Saturday, November 9
Albany, N.Y.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
1-1,0-0Patriot
74
at
70
Albany
0-1,0-0America East
1
2
F
Lehigh
37
37
74
Albany (NY)
27
43
70
Late first-half run helps Mountain Hawks to impressive 74-70 win at Albany
11/9/2019 11:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ALBANY, N.Y. – The Lehigh men's basketball team ended the first half on a 21-10 run to take a 10-point halftime lead, then extended the advantage to 17 in the second half, on the way to a 74-70 win at Albany on Saturday evening. The Mountain Hawks bounced back from Tuesday's season-opening defeat to Monmouth in a big way, defeating the perennial America East contenders on their opening night. Senior Jordan Cohen led the offense with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting while junior James Karnik enjoyed another strong effort, tallying 15 points, five boards and three blocks.
Saturday marked the first time in the all-time series that the road team came out victorious. The home teams were 6-0 over the previous six meetings between Lehigh and Albany.
"There was a lot of good basketball played tonight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We brought intensity. We made things challenging for Albany. Even with (Albany's) Cameron Healy making some incredibly difficult shots, we didn't back down and we continued to fight through. I love the way our execution improved through the majority of the game and our defense was terrific. Guys were taking charges, blocking out and doing a lot of the little things very, very well."
A balanced effort saw all nine Mountain Hawks who saw action score. Along with Cohen and Karnik, sophomore Jeameril Wilson added 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Junior Marques Wilson and freshman Reed Fenton added eight points apiece. The point total for Fenton was a high for his young career. The same was true for classmate Jake Betlow (five points) and Jakob Alamudun (six). Alamudun's points were the first of his collegiate career.
The teams traded leads for much of the early going. Mid first half, senior Ed Porter got on the scoresheet for the first time this season, as his short jumper gave the Mountain Hawks the lead for the first time in nearly eight minutes, 16-15, with 10:12 left in the half.
With Albany leading 17-16, the Mountain Hawks immediately staged a 9-0 run. The rally began with a Betlow transition 3-pointer and continued with Alamudun's first-career points, a jumper with 7:59 on the clock. Karnik and Alaumudun later added 2-pointers for the 25-17 advantage with 6:24 left in the first.
Later in the half, Cohen gave Lehigh its first double-figure lead, as his fast break basket made it 33-23.That proved to be the halftime margin, as Marques Wilson knocked down a jumper with 33 seconds on the clock for the 37-27 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Lehigh struggled towards the beginning and end of the second half, but a dominant middle portion helped the Mountain Hawks to the victory. Early on, the Great Danes quickly trimmed Lehigh's lead down to five at 39-34. But from there, Lehigh staged a 12-1 run, with six of the points from Karnik, to take a 51-35 advantage.
"James is anticipating things better and playing with better position," said Reed. "He's seemed to find a way to harness the emotion he plays with without taking quite as many chances. He's shown maturity, offensively and defensively for us."
The Mountain Hawks maintained their double-figure lead for most of the half, taking as much as a 17-point lead. Still leading by 16 with 7:57 remaining. Albany made a late rally, getting within four with 37 seconds remaining and three with 12 seconds on the clock, but Karnik knocked down a big free throw with eight seconds remaining to help ice the victory. Not long before, Marques Wilson and Jeameril Wilson each knocked down big shots in the final minutes to help give the Mountain Hawks the margin they would need.
For the game, Lehigh shot 50.8 percent from the field (30-of-59), including 25.0 percent from 3-point range (4-of-16). Albany finished at 32.8 percent (19-of-58) and 27.6 percent from long distance (8-of-29). Albany held a 32-29 edge in rebounds.
Lehigh returns home on Tuesday to host Cairn at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 2019-20 season are available online and can be purchased by clicking here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (11/9/2019) Men's Basketball at Albany, 11/9/19
Saturday marked the first time in the all-time series that the road team came out victorious. The home teams were 6-0 over the previous six meetings between Lehigh and Albany.
