Wednesday, January 30
Easton, Pa.
8:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
14-6, 7-2PL
93
at
86
Lafayette
5-15, 2-7PL
1
2
OT 1
F
Lehigh
36
39
18
93
Lafayette
32
43
11
86
Cohen takes over to lead Lehigh past Lafayette, 93-86 in overtime
1/31/2019 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. – One game after scoring a career-high 32 points vs. Boston University, junior Jordan Cohen one-upped it on Wednesday by scoring 33, including 14 of the Mountain Hawks' 18 points in overtime, as the Lehigh men's basketball team defeated archrival Lafayette, 93-86 on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center. With Lehigh's third straight win, it improves to 14-6 on the year, 7-2 in Patriot League play, remaining in a tie for first place in the standings. The win also gives Lehigh its fourth straight regular-season sweep vs. the Leopards as senior Kyle Leufroy becomes the first player in school history to finish his career 8-0 in the regular season against Lafayette. He also joins former teammate, and 2018 graduate, Kahron Ross as the only two in program history to go a perfect 4-0 at Lafayette in their careers.
"It's uncharacteristic of the way in which we would like to play, but when you have a special player who's making unique plays, you want to ride him," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Jordan has such a unique ability to contort his body and find different angles on the finishes. If you were to look at the variety of different types of finishes he had in the paint, it was really amazing. Right-handed, left-handed, reverse, spinning. It was really incredible.
"Normally, I would really like to see us move the basketball better. I think that was characteristic of why we fell down," Reed continued. "It carried us at the end, but we only had six assists on 34 field goals because I thought we were quick-shooting the basketball and we weren't getting the reversals that we needed."
Cohen scored seven points over the final 2:58 of regulation, along with his 14 in overtime. In the end, he scored 21 of Lehigh's final 30 points of the evening an incredible showcase. He finished 14-of-19 from the floor. Over his last two games, Cohen has scored 65 points on 26-of-33 shooting (78.8 percent).
"The play gave me the opportunity and they weren't stepping up to guard me, so I went one-on-one with a big and took advantage," said Cohen. "It was just my turn today."
Along with Cohen's performance, senior Lance Tejada added 17 points, 12 coming in the first half, while sophomore James Karnik had 15 on 6-of-8 shooting and Leufroy added 11.
The Mountain Hawks took early leads of 5-0 then 7-2. After Lafayette pulled within 7-6, a Tejada trey gave Lehigh a 10-9 lead at the under-16 media timeout.
A Kyle Stout three-pointer gave Lafayette a 15-14 advantage, but Lehigh answered with seven straight points, including threes from Cohen and Tejada, to give the Mountain Hawks a 21-15 lead with 11:29 left in the first.
Lehigh continued to lead the remainder of the half, but couldn't extend its lead past six. Lafayette hit a three with 51 seconds on the clock, but two Tejada free throws with 10 seconds left in the stanza gave the Mountain Hawks a 36-32 halftime lead.
After Lehigh scored the first four points of the second, Lafayette responded with a 12-0 run as an Alex Petrie three-pointer gave the Leopards a 44-40 advantage with 16:39 on the clock.
Lafayette held onto the lead for most of the remainder of the half until Cohen came to life. After a Cohen jumper pulled Lehigh within 67-65, freshman Jeameril Wilson had a big steal and emphatic slam to even the score.
"That was such a big-time play for Jeameril to be able to pick off the pass, go down and finish with authority," said Reed. "It got us right back in there, built our confidence, built our energy and guys played off it."
Less than a minute later, Cohen converted a three-point play with 1:54 remaining to give Lehigh its first lead since the 17:36 mark. The Mountain Hawks maintained the lead over the ensuing minutes, but Petrie converted a driving score with two seconds on the clock to force overtime.
Cohen immediately made his mark in the extra session, scoring just 15 seconds in.
The Mountain Hawks ended up a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in overtime, all six field goals coming from Cohen. Fittingly, two Cohen free throws with eight seconds remaining gave him a career-high 33 points, rounding out the scoring in the 93-86 victory.
The Mountain Hawks shot 52.3 percent from the field (34-of-65) for the game, marking the fifth time in the last six games over 50.0 percent (and seventh time in the last nine games). Lehigh finished at 36.0 percent from three-point range (9-of-25). Lafayette shot 49.2 percent overall (30-of-61) and 42.9 percent from distance (12-of-28). Lehigh held a 35-31 edge in rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks continue on the road this Saturday when they travel to Army to face the Black Knights. Opening tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Lehigh returns home two days later to host Colgate on Monday, Feb. 4 on Office Night Presented by Ricoh. Opening tipoff is 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Tickets are available online and can be purchased here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
"It's uncharacteristic of the way in which we would like to play, but when you have a special player who's making unique plays, you want to ride him," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Jordan has such a unique ability to contort his body and find different angles on the finishes. If you were to look at the variety of different types of finishes he had in the paint, it was really amazing. Right-handed, left-handed, reverse, spinning. It was really incredible.
