Wednesday, February 25
Stabler Arena
7:00 pm
Lehigh University
16-12, 10-7PL
84
vs
65
Bucknell
17-13, 12-5PL
1
2
F
BUCKNELL
26
39
65
Lehigh
42
42
84
Lehigh dominates Bucknell 84-65 to earn quarterfinal home game
2/25/2015 10:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team never trailed, extending its lead to as much as 28 on the way to an 84-65 win over first-place Bucknell on Wednesday evening in Stabler Arena. Six Mountain Hawks tallied eight or more points in an impressive all-around effort. Freshman Kahron Ross led the way with 17 points and 10 assists for his fourth-career double-double while sophomore Austin Price scored 16 points and junior Jesse Chuku added 14 off the bench. With the win, the Mountain Hawks improved to 16-12 overall and 10-7 in league play while Bucknell falls to 17-13 and 12-5 in the league. In the process, Lehigh clinched a home game and the #3 seed in the Patriot League Quarterfinals next Thursday.
"I was looking forward to a Lehigh team that would play with a commitment on defense and play with a great deal of confidence on offense," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "That's exactly what we saw tonight."
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Ross finished 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line as the freshman fell just two points shy of his career high.
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"Kahron has the ability to make plays off the dribble and find people," said Reed. "He settles our offense down and creates offense for other people. His defense at times was very good for us tonight. He's going to convert from the free throw line, then seeing him make a top-of-the key jump shot and everything else that he was doing, was really important. When you look at his body of work, it was really impressive and he really helped fuel us."
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Chuku's 14 points included 4-of-5 from three-point range. Sophomore Miles Simelton also scored eight points off the bench. Junior Justin Goldsborough also scored nine points while adding a game-high 11 rebounds. As a team, the Mountain Hawks shot 53 percent from the field while holding Bucknell to just 35 percent shooting. The Bison missed their first seven shots from the field.
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"We went for a long time without scoring towards the beginning of the game," said Reed. "We inserted some bench players and Jesse came in and knocked down some shots. He had a beautiful rhythm on his shot fake and one-dribble pull-up. He was able to get easy looks, saw the bottom of the net and played with confidence from there. Miles also has that ability to really spark us. I think guys feed off him."
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Defense was the story in the early going as neither team scored until Goldsborough finished a post move with 16:36 left in the first half. A Price layup and Corey Schaefer jumper gave Lehigh a 6-0 lead.
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The Bison finally scored with 13:53 on the first-half clock behind a Nana Foulland jumper. Bucknell followed with a three-pointer to pull within 6-5, but Lehigh answered in a big way. The Mountain Hawks staged a 19-3 run over the middle stages of the first half. The run included three treys, from Price, Chuku and Simelton as Simelton's trey gave Lehigh a 25-8 lead with 7:24 left in the first half.
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Bucknell responded by scoring seven of the next nine points as a Foulland free throw pulled the Bison within 12 at 27-15 with 4:55 on the first-half clock.
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Lehigh responded with a 6-0 run which included a Chuku three (his second of the half in as many attempts) and a Goldsborough layup to make it 33-15 with 3:07 remaining. Leading by 18 with just over two minutes on the clock, the Bison made a run as a Ryan Frazier three-pointer pulled his squad within 12. However, a Schaefer layup and Ross jumper gave Lehigh a 42-26 lead at the half.
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Price led the Mountain Hawks with nine first-half points while Ross had six points and seven assists. Chuku added eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and 2-of-2 from three-point range.
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Bucknell pulled within 15 after a Chris Hass three-pointer a minute into the second half, but the Mountain Hawks responded as a Kempton layup gave Lehigh a 21-point, 52-31 advantage.
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The Lehigh lead remained between 16 and 21 over the ensuing minutes until a Chuku three-pointer made it 60-36 with 13:34 remaining. Leading 64-46, the Mountain Hawks scored 15 of the next 19 points to open a 79-51 advantage after a Price three-point play with 6:41 remaining.
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Lehigh cruised from that point forward. Bucknell pulled as close as 16, but that came with under one minute remaining as the Mountain Hawks wrapped up the 84-65 victory.
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Lehigh shot 53 percent for the game (31-of-58) and 50 percent from three-point range (8-of-16). Bucknell shot 35 percent (22-of-63) and 26 percent from long distance (7-of-27). The Mountain Hawks dominated the boards, 43-33.
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The Mountain Hawks will wrap up the regular season on Saturday at Colgate. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Tickets for the Patriot League Quarterfinals, set for next Thursday (Mar. 5) are now on sale and can be purchased here.
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Team Stats
BUCKNELL
LEHIGH
FG%
.349
.534
3FG%
.259
.500
FT%
.609
.700
RB
33
43
TO
9
12
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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