Thursday, December 21
Loretto, Pa.
7 p.m.

Lehigh University

at

Saint Francis (Pa.)

Ed Porter
Photo by: Keith Lucas

Mountain Hawks hit the road for Saint Francis (Pa.) Thursday night

12/19/2017 3:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following nearly a two-week layoff of games due to final exams, the Lehigh men's basketball team will wrap up nonleague play on Thursday when it travels to Saint Francis (Pa.) to face the Red Flash. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on NEC Front Row. The Mountain Hawks are coming off a 75-60 win over defending NEC Champion Mount St. Mary's last Saturday (Dec. 9) and are set to face the team the Mountaineers play in last season's NEC Championship Game. With a win, Lehigh would be 6-5 for a second straight season heading into Patriot League play.
 
Last time out, the Mountain Hawks opened a quick 16-6 lead, Mount St. Mary's responded to take a 34-33 halftime advantage, but Lehigh outscored the Mountaineers 42-26 in the second half to win, 75-60. It marked the first time all season the Mountain Hawks have won when trailing at the half. The game was similar to Lehigh's win at Mount St. Mary's last season. Last year, the Mountain Hawks turned a 38-33 halftime deficit into a runaway 90-71 win. Lehigh has outscored the Mountaineers 94-64 in the second half over the past two seasons.
 
In the end, Lehigh's 26 second-half points allowed marked a season best for the second half, as was its 60 points allowed for the game. The Mountain Hawks had allowed 26 points in the first half at Marist and 25 in the first half at Princeton. Lehigh held Mount St. Mary's to just 33 percent shooting (a season best) and 25 percent from three-point range. The Mountain Hawks held Mount St. Mary's 13.6 points under its season average while the Mountaineers' 60 points marked their second-lowest total of the season.
 
Senior Kahron Ross led the way with a team-high 18 points while adding six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ross found Caleb Bennett three-pointer with 16:17 remaining in the second half for his 579th career assist, passing Mackey McKnight to become Lehigh's all-time career leader. Ross is now Lehigh's record holder for assists in a game, season and career. Currently owning 582 assists, he is also second in Patriot League history and needs just 18 to become the league's all-time career leader. Ross also moved from 27th to 25th place in school history for career points (currently 1,110).
 
Junior Lance Tejada added 16 points and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench while freshman James Karnik just missed his second-career double-double with nine points and nine boards in just 18 minutes due to foul trouble. As a team, Lehigh outrebounded the Mountaineers 44-26, the Mountain Hawks' best margin (+18) since outrebounding Holy Cross 40-20 last January. Lehigh was also +20 last year vs. Mount St. Mary's as the Mountain Hawks have held an 84-49 edge over the last two meetings.
 
Lehigh improved to 2-2 against reigning NCAA Tournament teams, also winning at Princeton while falling at USC and Virginia. The Mountain Hawks will be facing their third consecutive defending conference finalist in Saint Francis (Pa.), who was also predicted to win the NEC this year. It marks Lehigh's fifth game vs. a conference finalist overall, defeating Siena (MAAC), Princeton (Ivy) and Mount St. Mary's (NEC) who advanced to their respective championship games while falling to Yale (Ivy). Last season, Lehigh picked up an impressive 100-67 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) in a game which saw Pat Andree knock down a school record-tying 10 three-pointers.
 
Last season's win marked the Mountain Hawks' 10th in their last 11 games against the Red Flash to take a 10-4 lead in the all-time series. The last time Lehigh played at Saint Francis, it did drop an 84-73 final. Prior to two years ago, the previous Lehigh loss in the series came on Dec. 30, 1977 by an 87-71 final.
 
Saint Francis is 5-5 on the season, most recently winning at Niagara in overtime (93-87) and Bethany College on Monday night (113-77). Before that, Saint Francis fell at Stony Brook (85-83) and Duke (124-67). The team's top three scorers from last season return in Isaiah Blackmon, Keith Braxton and Jamaal King, but Blackmon only played three games before suffering a season-ending injury. Despite the injury, Saint Francis had a strong effort at No. 19 Louisville, falling 84-72. Braxton currently leads the team in scoring (16.8) and rebounding (8.4) while King is averaging 14.2 and Andre Wolford is averaging 11.9. The Red Flash are averaging 83.8 points per game, but are allowing 81.6 per contest.
 
Following Thursday's game, the Mountain Hawks will return to action next Friday (Dec. 29) when they open Patriot League play at archrival Lafayette. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
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