Monday, February 5
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Bucknell
Lehigh set to host Bucknell in front of nationally-televised audience Monday night
2/4/2018 3:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off a 2-0 week, the Lehigh men's basketball team looks to keep the momentum going on Monday night when it hosts rival Bucknell in front of a nationally-televised audience. Opening tipoff in Stabler Arena is set for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and Monday's game is presented by Ready Nutrition. Monday's matchup features a rematch of last season's Patriot League Championship Game. These two programs have been the class of the league for an extended period of time. Over the last eight seasons, the two have combined for eight championship game appearances (four aside) with Lehigh or Bucknell winning five of the last eight league titles.
The fan-favorite Bungee Jumpers Jump Rope Team is set to perform at halftime while Monday will also be Recyclemania, a friendly competition between colleges and universities to promote waste reduction and recycling activities in campus communities.Tickets are FREE with a Lehigh ID and as low as $10 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.
The Mountain Hawks are coming off an exciting 80-75 win over second-place Boston University Saturday afternoon. Lehigh rode its hot shooting to an 18-3 first-half run, taking a 40-31 halftime lead. The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 57.9 percent from three-point range (11-of-19), including 66.7 percent in the first half (8-of-12). Lehigh's percentage marked a season high by 0.2 percent, beating its previous best of 57.7 percent (15-of-26) against Holy Cross. Monday marked Lehigh's third straight game over 50 percent from deep and sixth straight with 10 or more made threes, which is the longest streak of double-digit treys in Brett Reed's tenure as head coach (11th season). The Mountain Hawks are shooting 54.8 percent from three over their last three games (34-of-62) and 49.3 percent over their last six (70-of-142).
Freshman Caleb Bennett was the biggest story on Saturday, shattering his previous career high for points (12) by scoring 23, 15 coming in the second half. He finished 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range while tying a career-high five rebounds. Senior Kahron Ross was stellar, scoring 18 points, including a long jumper with just over a minute remaining to give Lehigh a one-point lead. In the process, Ross moved from a tie for 21st into sole possession of 20th in school history for career points (currently 1,249). He finished 4-of-6 from three-point range; his four made treys tied his career high (originally set sophomore year at Navy when he was 4-of-4).
Together, Bennett and Ross scored 27 of the Mountain Hawks' 40 second-half points. Sophomore Pat Andree also scored 10 points despite playing just 17 minutes due to foul trouble. He knocked down his only three to improve his season percentage to 42.8 percent (59-of-138), including 51.4 percent in the Patriot League (38-of-78). Sophomore Jordan Cohen filled up the stat sheet with seven points, a career-high eight rebounds, season-high tying five assists and career-high tying two steals. Freshman preferred walk-on Shane Acoveno saw his second-career action and first meaningful minutes, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in 12 minutes, including a big offensive rebound and put back in the final seconds of the first half to give Lehigh a 40-31 halftime advantage. Junior Kyle Leufroy had seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two big steals. His second steal came with 1:10 remaining and Lehigh down one, leading to Ross' long jumper that gave Lehigh the lead for good.
In the end, the Mountain Hawks improved to 2-0 on the week despite missing leading scorer Lance Tejada and junior Caleb Sedore to undisclosed injuries. Lehigh has used a team effort to make up for the losses, with all seven players who saw action at Holy Cross scoring five or more points while on Saturday, all eight who played scored at least four points.
With the wins, Lehigh has moved into a tie for sixth place in the Patriot League standings, only one game behind Army West Point and Navy for fourth. The Mountain Hawks will look to continue their February success, which has seen them go 16-2 in the month dating back to the 2015-16 season. Lehigh was 9-0 that year and 6-2 last season before Saturday's win over the Terriers.
Bucknell enters Monday riding a 10-game winning streak following a home loss to Boston University in the second Patriot League game on Jan. 2. The Bison have won five straight by double figures, most recently earning a 74-59 home win over Lafayette. The game prior, Bucknell actually trailed Army West Point by 19 in the first half, but rallied to beat the Black Knights 83-71 in overtime. Zach Thomas continues to lead the team in scoring (21.2) and rebounding (9.3) while last season's league Player of the Year Nana Foulland is averaging 15.6 points and 6.5 boards and Stephen Brown comes in at 14.0 points and 4.6 assists. Thomas, Foulland and Brown are all seniors.
Lehigh has won eight of the last 14 meetings against Bucknell to pull within 103-67 in the all-time series. Last season, Lehigh earned regular season victories at Bucknell (82-71) and Lehigh (79-71), but fell in the Patriot League Championship Game at Sojka Pavilion (81-65) then dropped the first meeting this year at Bucknell, 78-65. In that game, Lehigh trailed by just two at the half, the Bison pulled away in the second. Overall, 10 of the last 16 meetings between Lehigh and Bucknell (regardless of location) have been decided by seven points or fewer. Four of the six that have been greater than seven points have been Lehigh victories. Bucknell is Lehigh's second-most played rival of all-time, only behind Lafayette.
