Sunday, January 6
Bethlehem, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
9-4, 2-0PL
89
vs
72
Loyola
4-11, 0-2PL
1
2
F
Loyola
40
32
72
Lehigh
47
42
89
Mountain Hawks remain undefeated at home following 89-72 win vs. Loyola
1/6/2019 5:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's basketball team jumped out to an early 13-5 lead and fought off numerous Loyola charges to beat the Greyhounds, 89-72 on Sunday afternoon in Stabler Arena. With the win, the Mountain Hawks improve to 9-4 overall, standing as one of just two teams with a 2-0 Patriot League mark. Lehigh also improved to 6-0 at home for the first time since the 2002-03 season and are 2-0 in the league for the first time since 2012-13.
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"Basketball is a funny game. Momentum really changes very quickly," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought we had it somewhat early and established ourselves, but then we turned the basketball over, which gave them a lot of easy run-out opportunities. Then, [Loyola] did a better job of getting downhill and towards the rim. We had to reestablish ourselves in the second half and did a good job of holding down their percentages, and ended up holding down their points. If you can play quality defense, you can take care of the ball and get quality shots, that gives you the best formula to minimize some of those runs and walk away with a more comfortable win. Today, we were able to play some guys who haven't necessarily played a lot in games for us and I'm really pleased to be able to do that as well."
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Senior Lance Tejada led the offense with 19 points, shooting 4-of-5 from three for the second straight contest Tejada had 14 points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals at halftime. Sophomore James Karnik enjoyed a monster game, tallying career highs in points (18) and rebounds (13) for his fifth-career double-double and first this season. He finished 9-of-10 from the field in 26 minutes of action.
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"In our last game, we had to play smaller and a little bit quicker and James was able to show the toughness and resolve to get focused for the next game and contribute in the way in which he could," said Reed. "I love that because we've shown so far this season that we have a lot of different cards we can play."
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Rounding out four Mountain Hawks with double-figure points was junior Pat Andree, who added 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. Senior Kyle Leufroy tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Sophomore Caleb Bennett had seven points and a career-high five assists.Â
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Leading 5-2 early, the Mountain Hawks scored eight of the next 11 points as a Tejada jumper gave Lehigh a 13-5 advantage with 15:42 remaining in the first half. Loyola answered right back with 11 consecutive points as an Andrew Kostecka three-point play gave the Greyhounds a 16-13 advantage.
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Midway through the half, Lehigh staged a 14-2 run to turn an 18-15 deficit into a 29-20 lead, capped off by a Tejada three-pointer followed by a Jeameril Wilson dunk, assisted by Tejada, just 16 seconds later. The lead later swelled to 14 as a Karnik jumper made the run 20-3 and gave Lehigh a 35-21 advantage with 7:00 left in the stanza.
Lehigh outscored Loyola 18-8 over the first 7:30 of the second half to take a 65-48 advantage. One of the highlights was an alley-oop from Tejada to Karnik.
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The Mountain Hawks finished at 55.0 percent from the field (33-of-60), including 47.1 percent from three-point range (8-of-17). Loyola finished at 42.6 percent (26-of-61) and 33.3 percent from distance (8-of-24). The Mountain Hawks held a 40-29 edge in rebounding.
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Lehigh now hits the road for two straight - at Holy Cross on Wednesday and Colgate on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks return home on Wednesday, Jan. 16 to host American at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online by clicking here.
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Lehigh men's basketball held its opponent to under 45% shooting! Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem!
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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"Basketball is a funny game. Momentum really changes very quickly," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought we had it somewhat early and established ourselves, but then we turned the basketball over, which gave them a lot of easy run-out opportunities. Then, [Loyola] did a better job of getting downhill and towards the rim. We had to reestablish ourselves in the second half and did a good job of holding down their percentages, and ended up holding down their points. If you can play quality defense, you can take care of the ball and get quality shots, that gives you the best formula to minimize some of those runs and walk away with a more comfortable win. Today, we were able to play some guys who haven't necessarily played a lot in games for us and I'm really pleased to be able to do that as well."
