lions opened a three-point lead on multiple occasions.
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A Kempton layup pulled Lehigh within 13-12 with 15:14 on the clock, but the Mountain Hawks' offense would go cold, and Columbia took advantage. The Lions staged a 9-0 run capped off by a CJ Davis three-pointer, giving them a 22-12 advantage and forcing a Lehigh timeout with 9:10 left in the first half.
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Two Kempton free throws with 8:56 on the clock snapped a 6:18 scoreless drought, pulling the Mountain Hawks within 22-14. However, Columbia had an answer, opening a 31-16 lead following a Grant Mullins trey. The margin reached 18, Lehigh answered with four straight points behind a Ross jumper and pair of Kempton free throws, but the Lions scored the final five first-half points to take their largest lead into the locker room at 41-22.
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"We've got to do a better job on the perimeter to contain our individual matchups," said Reed. "Columbia, to their credit, has a very mobile five man (Luke Petrasek) who can shoot from the perimeter and drive. I think he was 5-for-6 from the field in the first half with good activity level. We were a little bit loose in that particular matchup. We need to be able to guard the ball."
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Lehigh took it to Columbia early in the second half, but couldn't pull any closer than 15. The Mountain Hawks hit three treys early in the half, by Kempton, senior Devon Carter and Price. Price's three-pointer pulled Lehigh within 50-35 with 13:54 left in the second half.
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The Lions opened a 21-point, 63-42 lead, but the Mountain Hawks continued to chip away. Lehigh staged a 7-0 run behind a Chuku three-pointer, Ross layup and Justin Goldsborough layup off a nifty feed from Kempton. That pulled Lehigh within 63-49 with 7:05 left in the second half.
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Columbia quickly answered as two Maodo Lo three-pointers just over one minute apart gave the Lions a 69-51 advantage with 5:28 on the clock. The Lions went on to open a 20-point lead, on their way to the 88-61 final.
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Lehigh shot 42 percent for the game (22-of-52) and 37 percent from three-point range (7-of-19). Columbia finished at 58 percent (28-of-48) and 55 percent from long distance (11-of-20). The Lions won the battle of the boards, 36-24.
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The Mountain Hawks will remain on the road for games against a pair of Top 25 foes: at No. 6 Virginia on Wednesday and No. 21 Purdue next Saturday. Both games can be seen live on ESPN3/WatchESPN.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
COL
FG%
.423
.583
3FG%
.368
.550
FT%
.625
.700
RB
24
36
TO
14
13
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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