Saturday, December 8
Emmitsburg, Md.
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
6-3
85
at
78
Mount St. Mary's
0-9
1
2
F
Lehigh
42
43
85
Mount St. Mary's
24
54
78
Lehigh fights off Mount St. Mary’s charge for 85-78 road victory
12/8/2018 7:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EMMITSBURG, Md. – In a game of runs, the Lehigh men's basketball team opened a 26-point second-half lead before Mount St. Mary's responded, pulling as close as five with 2:41 remaining, but the Mountain Hawks knocked down 12-of-13 free throws from that point forward to wrap up the 85-78 road victory on Saturday. Senior Kyle Leufroy led the offense with 21 points, including a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe, while also taking a big charge in the final minute to help the Mountain Hawks wrap up the victory. Sophomore James Karnik added 15 points and nine rebounds. With the win, Lehigh improves to 6-3 on the season heading into a two-week break for final exams.
"In the first half, I thought we had great energy," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought our defensive intensity was really high and we had a lot of different people who were entering the game and everyone was producing at a pretty high level. The ball was moving really well. We ended up getting a lot of quality shots. Everyone on our team was really glued in, communicating at a high level and playing with a great deal of energy."
Along with Leufroy and Karnik, junior Pat Andree added 13 points and nine boards while senior Lance Tejada had 11 points on 3-of-5 from the field. Making his first start of the season, sophomore Marques Wilson recorded seven points and seven rebounds.
"There were moments that we can learn from with having those guys on the floor, experiencing the energy of this building when things weren't necessarily going right," said Reed. "We talked a lot about emotional and energy management in the locker room [after the game] more than X's and O's because that can matter. It was good that we were able to weather the storm. It was good that we were able to turn the tide and still win the game. Sometimes, you don't always have those experiences and still have the outcome that you want. A big credit to that is what we were able to do in the first portion of the game to build such an incredible lead."
Trailing 5-4 in the early going, the Mountain Hawks responded with a 19-4 run, beginning with a three-pointer from Andree and three more treys – from Andree, junior Jordan Cohen and Tejada – as a Caleb Bennett layup gave Lehigh a 23-9 advantage just over midway through the first half.
Increasing its full-court pressure, Mount St. Mary's slowly began to chip away, staging a 17-5 run to pull within 62-48 with 8:27 on the clock. Four straight Karnik points, beginning with a three-point play, helped Lehigh reopen a 66-48 advantage.
The Mountaineers responded with a 20-5 run as a Nana Opoku three-pointer pulled them within 73-68 with 2:41 remaining.
"I thought Mount St. Mary's really tried to speed us up," said Reed. "They dictated the tempo of the game by getting a lot of aggressive pressure at 94 feet. It got us a little bit out of rhythm. We had a lot of shots at the free throw line, but we were going 1-for-2 during a stretch and also having some turnovers, which helped change the momentum."
After Mount St. Mary's pulled within five, Lehigh buckled down and got enough defensive stops down the stretch, while hitting 12-of-13 free throws – including 8-of-8 by Leufroy – to wrap up the 85-78 victory. One of the biggest plays was a charge taken by Leufroy with 19 seconds remaining and the Mountain Hawks leading by seven.
Lehigh will return to action in two weeks following final exams when it hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 12 p.m. Tickets are available and may be purchased online by clicking here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
"In the first half, I thought we had great energy," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought our defensive intensity was really high and we had a lot of different people who were entering the game and everyone was producing at a pretty high level. The ball was moving really well. We ended up getting a lot of quality shots. Everyone on our team was really glued in, communicating at a high level and playing with a great deal of energy."
Along with Leufroy and Karnik, junior Pat Andree added 13 points and nine boards while senior Lance Tejada had 11 points on 3-of-5 from the field. Making his first start of the season, sophomore Marques Wilson recorded seven points and seven rebounds.
"There were moments that we can learn from with having those guys on the floor, experiencing the energy of this building when things weren't necessarily going right," said Reed. "We talked a lot about emotional and energy management in the locker room [after the game] more than X's and O's because that can matter. It was good that we were able to weather the storm. It was good that we were able to turn the tide and still win the game. Sometimes, you don't always have those experiences and still have the outcome that you want. A big credit to that is what we were able to do in the first portion of the game to build such an incredible lead."
Trailing 5-4 in the early going, the Mountain Hawks responded with a 19-4 run, beginning with a three-pointer from Andree and three more treys – from Andree, junior Jordan Cohen and Tejada – as a Caleb Bennett layup gave Lehigh a 23-9 advantage just over midway through the first half.
Another steal leads to a strong two for Kyle Leufroy as Lehigh leads Mount St. Mary's 9-5 at our first media timeout. Watch: https://t.co/uvWClRIpfd pic.twitter.com/2VbtIoeGx7
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2018
The Mountaineers pulled within 30-20 with 6:37 remaining in the first, but Lehigh ended the first half on a 6-0 run, capped off by a Karnik jumper, to take a 42-24 halftime advantage.Pat Andree helped spar the offense early. What a smooth stroke. pic.twitter.com/3nL6MaJNAY
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2018
Lehigh scored 13 of the first 18 second-half points, beginning with four straight points from Karnik and later including five in a row from Marques Wilson. A Leufroy jumper gave the Mountain Hawks their largest lead at 55-29 with 15:32 on the clock.The big guy showing the range to round out the first-half scoring. pic.twitter.com/jj2dczwEMj
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2018
Increasing its full-court pressure, Mount St. Mary's slowly began to chip away, staging a 17-5 run to pull within 62-48 with 8:27 on the clock. Four straight Karnik points, beginning with a three-point play, helped Lehigh reopen a 66-48 advantage.
The Mountaineers responded with a 20-5 run as a Nana Opoku three-pointer pulled them within 73-68 with 2:41 remaining.
"I thought Mount St. Mary's really tried to speed us up," said Reed. "They dictated the tempo of the game by getting a lot of aggressive pressure at 94 feet. It got us a little bit out of rhythm. We had a lot of shots at the free throw line, but we were going 1-for-2 during a stretch and also having some turnovers, which helped change the momentum."
After Mount St. Mary's pulled within five, Lehigh buckled down and got enough defensive stops down the stretch, while hitting 12-of-13 free throws – including 8-of-8 by Leufroy – to wrap up the 85-78 victory. One of the biggest plays was a charge taken by Leufroy with 19 seconds remaining and the Mountain Hawks leading by seven.
For the game, Lehigh shot 46.0 percent from the field (23-of-50), including 40.0 percent from three-point range (6-of-15). The Mountaineers finished at 39.7 percent (25-of-63) and 23.5 percent from distance (8-of-34). Lehigh held a 40-27 edge in rebounds. Eleven second-half turnovers hurt the Mountain Hawks.NOW that is leaving it all out on the floor. Kyle Leufroy going down hard to the floor to take the charge and all but wrap up this W. pic.twitter.com/y36zeCSGhZ
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2018
Lehigh will return to action in two weeks following final exams when it hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 12 p.m. Tickets are available and may be purchased online by clicking here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
MOUNT
FG%
.460
.397
3FG%
.400
.235
FT%
.825
.833
RB
40
27
TO
19
14
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
12
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
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