"There was a lot of good basketball played tonight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We brought intensity. We made things challenging for Albany. Even with (Albany's) Cameron Healy making some incredibly difficult shots, we didn't back down and we continued to fight through. I love the way our execution improved through the majority of the game and our defense was terrific. Guys were taking charges, blocking out and doing a lot of the little things very, very well."
After Wilson's jumper, Reed Fenton stepped in to take this charge and the entire team is FIRED UP! #Selfless Watch on ESPN3: https://t.co/KquTtB3iPJ pic.twitter.com/bwTz9dLyQZ
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 10, 2019
A balanced effort saw all nine Mountain Hawks who saw action score. Along with Cohen and Karnik, sophomore Jeameril Wilson added 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Then, Fenton found Wilson with this GREAT look. 👀 pic.twitter.com/BJJeLyA04Q
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 10, 2019
Junior Marques Wilson and freshman Reed Fenton added eight points apiece. The point total for Fenton was a high for his young career. The same was true for classmate Jake Betlow (five points) and Jakob Alamudun (six). Alamudun's points were the first of his collegiate career.
Correction. The original tweet was Alamudun's second-career field goal (third and fourth career points). Here is Jakob's first collegiate points (for real this time). pic.twitter.com/EvMaC40zlC
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 11, 2019
The teams traded leads for much of the early going. Mid first half, senior Ed Porter got on the scoresheet for the first time this season, as his short jumper gave the Mountain Hawks the lead for the first time in nearly eight minutes, 16-15, with 10:12 left in the half.
With Albany leading 17-16, the Mountain Hawks immediately staged a 9-0 run. The rally began with a Betlow transition 3-pointer and continued with Alamudun's first-career points, a jumper with 7:59 on the clock. Karnik and Alaumudun later added 2-pointers for the 25-17 advantage with 6:24 left in the first.
Later in the half, Cohen gave Lehigh its first double-figure lead, as his fast break basket made it 33-23.That proved to be the halftime margin, as Marques Wilson knocked down a jumper with 33 seconds on the clock for the 37-27 lead after 20 minutes of play.
A Marques Wilson jumper rounds out the first-half scoring and gives the Mountain Hawks a double-figure halftime lead! Watch on ESPN3: https://t.co/KquTtB3iPJ pic.twitter.com/KzY9pHdsFS
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 10, 2019
Lehigh struggled towards the beginning and end of the second half, but a dominant middle portion helped the Mountain Hawks to the victory. Early on, the Great Danes quickly trimmed Lehigh's lead down to five at 39-34. But from there, Lehigh staged a 12-1 run, with six of the points from Karnik, to take a 51-35 advantage.
"James is anticipating things better and playing with better position," said Reed. "He's seemed to find a way to harness the emotion he plays with without taking quite as many chances. He's shown maturity, offensively and defensively for us."
The Mountain Hawks maintained their double-figure lead for most of the half, taking as much as a 17-point lead. Still leading by 16 with 7:57 remaining. Albany made a late rally, getting within four with 37 seconds remaining and three with 12 seconds on the clock, but Karnik knocked down a big free throw with eight seconds remaining to help ice the victory. Not long before, Marques Wilson and Jeameril Wilson each knocked down big shots in the final minutes to help give the Mountain Hawks the margin they would need.
For the game, Lehigh shot 50.8 percent from the field (30-of-59), including 25.0 percent from 3-point range (4-of-16). Albany finished at 32.8 percent (19-of-58) and 27.6 percent from long distance (8-of-29). Albany held a 32-29 edge in rebounds.
Lehigh returns home on Tuesday to host Cairn at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 2019-20 season are available online and can be purchased by clicking here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Hear what Jordan Cohen had to say following tonight's win at Albany! pic.twitter.com/3xhE15bJIt
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 10, 2019
Team Stats
Lehigh
ANY
FG%
.508
.328
3FG%
.250
.276
FT%
.667
.774
RB
29
32
TO
15
16
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
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