Wednesday, January 6
Baltimore, Md.
7:30 pm
Lehigh University
3-11, 1-2PL
50
at
51
Loyola
4-10, 3-0PL
1
2
F
Lehigh
29
21
50
Loyola Maryland
18
33
51
Mountain Hawks drop 51-50 heartbreaker at Loyola
1/6/2016 10:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BALTIMORE - The Lehigh men's basketball team opened a 29-18 halftime advantage, but the Mountain Hawks' offense struggled in the second half and Loyola took advantage as the Greyhounds came back for a last-second, 51-50 win on Wednesday evening. Junior Tim Kempton tallied his second straight double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds and classmate Austin Price hit a big layup to give Lehigh a lead, but an Andre Walker layup with 4.5 seconds on the clock proved to be the difference.
One of the stories of the game was free throw shooting. After the Mountain Hawks shot 82 percent in the first half (9-of-11), Lehigh shot just 40 percent in the second (6-of-15).
"Unfortunately, we didn't convert the way we needed to. We had opportunities," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Not all of our finishes were clear and open finishes, but we certainly had enough where we need to be able to convert. We struggled from the free throw line, whether it's missing the front end (of a one-and-one) or missing free throws that would have put us in a position to ice the game. You've got to be able to convert from the free throw line."
Along with Kempton's effort, senior Jesse Chuku recorded nine points and 11 rebounds while freshman Kyle Leufroy scored 10 points, eight in the first half, and added five boards. Price finished with eight points while sophomore Tyler Jenkins posted four.
Both teams had slow starts offensively with just nine combined points in the game's first 4:45. A Kempton layup gave the Mountain Hawks a 5-4 advantage with 16:44 on the clock, but Andre Walker responded with a three-pointer to give the Greyhounds a 7-5 lead with 15:11 remaining in the first half.
Loyola opened an 11-7 lead, but a Jenkins steal and fast break layup helped spark a 13-2 Mountain Hawks' run. After Jenkins' layup, Price converted four straight free throws to give Lehigh a 13-11 advantage. Leufroy then caught fire, knocking down a pair of free throws with 7:16 on the clock and following with six more points in the next 3:24 to help Lehigh take a 22-15 advantage with 3:52 remaining in the half.
The Mountain Hawks continued to control play, ending the half on a 7-0 run. Sophomore Kahron Ross knocked down a trey and followed with a fall away jumper, then Chuku converted two free throws to give Lehigh a 29-18 lead at the half. In the end, Lehigh outscored Loyola 22-7 over the final 11:25 of the first half.
Leufroy led the way offensively with eight first-half points. Chuku posted five points and six rebounds while Kempton had two points and seven rebounds. Walker scored 10 of Loyola's18 first-half points.
The Greyhounds controlled play early in the second half, scoring 17 of the first 23 points. Loyola pulled even following five straight points, capped off by a Tyler Hubbard three-pointer to even the score at 35 with 12:01 on the clock.
The game went back-and-forth over the ensuing minutes as Lehigh scored four straight points behind a short Jenkins jumper and Chuku offensive rebound and put back, giving the Mountain Hawks a 41-40 advantage with 8:34 left in the second half.
Loyola went on to open a five-point, 47-42 lead with 5:23 remaining, but the Mountain Hawks responded with eight of the next 10 points. Ross hit a big three-pointer to even the score at 48 with 2:14 remaining and Price converted a driving layup with 50 seconds on the clock to give the Mountain Hawks a 50-49 advantage.
Lehigh's defense forced an errant Jarred Jones shot on the ensuing possession and Kempton grabbed the rebound, but missed the front end of the one-and-one, to give Loyola one final chance. The Greyhounds converted as Walker hit a tough layup with 4.5 seconds remaining. After a timeout, the Mountain Hawks went the length of the floor and Jenkins had a decent look, but the layup attempt fell short at the buzzer.
"Tyler wasn't our first option to get the basketball, but the way in which Loyola converged in our catch location, our inbounder made a decision to throw it to him because he did have an angle coming up the sideline," said Reed. "He made a hard drive. With four seconds left, the odds are against you going 94 feet and converting. We got to the rim, but weren't able to convert. It wasn't necessarily what we drew up, but at the end of the day, with four seconds left, if you told me we could get that type of shot, I can live with that."
A tale of two halves saw the Mountain Hawks shoot 28 percent in the second half (7-of-25) to finish 33 percent for the game (16-of-48). After shooting just 23 percent in the first half (7-of-31), Loyola shot 42 percent in the second (11-of-26) to finish at 32 percent for the game (18-of-57). The Mountain Hawks held a 41-40 edge in rebounding.
Lehigh will remain on the road at American on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The Mountain Hawks then return home next Monday to host Bucknell at 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
LOYOLA
FG%
.333
.316
3FG%
.333
.211
FT%
.577
.688
RB
41
40
TO
9
7
STL
4
2
Game Leaders
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballC/F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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