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Senior Lance Tejada led the offense with 19 points, shooting 4-of-5 from three for the second straight contest Tejada had 14 points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals at halftime. Sophomore James Karnik enjoyed a monster game, tallying career highs in points (18) and rebounds (13) for his fifth-career double-double and first this season. He finished 9-of-10 from the field in 26 minutes of action.
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"In our last game, we had to play smaller and a little bit quicker and James was able to show the toughness and resolve to get focused for the next game and contribute in the way in which he could," said Reed. "I love that because we've shown so far this season that we have a lot of different cards we can play."
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Rounding out four Mountain Hawks with double-figure points was junior Pat Andree, who added 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. Senior Kyle Leufroy tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Sophomore Caleb Bennett had seven points and a career-high five assists.Â
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Leading 5-2 early, the Mountain Hawks scored eight of the next 11 points as a Tejada jumper gave Lehigh a 13-5 advantage with 15:42 remaining in the first half. Loyola answered right back with 11 consecutive points as an Andrew Kostecka three-point play gave the Greyhounds a 16-13 advantage.
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Midway through the half, Lehigh staged a 14-2 run to turn an 18-15 deficit into a 29-20 lead, capped off by a Tejada three-pointer followed by a Jeameril Wilson dunk, assisted by Tejada, just 16 seconds later. The lead later swelled to 14 as a Karnik jumper made the run 20-3 and gave Lehigh a 35-21 advantage with 7:00 left in the stanza.
ÂWhat a start for LT! 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/dpZImNhGh4
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 6, 2019
The runs continued as the Greyhounds used a 10-2 run to pull within five at 39-34. Loyola got as close as three, but four straight Lehigh points to end the half, including a Nic Lynch offensive rebound and dunk, gave the Mountain Hawks a 47-40 halftime advantage.The defense. The dish. The (Jeameril Wilson) dunk. #OneGoal pic.twitter.com/w9WNPBcVX6
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 6, 2019
Lehigh outscored Loyola 18-8 over the first 7:30 of the second half to take a 65-48 advantage. One of the highlights was an alley-oop from Tejada to Karnik.
The Greyhounds immediately staged an 11-0 run to pull within 65-59 with 9:01 remaining, but Leufroy knocked down a big three to snap a 3:58 scoreless drought, and Tejada followed with a layup to put the Mountain Hawks back up double figures at 70-59 at the under-8 media timeout.Second straight game with an alley-oop, both dished by Lance Tejada! This time to James Karnik. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/1Rsof2wxmE
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 6, 2019
Lehigh carried the momentum forward into a 14-1 run to take a 79-60 lead following an Andree trey. The margin reached 21 at one point as baskets from sophomore Shane Acoveno and freshman Joe Foley in the final minute helped the Mountain Hawks to the 89-72 final.11-0 Loyola run? Great response by Kyle Leufory. Mountain Hawks lead 70-59 at the under-8 media timeout. Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. pic.twitter.com/eHDWMzdNi3
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 6, 2019
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The Mountain Hawks finished at 55.0 percent from the field (33-of-60), including 47.1 percent from three-point range (8-of-17). Loyola finished at 42.6 percent (26-of-61) and 33.3 percent from distance (8-of-24). The Mountain Hawks held a 40-29 edge in rebounding.
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Lehigh now hits the road for two straight - at Holy Cross on Wednesday and Colgate on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks return home on Wednesday, Jan. 16 to host American at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online by clicking here.
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Lehigh men's basketball held its opponent to under 45% shooting! Fans in attendance received a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees courtesy of The Brick in Bethlehem!
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Team Stats
LOYOLA
LEHIGH
FG%
.426
.550
3FG%
.333
.471
FT%
.667
.750
RB
29
40
TO
13
13
STL
7
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
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