Following Monday's game, Lehigh hits the road for its next two, beginning on Saturday at American. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off a 2-0 week, the Lehigh men's basketball team looks to keep the momentum going on Monday night when it hosts rival Bucknell in front of a nationally-televised audience. Opening tipoff in Stabler Arena is set for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and Monday's game is presented by Ready Nutrition. Monday's matchup features a rematch of last season's Patriot League Championship Game. These two programs have been the class of the league for an extended period of time. Over the last eight seasons, the two have combined for eight championship game appearances (four aside) with Lehigh or Bucknell winning five of the last eight league titles.
The fan-favorite Bungee Jumpers Jump Rope Team is set to perform at halftime while Monday will also be Recyclemania, a friendly competition between colleges and universities to promote waste reduction and recycling activities in campus communities.Tickets are FREE with a Lehigh ID and as low as $10 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.
The Mountain Hawks are coming off an exciting 80-75 win over second-place Boston University Saturday afternoon. Lehigh rode its hot shooting to an 18-3 first-half run, taking a 40-31 halftime lead. The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 57.9 percent from three-point range (11-of-19), including 66.7 percent in the first half (8-of-12). Lehigh's percentage marked a season high by 0.2 percent, beating its previous best of 57.7 percent (15-of-26) against Holy Cross. Monday marked Lehigh's third straight game over 50 percent from deep and sixth straight with 10 or more made threes, which is the longest streak of double-digit treys in Brett Reed's tenure as head coach (11th season). The Mountain Hawks are shooting 54.8 percent from three over their last three games (34-of-62) and 49.3 percent over their last six (70-of-142).
Freshman Caleb Bennett was the biggest story on Saturday, shattering his previous career high for points (12) by scoring 23, 15 coming in the second half. He finished 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range while tying a career-high five rebounds. Senior Kahron Ross was stellar, scoring 18 points, including a long jumper with just over a minute remaining to give Lehigh a one-point lead. In the process, Ross moved from a tie for 21st into sole possession of 20th in school history for career points (currently 1,249). He finished 4-of-6 from three-point range; his four made treys tied his career high (originally set sophomore year at Navy when he was 4-of-4).
Together, Bennett and Ross scored 27 of the Mountain Hawks' 40 second-half points. Sophomore Pat Andree also scored 10 points despite playing just 17 minutes due to foul trouble. He knocked down his only three to improve his season percentage to 42.8 percent (59-of-138), including 51.4 percent in the Patriot League (38-of-78). Sophomore Jordan Cohen filled up the stat sheet with seven points, a career-high eight rebounds, season-high tying five assists and career-high tying two steals. Freshman preferred walk-on Shane Acoveno saw his second-career action and first meaningful minutes, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in 12 minutes, including a big offensive rebound and put back in the final seconds of the first half to give Lehigh a 40-31 halftime advantage. Junior Kyle Leufroy had seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two big steals. His second steal came with 1:10 remaining and Lehigh down one, leading to Ross' long jumper that gave Lehigh the lead for good.
In the end, the Mountain Hawks improved to 2-0 on the week despite missing leading scorer Lance Tejada and junior Caleb Sedore to undisclosed injuries. Lehigh has used a team effort to make up for the losses, with all seven players who saw action at Holy Cross scoring five or more points while on Saturday, all eight who played scored at least four points.
With the wins, Lehigh has moved into a tie for sixth place in the Patriot League standings, only one game behind Army West Point and Navy for fourth. The Mountain Hawks will look to continue their February success, which has seen them go 16-2 in the month dating back to the 2015-16 season. Lehigh was 9-0 that year and 6-2 last season before Saturday's win over the Terriers.
Bucknell enters Monday riding a 10-game winning streak following a home loss to Boston University in the second Patriot League game on Jan. 2. The Bison have won five straight by double figures, most recently earning a 74-59 home win over Lafayette. The game prior, Bucknell actually trailed Army West Point by 19 in the first half, but rallied to beat the Black Knights 83-71 in overtime. Zach Thomas continues to lead the team in scoring (21.2) and rebounding (9.3) while last season's league Player of the Year Nana Foulland is averaging 15.6 points and 6.5 boards and Stephen Brown comes in at 14.0 points and 4.6 assists. Thomas, Foulland and Brown are all seniors.
Lehigh has won eight of the last 14 meetings against Bucknell to pull within 103-67 in the all-time series. Last season, Lehigh earned regular season victories at Bucknell (82-71) and Lehigh (79-71), but fell in the Patriot League Championship Game at Sojka Pavilion (81-65) then dropped the first meeting this year at Bucknell, 78-65. In that game, Lehigh trailed by just two at the half, the Bison pulled away in the second. Overall, 10 of the last 16 meetings between Lehigh and Bucknell (regardless of location) have been decided by seven points or fewer. Four of the six that have been greater than seven points have been Lehigh victories. Bucknell is Lehigh's second-most played rival of all-time, only behind Lafayette.
Following Monday's game, Lehigh hits the road for its next two, beginning on Saturday at American. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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