Saturday, February 7
Baltimore, Md.
7:00 pm

Lehigh University

69
at
63

Loyola

Mountain Hawks pull out hard-fought 69-63 road win at Loyola

2/7/2015 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball



BALTIMORE - The Lehigh men's basketball team led for most of the game and held off a relentless Loyola squad, 69-63 on Saturday evening. Sophomore Tim Kempton led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds while junior Justin Goldsborough had 13 points, eight boards and three blocks playing in front of many friends and family. Included was a big block in the final seconds that helped seal the victory. The win marks Lehigh's sixth in its last seven games as the Mountain Hawks improve to 13-10 overall and 7-5 in Patriot League play. Loyola falls to 9-14 and 5-7 in the league. 
"It was very important for us to be able to hold onto our lead," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "In the middle of the second half, I thought we started to lose a little momentum. Loyola was driving hard and was getting to the free throw line. We were struggling on the glass and Loyola just came out after us. They play hard and aggressively, but ultimately, we had a lot of guys step up and a lot of guys make plays."  
 
Kempton scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half as he finished 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Goldsborough was an efficient 5-of-8 from the field. Junior Jesse Chuku added 11 points, all in the first half, while freshman Kahron Ross tallied 10 points and five assists, including several free throws down the stretch. Sophomore Miles Simelton scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting while senior Corey Schaefer added six.
 
Eric Laster led the Greyhounds with 16 points and five rebounds. Chancellor Barnard added 14 points.
 
Loyola scored first, but Lehigh responded with the next four points as a Kempton layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 4-2 lead. The teams went back and forth over the ensuing minutes as the Greyhounds retook the lead following a Franz Rassman three-pointer. That made it 9-8 Loyola with 15:23 on the first-half clock.
 
Trailing 11-10, Lehigh staged a 7-0 run, beginning with a long Simelton jumper and continuing with a Goldsborough layup and ending with a Chuku three-pointer which made it 22-15 Lehigh, forcing a Loyola timeout with 9:52 left in the first half.
 
Loyola scored six of the next eight points to pull within 24-21, but Chuku hit a three-pointer a few minutes later to help Lehigh retake a seven-point, 31-24 lead with just over four minutes on the first-half clock.
 
A Kempton layup off a nifty feed from Ross gave Lehigh a nine-point, 36-27 advantage late in the half, but the Greyhounds ended the half with the last four points, including a Cam Gregory layup as time expired to cut the Mountain Hawks' lead to 36-31 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Chuku was the story offensively in the first half, scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Goldsborough had eight points and four rebounds while Kempton tallied six points and three boards. Lehigh shot 54 percent (14-of-26) from the field while Loyola shot 41 percent (14-of-34).
 
Lehigh scored the first four second-half points, but Loyola answered with a 4-0 run of its own.
 
A few minutes later, Kempton staged a mini 5-0 run of his own, completing a three-point play before finishing a spin move and layup to make it 45-35 with 14:25 left in the second half.
 
The Greyhounds answered with the next four points, eventually pulling as close as two after a pair of Barnard free throws made it 49-47 with 9:50 on the clock.
 
Lehigh immediately had an answer as Goldsborough and Kempton scored on the ensuing possessions to make it 53-49 with 8:39 remaining.
 
Leading 55-50, the Mountain Hawks staged a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the game. Simelton began with a three-pointer and a driving basket, then a Kempton layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 62-50 lead with 5:07 on the clock.
 
Loyola wouldn't go away, pulling as close as four. Rassman had what appeared to be a wide-open layup that would have pulled the score within two (64-62) with 36 seconds still remaining, but Goldsborough made a huge block out of nowhere and Ross grabbed the rebound. Lehigh knocked down five free throws down the stretch to wrap up the 69-63 victory.
 
"This was going to be a grind it out type of game," said Reed. "Knowing what we know about Loyola, we weren't going to be able to come in here and have it be anything but a war. We expected a war, we bent at times, but we didn't break. We showed a lot of mental resilience, not foregoing the lead, hanging on and making the plays that needed to be made."
 
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 51 percent from the field (24-of-47) and 36 percent from three-point range (4-of-11). Loyola finished at 39 percent (25-of-65) and 31 percent from long distance (5-of-16). Rebounds were tied at 35, but the Greyhounds held a 17-8 edge on the offensive glass.
 
Lehigh returns home next Thursday (Feb. 12) to host American at 7 p.m. That game will air nation-wide on CBS Sports Network.

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