Friday, November 17
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Siena
Lehigh set for busy home weekend, beginning on Friday night vs. Siena
11/16/2017 2:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | Watch Live (Free on PLN) | Listen Live (Friday) | Live Stats | Purchase Tickets (Friday vs. Siena) | Purchase Tickets (Sunday vs. Eastern)
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team will look to respond from a home-opening loss to Monmouth when it remains home this weekend to host Siena on Friday (7 p.m.) and Eastern University on Sunday (2 p.m.). On Tuesday, the Mountain Hawks helped force 27 Monmouth turnovers, the most turnovers Lehigh has forced in Brett Reed's 11 seasons as head coach. However, Lehigh's offense struggled to knock down shots, connecting on just 50 percent of its free throws and only 28 percent of its three-pointers. The Mountain Hawks hung tough through much of the game, but couldn't get over the hump.
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Tickets for Friday's game are FREE with a Lehigh ID and as low as $5 for the general public. Lehigh students can take the Campus Connector bus to the game, with buses set to leave at 6:30 p.m. from Packer Ave. and 6:34 from Alpha Phi. Buses will continually run back from the Goodman Campus at 8:33, 8:53, 9:13, 9:33, etc. For the complete campus connector bus schedule, please click here.Â
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In addition, Friday is Camper Appreciation Night. Any Lehigh Basketball campers from the past three summers receive FREE admission to Friday's contest. Campers can redeem at the Stabler Arena box office by wearing the camp t-shirt or bring a copy of the email that was blasted out.
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Lehigh finished with 10 steals, reaching double figures for the second straight game to begin the season. The Mountain Hawks also had single-digit turnovers themselves for a second straight contest. Lehigh used an early 10-0 run to take a 12-4 lead, but Monmouth later used an 11-0 run to turn a 19-12 Mountain Hawks' advantage into a 23-19 Monmouth lead. The Mountain Hawks didn't score a point for more than five minutes and struggled to get much going the rest of the game. Lehigh did pull within five at the half and four early in the second half, but couldn't get any closer in the eventual 80-72 loss. In the end, Lehigh lost its home opener for just the third time in its last 12 tries.
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Sophomore Jordan Cohen led the offense with a game-high 18 points, just two from tying his career high of 20 - ironically set in last year's home opener against Princeton. Cohen finished 7-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-5 from three-point range. Senior Kahron Ross posted 13 points, a career-high six steals and career-high four assists compared to just one turnover. With 3:46 remaining, Ross knocked down a pair of free throws to become the 35th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. The last Mountain Hawk to reach the milestone was Austin Price in the 2015-16 regular season finale at Army West Point; Price also scored his 1,000th via a free throw. Junior Kyle Leufroy added 11 points on Tuesday while sophomore Pat Andree scored 10. The Mountain Hawks were outrebounded 53-24, but Monmouth had 27 turnovers and 14 fewer missed shots than Lehigh, which helped lead to the rebound discrepancy. Monmouth earned its first-ever win at Lehigh.
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Friday's opponent, Siena, is the second of three straight MAAC opponents Lehigh will face to begin the season. Last Saturday at Marist was Lehigh's first game vs. a MAAC opponent since Nov. 16, 2015 (a 98-89 loss at Canisius). Lehigh's three games against MAAC teams in seven days come after three games vs. MAAC opponents over the previous 1,419 days. The last team Lehigh played three straight nonleague opponents from the same conference came in 2012 when it played at Sacred Heart (91-77 win), Quinnipiac (77-66 victory) and hosted Fairleigh Dickinson (102-62 win) of the NEC.
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Following this weekend's home games, the Mountain Hawks will play a challenging four-game road stretch, at USC, at Pittsburgh, at Princeton and at Virginia. Lehigh will return home on Dec. 6 when it hosts Yale at 7 p.m.
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With a win on Friday, Lehigh would improve to 2-1 after three games for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The Mountain Hawks will be searching for their sixth win in the last seven home games, dating back to last season.
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Following this weekend's games, the Mountain Hawks head to Los Angeles to face No. 10 USC next Wednesday (Nov. 22). Lehigh then travels to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 25.
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Siena is 0-2 on the season, falling in overtime at the College of Charleston, 68-60 before falling to Florida Gulf Coast on Monday, 86-53. Khalil Richard is leading the Saints in scoring, averaging 13.0 points per game off the bench while Nico Clareth is averaging 10.5 points and 3.0 boards. Prince Oduro owns a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per contest, to go with 9.0 points per game (third on the team). Last season, Siena finished the season 17-17, including 12-8 in the MAAC, but the Saints had a run to the MAAC Championship Game - defeating fifth-seeded Fairfield (78-66) and top seed Monmouth (89-85) before falling to third-seeded Iona (87-86 in overtime). Clareth is the Saints' leading returning scorer after averaging 13.7 points a season ago. Overall, Siena lost four of its top five leading scorers from a season ago, all who averaged double-figure points.
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Eastern University is 0-1 on the season entering a Saturday matchup against Neumann. The Eagles opened the season with an 82-68 loss to Cabrini on Wednesday. Victor Pena led the way with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Anthony Concepcion posted seven points and nine assists. Eastern finished 16-10 last season, reaching the MAC Freedom Conference Semifinals.
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Siena leads the all-time series against Lehigh, 2-0, winning the only two meetings in 1984 (71-67) and 1985 (71-57). Meanwhile, Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between Lehigh and Eastern University.
