Monday, January 11
Stabler Arena
7:30 pm
Lehigh University
vs
Bucknell
Mountain Hawks host Bucknell Monday night in nationally-televised showdown
1/10/2016 3:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | Listen Live | Live Stats | Purchase Tickets
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Winners of two of its last three games with the lone loss being by a single point, the Lehigh men's basketball team returns home on Monday to host first-place Bucknell in Stabler Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will air nation-wide on CBS Sports Network. The matchup features the preseason top two teams in the Patriot League preseason poll. The always fan-favorite Bucks County Bungee Jumpers jump rope team will return to Stabler Arena for another season and perform at halftime on Monday.
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The Mountain Hawks are coming off a strong 65-50 win at American on Saturday, already Lehigh's second wire-to-wire win in league play. Lehigh never trailed against Boston University as well. The Mountain Hawks' guards stole the show on Saturday as junior Austin Price, sophomore Kahron Ross and freshman Kyle Leufroy combined for 43 of the team's 65 points. Price scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds while Leufroy scored 14 points and Ross had 13. At halftime, Price already had 11 points, Leufroy nine and Ross eight. Price shot an impressive 5-of-7 from the field in the first half while Ross was 4-of-6.
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Lehigh scored on its first three possessions and opened an early 10-5 lead. American pulled as close as two at 19-17, but the Mountain Hawks extended their lead, which reached nine (35-26) at the half. Lehigh scored five of the first seven second-half points to take a double-digit lead and wouldn't trail by less than 11 the rest of the way.
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Senior Jesse Chuku grabbed double-figure rebounds for a second straight game, tallying 10 to go with nine points, just missing his second consecutive double-double. Classmate Justin Goldsborough added four points on 2-of-2 shooting and three rebounds in 17 strong minutes. Junior Tim Kempton was dealing with foul trouble and finished with six points and three boards in 22 minutes, shooting 2-of-3 from the field.
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The Mountain Hawks finished the game with a dominant 36-28 rebounding edge while turning the ball over just 12 times compared to American's 15. Lehigh shot 47 percent from the field while forcing American to shoot just 37 percent. The 50 points allowed were a season-best for the Mountain Hawk defense, one game after allowing just 51 at Loyola. Lehigh won at American for the first time since Jan. 16, 2013, snapping a two-game losing streak.
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Lehigh and Bucknell will renew a rivalry on Monday, which has been one of the best matchups in the Patriot League as of late. The Mountain Hawks and Bison flip-flopped league championships from 2010-13, each winning twice. Last season, Bucknell won the regular season championship while Lehigh finished in third place. The Mountain Hawks were the preseason No. 1 team this year while Bucknell came in at No. 2 in the league's preseason poll.
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After struggling to a 3-8 nonleague record, Bucknell has begun Patriot League play red-shot, owning a 4-0 record with wins over Navy, Army West Point, American and Holy Cross. The wins have come by an average of 20.8 points, but three of the four games have been at home. The one road game featured a tight 84-76 win at Army West Point. Chris Hass leads the Bison in scoring averaging 19.3 per game, including a 40-point effort at Army. Nana Foulland is next with 12.2 points per game while Zach Thomas averages 11.3. The Bison are coming off a game Saturday which saw them hit 16-of-25 three-pointers, including a 7-of-10 effort from John Azzinaro as Bucknell cruised to a 98-71 win over Holy Cross.
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Lehigh won the last meeting in the second-to-last regular season game of last season, 84-65. The victory snapped a two-game Bucknell winning streak as the Bison had won three of the previous four games. Prior to that, the Mountain Hawks had won three in a row (all at Bucknell), including a win in the 2012 Patriot League Championship Game. The series has been extremely close as of late with nine of the last 10 games being decided by seven points or less, the lone exception being last season's dominant 17-point Lehigh victory. Bucknell is Lehigh's second-most played rival of all-time, only behind Lafayette.
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Lehigh will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Worcester, Massachusetts for a Saturday matchup against Holy Cross. Opening tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
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Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Winners of two of its last three games with the lone loss being by a single point, the Lehigh men's basketball team returns home on Monday to host first-place Bucknell in Stabler Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will air nation-wide on CBS Sports Network. The matchup features the preseason top two teams in the Patriot League preseason poll. The always fan-favorite Bucks County Bungee Jumpers jump rope team will return to Stabler Arena for another season and perform at halftime on Monday.