"Normally, I would really like to see us move the basketball better. I think that was characteristic of why we fell down," Reed continued. "It carried us at the end, but we only had six assists on 34 field goals because I thought we were quick-shooting the basketball and we weren't getting the reversals that we needed."
Cohen scored seven points over the final 2:58 of regulation, along with his 14 in overtime. In the end, he scored 21 of Lehigh's final 30 points of the evening an incredible showcase. He finished 14-of-19 from the floor. Over his last two games, Cohen has scored 65 points on 26-of-33 shooting (78.8 percent).
"The play gave me the opportunity and they weren't stepping up to guard me, so I went one-on-one with a big and took advantage," said Cohen. "It was just my turn today."
Along with Cohen's performance, senior Lance Tejada added 17 points, 12 coming in the first half, while sophomore James Karnik had 15 on 6-of-8 shooting and Leufroy added 11.
The Mountain Hawks took early leads of 5-0 then 7-2. After Lafayette pulled within 7-6, a Tejada trey gave Lehigh a 10-9 lead at the under-16 media timeout.
Lance Tejada with the gorgeous fadeaway 💦 for 3️⃣, Jordan Cohen with the dish for the Mountain Hawks. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/2HdKGqnLls
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 31, 2019
A Kyle Stout three-pointer gave Lafayette a 15-14 advantage, but Lehigh answered with seven straight points, including threes from Cohen and Tejada, to give the Mountain Hawks a 21-15 lead with 11:29 left in the first.
Lehigh continued to lead the remainder of the half, but couldn't extend its lead past six. Lafayette hit a three with 51 seconds on the clock, but two Tejada free throws with 10 seconds left in the stanza gave the Mountain Hawks a 36-32 halftime lead.
After Lehigh scored the first four points of the second, Lafayette responded with a 12-0 run as an Alex Petrie three-pointer gave the Leopards a 44-40 advantage with 16:39 on the clock.
Lafayette held onto the lead for most of the remainder of the half until Cohen came to life. After a Cohen jumper pulled Lehigh within 67-65, freshman Jeameril Wilson had a big steal and emphatic slam to even the score.
"That was such a big-time play for Jeameril to be able to pick off the pass, go down and finish with authority," said Reed. "It got us right back in there, built our confidence, built our energy and guys played off it."
Jeameril Wilson goes coast-to-coast to tie it up for Lehigh. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/PAYYlgSCP9
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 31, 2019
Less than a minute later, Cohen converted a three-point play with 1:54 remaining to give Lehigh its first lead since the 17:36 mark. The Mountain Hawks maintained the lead over the ensuing minutes, but Petrie converted a driving score with two seconds on the clock to force overtime.
Cohen immediately made his mark in the extra session, scoring just 15 seconds in.
Jordan Cohen scores first to break the tie and make it 77-75 in OT. Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/geLV2BJTmH
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 31, 2019
The Mountain Hawks ended up a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in overtime, all six field goals coming from Cohen. Fittingly, two Cohen free throws with eight seconds remaining gave him a career-high 33 points, rounding out the scoring in the 93-86 victory.
Jordan. Freaking. Cohen. 'Nuff said. pic.twitter.com/emjAxsrJfu
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 31, 2019
The Mountain Hawks shot 52.3 percent from the field (34-of-65) for the game, marking the fifth time in the last six games over 50.0 percent (and seventh time in the last nine games). Lehigh finished at 36.0 percent from three-point range (9-of-25). Lafayette shot 49.2 percent overall (30-of-61) and 42.9 percent from distance (12-of-28). Lehigh held a 35-31 edge in rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks continue on the road this Saturday when they travel to Army to face the Black Knights. Opening tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Lehigh returns home two days later to host Colgate on Monday, Feb. 4 on Office Night Presented by Ricoh. Opening tipoff is 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Tickets are available online and can be purchased here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
MUST SEE 👀 Jordan Cohen absolutely took over in OT of @LehighMBB's rival win at Lafayette. The junior scored 14 of his game-high 33 points in overtime. @NCAA @WatchStadium pic.twitter.com/EJmR8tjazN
— Patriot League Network | PatriotLeague.tv (@PatriotLeagueTV) January 31, 2019
Team Stats
LEHIGH
LAFAYETT
FG%
.523
.492
3FG%
.360
.429
FT%
.800
.824
RB
35
31
TO
13
18
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Pts
33
FGM
14
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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