Sunday, December 29
Princeton, N.J.
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
3-9
62
at
71
Princeton
4-8
1
2
F
Lehigh
30
32
62
Princeton
39
32
71
Mountain Hawks’ comeback attempt falls a little short at Princeton, 71-62
12/29/2019 7:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Lehigh men's basketball trimmed a 15-point first-half deficit down to two late in the second, but Princeton used a late 8-2 run to pull away and hand the Mountain Hawks a 71-62 defeat on Sunday. Four Lehigh players finished with double-figure points (all scoring between 12 and 14 points), led by 14 points from freshman Evan Taylor. Lehigh will now look ahead to Patriot League play, which begins Thursday at Navy.
"Our guys found a lot of fight to them to close the gap," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We had success going to the free throw line, we were aggressive rebounding the basketball and we had a really nice stretch, particularly in the middle of the second half, to make this a competitive game. I thought in the beginning, we showed a little bit of rust after only playing two games in 20+ days, and credit Princeton for burying us inside. They went to an interior, strong, power, post-up game and ended up hurting us with multiple people. Aririguzoh was really strong and was certainly a handful."
Aririguzoh scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting to lead the Tigers.
For Taylor, it marked his second straight game with double-figure points. He finished Sunday 4-of-7 from the field (including 2-of-4 from 3-point range) and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Taylor has gotten to the charity stripe 11 times over the past two contests.
Senior Jordan Cohen added 13 points and three assists, nine points coming in the second half. Junior James Karnik posted 12 points and eight rebounds while sophomore Jeameril Wilson had 12 points and five boards.
Twenty turnovers hurt the Mountain Hawks, as did 10 Princeton 3-pointers.
The Tigers used seven first-half treys to jump out to a commanding lead. Their largest advantage was 15 (32-17 and later 36-21), but the Mountain Hawks battled back. Lehigh ended the half with nine of the final 12 points, capped off by a Jake Betlow 3-pointer with 1:28 on the clock to pull the Mountain Hawks within 39-30 after 20 minutes of play.
Lehigh continued to chip away in the second, but Princeton usually had an answer. Around five minutes in, the Mountain Hawks used back-to-back baskets, from Wilson and Taylor, to pull within six at 46-40.
The Tigers eventually extended their lead back to 10 (59-49) when Lehigh scored eight straight. Six of the points coming from the line while freshman Jakob Alamudun converted a layup, to help the Mountain Hawks pull within 59-57 with 5:37 remaining.
However, Princeton would finish a 4-point play with 3:35 remaining to double a four-point margin to eight. Just over a minute later, the Mountain Hawks pulled within six, but that's as close as they would come.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 44.7 percent from the field (21-of-47), including 40 percent from 3-point range (4-of-10). Princeton finished at 46.4 percent (26-of-56) and 37.0 percent from long distance (10-of-27). Lehigh held a 34-27 edge in rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks will open Patriot League play on Thursday, Jan. 2 at Navy. Gametime is set for 7 p.m. After seven-of-eight on the road, Lehigh will finally return home on Sunday, Jan. 5 against Loyola at 2 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online by clicking here.
"We have to take the things we say we're going to do and apply them," said Reed. "Not for 25 minutes, not 35 minutes…. 40 minutes. It has to be 40 minutes. Every possession matters in league play. Stakes are heightened. I thought we saw some good flashes from our team tonight, things we can certainly build on in a game that's going to mirror a bit of what we should see with Navy in terms of physicality. Tonight's experience was valuable, but we need to improve in some of those fringe areas that have been costly and an Achilles heel for us."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (12/29/2019) Men's Basketball at Princeton, 12/29/19
"Our guys found a lot of fight to them to close the gap," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We had success going to the free throw line, we were aggressive rebounding the basketball and we had a really nice stretch, particularly in the middle of the second half, to make this a competitive game. I thought in the beginning, we showed a little bit of rust after only playing two games in 20+ days, and credit Princeton for burying us inside. They went to an interior, strong, power, post-up game and ended up hurting us with multiple people. Aririguzoh was really strong and was certainly a handful."
Aririguzoh scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting to lead the Tigers.
For Taylor, it marked his second straight game with double-figure points. He finished Sunday 4-of-7 from the field (including 2-of-4 from 3-point range) and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Taylor has gotten to the charity stripe 11 times over the past two contests.
.@Evant2415 has been feeling it! This 👌🏽 gives him 12 points. pic.twitter.com/34Lms9buBn
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 29, 2019
Senior Jordan Cohen added 13 points and three assists, nine points coming in the second half. Junior James Karnik posted 12 points and eight rebounds while sophomore Jeameril Wilson had 12 points and five boards.
.@james_karnik flexing his 💪🏼
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 29, 2019
Takes a charge at one end (his second of the game) then finishes this layup in traffic to pull the Mountain Hawks within 44-36 with 15:51 remaining in the second half. Watch on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/rIjI3mxaJ6
Twenty turnovers hurt the Mountain Hawks, as did 10 Princeton 3-pointers.
The Tigers used seven first-half treys to jump out to a commanding lead. Their largest advantage was 15 (32-17 and later 36-21), but the Mountain Hawks battled back. Lehigh ended the half with nine of the final 12 points, capped off by a Jake Betlow 3-pointer with 1:28 on the clock to pull the Mountain Hawks within 39-30 after 20 minutes of play.
.@jake_betlow had on the board late in this first half with a big trey to pull the Mountain Hawks within single digits at the break. pic.twitter.com/4iGXs522AY
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 29, 2019
Lehigh continued to chip away in the second, but Princeton usually had an answer. Around five minutes in, the Mountain Hawks used back-to-back baskets, from Wilson and Taylor, to pull within six at 46-40.
The Tigers eventually extended their lead back to 10 (59-49) when Lehigh scored eight straight. Six of the points coming from the line while freshman Jakob Alamudun converted a layup, to help the Mountain Hawks pull within 59-57 with 5:37 remaining.
However, Princeton would finish a 4-point play with 3:35 remaining to double a four-point margin to eight. Just over a minute later, the Mountain Hawks pulled within six, but that's as close as they would come.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 44.7 percent from the field (21-of-47), including 40 percent from 3-point range (4-of-10). Princeton finished at 46.4 percent (26-of-56) and 37.0 percent from long distance (10-of-27). Lehigh held a 34-27 edge in rebounds.
The Mountain Hawks will open Patriot League play on Thursday, Jan. 2 at Navy. Gametime is set for 7 p.m. After seven-of-eight on the road, Lehigh will finally return home on Sunday, Jan. 5 against Loyola at 2 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online by clicking here.
"We have to take the things we say we're going to do and apply them," said Reed. "Not for 25 minutes, not 35 minutes…. 40 minutes. It has to be 40 minutes. Every possession matters in league play. Stakes are heightened. I thought we saw some good flashes from our team tonight, things we can certainly build on in a game that's going to mirror a bit of what we should see with Navy in terms of physicality. Tonight's experience was valuable, but we need to improve in some of those fringe areas that have been costly and an Achilles heel for us."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
PRIN
FG%
.447
.464
3FG%
.400
.370
FT%
.889
.750
RB
34
27
TO
20
12
STL
2
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
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