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The Mountain Hawks are coming off a strong 65-50 win at American on Saturday, already Lehigh's second wire-to-wire win in league play. Lehigh never trailed against Boston University as well. The Mountain Hawks' guards stole the show on Saturday as junior Austin Price, sophomore Kahron Ross and freshman Kyle Leufroy combined for 43 of the team's 65 points. Price scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds while Leufroy scored 14 points and Ross had 13. At halftime, Price already had 11 points, Leufroy nine and Ross eight. Price shot an impressive 5-of-7 from the field in the first half while Ross was 4-of-6.
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Lehigh scored on its first three possessions and opened an early 10-5 lead. American pulled as close as two at 19-17, but the Mountain Hawks extended their lead, which reached nine (35-26) at the half. Lehigh scored five of the first seven second-half points to take a double-digit lead and wouldn't trail by less than 11 the rest of the way.
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Senior Jesse Chuku grabbed double-figure rebounds for a second straight game, tallying 10 to go with nine points, just missing his second consecutive double-double. Classmate Justin Goldsborough added four points on 2-of-2 shooting and three rebounds in 17 strong minutes. Junior Tim Kempton was dealing with foul trouble and finished with six points and three boards in 22 minutes, shooting 2-of-3 from the field.
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The Mountain Hawks finished the game with a dominant 36-28 rebounding edge while turning the ball over just 12 times compared to American's 15. Lehigh shot 47 percent from the field while forcing American to shoot just 37 percent. The 50 points allowed were a season-best for the Mountain Hawk defense, one game after allowing just 51 at Loyola. Lehigh won at American for the first time since Jan. 16, 2013, snapping a two-game losing streak.
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Lehigh and Bucknell will renew a rivalry on Monday, which has been one of the best matchups in the Patriot League as of late. The Mountain Hawks and Bison flip-flopped league championships from 2010-13, each winning twice. Last season, Bucknell won the regular season championship while Lehigh finished in third place. The Mountain Hawks were the preseason No. 1 team this year while Bucknell came in at No. 2 in the league's preseason poll.
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After struggling to a 3-8 nonleague record, Bucknell has begun Patriot League play red-shot, owning a 4-0 record with wins over Navy, Army West Point, American and Holy Cross. The wins have come by an average of 20.8 points, but three of the four games have been at home. The one road game featured a tight 84-76 win at Army West Point. Chris Hass leads the Bison in scoring averaging 19.3 per game, including a 40-point effort at Army. Nana Foulland is next with 12.2 points per game while Zach Thomas averages 11.3. The Bison are coming off a game Saturday which saw them hit 16-of-25 three-pointers, including a 7-of-10 effort from John Azzinaro as Bucknell cruised to a 98-71 win over Holy Cross.
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Lehigh won the last meeting in the second-to-last regular season game of last season, 84-65. The victory snapped a two-game Bucknell winning streak as the Bison had won three of the previous four games. Prior to that, the Mountain Hawks had won three in a row (all at Bucknell), including a win in the 2012 Patriot League Championship Game. The series has been extremely close as of late with nine of the last 10 games being decided by seven points or less, the lone exception being last season's dominant 17-point Lehigh victory. Bucknell is Lehigh's second-most played rival of all-time, only behind Lafayette.
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Lehigh will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Worcester, Massachusetts for a Saturday matchup against Holy Cross. Opening tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
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Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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| Date: | January 11, 2016 |
| Opponent: | Bucknell Bison |
| Tip-off: | 7:30 PM |
| Arena/Capacity: | Stabler Arena/5,600 |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's Record: | 4-11, 2-2 Patriot League  |
| Bucknell's Record: | 7-8, 4-0 Patriot League |
| Series: | Bucknell leads, 100-64 |
| Radio: | Live on ESPN Radio 1160, 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Tom Fallon and Greg Falkenbach '72. Pregame coverage gets underway at 7:00 PM |
| Television: | CBS Sports Network |
| Internet Video: | No Online Video |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | Bucknell's Official Website |
Players Mentioned
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