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Following this weekend's games, the Mountain Hawks head to Los Angeles to face No. 10 USC next Wednesday (Nov. 22). Lehigh then travels to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 25.
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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. - The Lehigh men's basketball team will look to respond from a home-opening loss to Monmouth when it remains home this weekend to host Siena on Friday (7 p.m.) and Eastern University on Sunday (2 p.m.). On Tuesday, the Mountain Hawks helped force 27 Monmouth turnovers, the most turnovers Lehigh has forced in Brett Reed's 11 seasons as head coach. However, Lehigh's offense struggled to knock down shots, connecting on just 50 percent of its free throws and only 28 percent of its three-pointers. The Mountain Hawks hung tough through much of the game, but couldn't get over the hump.
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Tickets for Friday's game are FREE with a Lehigh ID and as low as $5 for the general public. Lehigh students can take the Campus Connector bus to the game, with buses set to leave at 6:30 p.m. from Packer Ave. and 6:34 from Alpha Phi. Buses will continually run back from the Goodman Campus at 8:33, 8:53, 9:13, 9:33, etc. For the complete campus connector bus schedule, please click here.Â
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In addition, Friday is Camper Appreciation Night. Any Lehigh Basketball campers from the past three summers receive FREE admission to Friday's contest. Campers can redeem at the Stabler Arena box office by wearing the camp t-shirt or bring a copy of the email that was blasted out.
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Lehigh finished with 10 steals, reaching double figures for the second straight game to begin the season. The Mountain Hawks also had single-digit turnovers themselves for a second straight contest. Lehigh used an early 10-0 run to take a 12-4 lead, but Monmouth later used an 11-0 run to turn a 19-12 Mountain Hawks' advantage into a 23-19 Monmouth lead. The Mountain Hawks didn't score a point for more than five minutes and struggled to get much going the rest of the game. Lehigh did pull within five at the half and four early in the second half, but couldn't get any closer in the eventual 80-72 loss. In the end, Lehigh lost its home opener for just the third time in its last 12 tries.
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Sophomore Jordan Cohen led the offense with a game-high 18 points, just two from tying his career high of 20 - ironically set in last year's home opener against Princeton. Cohen finished 7-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-5 from three-point range. Senior Kahron Ross posted 13 points, a career-high six steals and career-high four assists compared to just one turnover. With 3:46 remaining, Ross knocked down a pair of free throws to become the 35th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. The last Mountain Hawk to reach the milestone was Austin Price in the 2015-16 regular season finale at Army West Point; Price also scored his 1,000th via a free throw. Junior Kyle Leufroy added 11 points on Tuesday while sophomore Pat Andree scored 10. The Mountain Hawks were outrebounded 53-24, but Monmouth had 27 turnovers and 14 fewer missed shots than Lehigh, which helped lead to the rebound discrepancy. Monmouth earned its first-ever win at Lehigh.
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Friday's opponent, Siena, is the second of three straight MAAC opponents Lehigh will face to begin the season. Last Saturday at Marist was Lehigh's first game vs. a MAAC opponent since Nov. 16, 2015 (a 98-89 loss at Canisius). Lehigh's three games against MAAC teams in seven days come after three games vs. MAAC opponents over the previous 1,419 days. The last team Lehigh played three straight nonleague opponents from the same conference came in 2012 when it played at Sacred Heart (91-77 win), Quinnipiac (77-66 victory) and hosted Fairleigh Dickinson (102-62 win) of the NEC.
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Following this weekend's home games, the Mountain Hawks will play a challenging four-game road stretch, at USC, at Pittsburgh, at Princeton and at Virginia. Lehigh will return home on Dec. 6 when it hosts Yale at 7 p.m.
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With a win on Friday, Lehigh would improve to 2-1 after three games for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The Mountain Hawks will be searching for their sixth win in the last seven home games, dating back to last season.
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Following this weekend's games, the Mountain Hawks head to Los Angeles to face No. 10 USC next Wednesday (Nov. 22). Lehigh then travels to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 25.
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Siena is 0-2 on the season, falling in overtime at the College of Charleston, 68-60 before falling to Florida Gulf Coast on Monday, 86-53. Khalil Richard is leading the Saints in scoring, averaging 13.0 points per game off the bench while Nico Clareth is averaging 10.5 points and 3.0 boards. Prince Oduro owns a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per contest, to go with 9.0 points per game (third on the team). Last season, Siena finished the season 17-17, including 12-8 in the MAAC, but the Saints had a run to the MAAC Championship Game - defeating fifth-seeded Fairfield (78-66) and top seed Monmouth (89-85) before falling to third-seeded Iona (87-86 in overtime). Clareth is the Saints' leading returning scorer after averaging 13.7 points a season ago. Overall, Siena lost four of its top five leading scorers from a season ago, all who averaged double-figure points.
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Eastern University is 0-1 on the season entering a Saturday matchup against Neumann. The Eagles opened the season with an 82-68 loss to Cabrini on Wednesday. Victor Pena led the way with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Anthony Concepcion posted seven points and nine assists. Eastern finished 16-10 last season, reaching the MAC Freedom Conference Semifinals.
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Siena leads the all-time series against Lehigh, 2-0, winning the only two meetings in 1984 (71-67) and 1985 (71-57). Meanwhile, Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between Lehigh and Eastern University.
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Following this weekend's games, the Mountain Hawks head to Los Angeles to face No. 10 USC next Wednesday (Nov. 22). Lehigh then travels to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 25.
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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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