Wednesday, December 30
Stabler Arena
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
2-10, 0-1PL
82
vs
88
Army West Point
10-3, 1-0PL
1
2
F
Army West Point
45
43
88
Lehigh
34
48
82
Lehigh’s comeback attempt falls short vs. Army West Point, 88-82
12/30/2015 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Trailing by as many as 20 in the first half, the Lehigh men's basketball team came back with a vengeance, but it wasn't enough as Army West Point held on to win the Patriot League opener, 88-82 on Wednesday evening. The Mountain Hawks pulled as close as five in the second half, but the Black Knights always had an answer. Junior Tim Kempton dominated in his return from injury, scoring 20 second-half points to finish with 28 for the game.
"I thought Army came out with great fire and great energy," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "They made shots. It wasn't anything we didn't know or expect. Those are the things we talked about and tried to prepare for, but the execution of trying to shut them down wasn't as strong as it needed to be. On the flip side, I thought our team showed good character, even on the bench. Guys were talking to each other, telling each other to keep our heads, eventually turning a 20-point deficit into a much more competitive game. It says a little something about the guys wearing the Lehigh white jerseys. Unfortunately, we didn't play with the same type of energy or urgency we needed for a full 40 minutes."
Kempton finished the evening 11-of-19 from the field, tallying five rebounds as well. Classmate Austin Price added 22 points for his third 20-point effort of the season while senior Jesse Chuku recorded 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with eight rebounds, two assists, a block and steal. Chuku scored 12 of those points in the first half.
"Tim was rusty, missing his first two free throws and missing some finishes," said Reed. "He had some opportunities he didn't convert. We talked at halftime; I felt one of the ways we could settle down is make sure he finished on the interior. That way, Army had to take the ball out of bounds and they had to slow down their break. There were some opportunities for us to get ourselves settled."
Sophomore Kahron Ross tallied six points, five rebounds and a season-high two assists, just two from tying his career high (which is also a school record) of 14. Army was on fire in the early going, shooting 62 percent from the field in the first half and 70 percent from three-point range, but the Mountain Hawks pulled within 11 points at the half. Tanner Plomb led the Black Knights with 23 points.
The teams went back and forth in the early going, which featured four lead changes. Lehigh led 7-6 after a Ross jumper, but Army responded with four straight points and wouldn't trail the rest of the way.
Leading 11-9, the Black Knights went on a 12-0 run to take a 23-9 lead following a Larry Toomey three-pointer with 12:31 on the first-half clock. Freshman Kyle Leufroy ended a 3:31 scoreless drought with a jumper, but Army began increasing its lead, eventually reaching 20 at 36-16 with 7:00 on the first-half clock.
The margin remained between 15 and 20 for the ensuing minutes until the Mountain Hawks ended the half on a 7-0 run. Layups from Kempton and Price, followed by a Chuku three-pointer, pulled Lehigh within 45-34 after 20 minutes of play.
The Mountain Hawks continued the momentum into the second half, scoring seven of the first nine points to extend their run to 14-2 as a Price transition three made the score 47-41 with 18:16 on the clock.
Army responded, reopening a 12-point, 55-43 advantage, but the Mountain Hawks continually fought back. Lehigh pulled back within seven on multiple occasions, eventually making it a five-point, 61-56, game following consecutive Kempton layups with 10:16 left in the second half.
The Black Knights again reopened a double-figure advantage, but the Mountain Hawks had one last run in them. Trailing 79-68 with 3:13 remaining, Lehigh used a mini 6-1 run to pull back within six (80-74) with 1:43 still remaining. However, Army responded with a three-pointer just nine seconds later to make the margin nine, which proved too much to overcome.
Lehigh shot 55 percent in the second half (18-of-33) to reach 46 percent for the game (31-of-67). The Mountain Hawks knocked down 6-of-9 three-pointers in the second to finish the game at 56 percent (10-of-18). Army finished at 55 percent (33-of-60) and 46 percent from three-point range (12-of-26). The Black Knights won the battle of the boards, 39-30.
"Decision making on offense was part of tonight's outcome," said Reed. "Our shot selection in the first half was terrible; it was uncharacteristic. I think we got caught up in the tempo of the game, were too hyped and didn't channel it the right way. Those shot selection issues had to be resolved. Then in the second half, the story was unforced turnovers. We were ready and poised to make a charge, but all of a sudden, we threw the ball out of bounds three times in five or six possessions. It deflated us and took away opportunities to close that gap."
Lehigh remains home on Saturday for the final game of its four-game homestand when the Mountain Hawks host Boston University at 2 p.m.
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Team Stats
ARMY
LEHIGH
FG%
.550
.463
3FG%
.462
.556
FT%
.833
.500
RB
39
30
TO
17
10
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Pts
28
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballC/F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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