Saturday, December 7
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
3-7,0-0Patriot
65
vs
78
Yale
8-3,0-0Ivy League
1
2
F
Yale
41
37
78
Lehigh
32
33
65
Yale makes late run to pull away from Mountain Hawks, 78-65
12/7/2019 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's basketball team battled back from a 16-point first-half deficit to pull as close as one, but Yale staged an 11-0 run late in the second half to turn a three-point margin into a 78-65 victory on Saturday evening in Stabler Arena. Sophomore Jeameril Wilson led the Mountain Hawks' offense with a season-high 16 points while junior James Karnik continued his strong play with 15 points on just eight field goal attempts.
"Our team showed a lot of really good fight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We were down and Yale was making some really good plays. You'd start to see the life sucked out of us, but our guys showed great resilience to pull themselves back in. They fought tonight and put themselves in a position [to win]."
Wilson shot 7-of-12 from the floor while adding a team-high six rebounds. Karnik was 6-of-8. Senior Jordan Cohen added 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, shooting 4-of-6 from the field. He is now just 14 points from 1,000 in his career. Freshman Evan Taylor chipped in with eight points.
Turnovers once again hurt the Mountain Hawks, finishing with 18 on the evening.
"When we would make some runs, all of a sudden there'd be turnovers which ended up really hurting us," said Reed. "Not having James out there hurt (fouling out with 2:52 remaining and the Mountain Hawks down just three). He's been a stalwart for us, a great player. Nonetheless, we still had the opportunity to make better plays down the stretch."
Lehigh actually jumped out to early leads of 6-0 and 10-2, with four of the Mountain Hawk starters on the scoreboard less than three minutes into the game.
Yale quickly answered, going on an 8-0 run to pull even. The score was tied at 10, 12 and 14 before Lehigh went into a 4:23 scoreless drought. However, the Mountain Hawks allowed just six Bulldogs' points during that stretch, behind a pair of 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs had another run later in the half, using a 13-0 rally to turn a three-point game into a 37-21 advantage with 3:03 on the clock. Lehigh did fight back, scoring 11 of the final 15 points of the stanza – including a 4-0 run in the final 30 seconds – to pull within single digits (41-32) after 20 minutes of play.
The Mountain Hawks continued to claw back in the second, using an 11-3 run to pull within 52-47 following a Reed Fenton 3-pointer with 13:03 on the clock.
A Taylor field goal with 5:23 on the clock pulled Lehigh within one at 62-61. The Mountain Hawks even got the ball back with a chance to take a lead, but a Taylor 3-pointer was off the mark. Lehigh hung within striking distance over the ensuing minutes until the Bulldogs' late rally.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 49.1 percent from the field (27-of-55), including 23.1 percent from 3-point range (3-of-13). Yale finished at 50.9 percent (28-of-55) and 30.4 percent from long distance (7-of-23). The Mountain Hawks held a 31-30 edge in rebounds.
"I think [not being able to get over the hump] is part of the growth process," said Reed. "The fact that we're close is encouraging, if we can just make the corrections. We've identified the corrections and we've refined some of the corrections, but we haven't gone all the way for the full 40 minutes to cut out some of the things that are hurting us.
"The unique and interesting thing going into this game is we had a top 50 schedule in the country (according to the Ken Pomeroy rankings). That sometimes can be overlooked, especially with a young team. You're right there, but you can't get over the hump. For the most part, it's been against quality competition, teams who are going to make us better. The biggest question is, can we learn from it and make the adjustments?"
The Mountain Hawks will now have two weeks off from games for final exams, returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 21 at No. 13 Auburn. Gametime is set for 6 p.m. ET.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (12/7/2019) Men's Basketball vs. Yale, 12/7/19
"Our team showed a lot of really good fight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We were down and Yale was making some really good plays. You'd start to see the life sucked out of us, but our guys showed great resilience to pull themselves back in. They fought tonight and put themselves in a position [to win]."
Wilson shot 7-of-12 from the floor while adding a team-high six rebounds. Karnik was 6-of-8. Senior Jordan Cohen added 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, shooting 4-of-6 from the field. He is now just 14 points from 1,000 in his career. Freshman Evan Taylor chipped in with eight points.
Turnovers once again hurt the Mountain Hawks, finishing with 18 on the evening.
"When we would make some runs, all of a sudden there'd be turnovers which ended up really hurting us," said Reed. "Not having James out there hurt (fouling out with 2:52 remaining and the Mountain Hawks down just three). He's been a stalwart for us, a great player. Nonetheless, we still had the opportunity to make better plays down the stretch."
Lehigh actually jumped out to early leads of 6-0 and 10-2, with four of the Mountain Hawk starters on the scoreboard less than three minutes into the game.
How about a 6-0 start? Yes please. Watch: https://t.co/XLenw2FxLF pic.twitter.com/PuigTCVNVY
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2019
Yale quickly answered, going on an 8-0 run to pull even. The score was tied at 10, 12 and 14 before Lehigh went into a 4:23 scoreless drought. However, the Mountain Hawks allowed just six Bulldogs' points during that stretch, behind a pair of 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs had another run later in the half, using a 13-0 rally to turn a three-point game into a 37-21 advantage with 3:03 on the clock. Lehigh did fight back, scoring 11 of the final 15 points of the stanza – including a 4-0 run in the final 30 seconds – to pull within single digits (41-32) after 20 minutes of play.
BALL HAWK COHEN! Gritty D gets the Mountain Hawks the ball back, leading to two Cohen FTs on the other end to close out the half. Watch: https://t.co/XLenw2FxLF pic.twitter.com/Ue9YepiniE
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2019
The Mountain Hawks continued to claw back in the second, using an 11-3 run to pull within 52-47 following a Reed Fenton 3-pointer with 13:03 on the clock.
A few minutes later, Lehigh got within a single possession on multiple occasions, beginning after a Marques Wilson trey made the score 56-54 with 10:41 remaining.Reed Fenton with the triple and the Mountain Hawks are back within two possessions! Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LKqhd3 pic.twitter.com/V7VUslKUA5
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2019
Marques Wilson with the trey and it's a TWO POINT GAME! Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LKqhd3 pic.twitter.com/49gH2Rx7fP
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 8, 2019
A Taylor field goal with 5:23 on the clock pulled Lehigh within one at 62-61. The Mountain Hawks even got the ball back with a chance to take a lead, but a Taylor 3-pointer was off the mark. Lehigh hung within striking distance over the ensuing minutes until the Bulldogs' late rally.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 49.1 percent from the field (27-of-55), including 23.1 percent from 3-point range (3-of-13). Yale finished at 50.9 percent (28-of-55) and 30.4 percent from long distance (7-of-23). The Mountain Hawks held a 31-30 edge in rebounds.
"I think [not being able to get over the hump] is part of the growth process," said Reed. "The fact that we're close is encouraging, if we can just make the corrections. We've identified the corrections and we've refined some of the corrections, but we haven't gone all the way for the full 40 minutes to cut out some of the things that are hurting us.
"The unique and interesting thing going into this game is we had a top 50 schedule in the country (according to the Ken Pomeroy rankings). That sometimes can be overlooked, especially with a young team. You're right there, but you can't get over the hump. For the most part, it's been against quality competition, teams who are going to make us better. The biggest question is, can we learn from it and make the adjustments?"
The Mountain Hawks will now have two weeks off from games for final exams, returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 21 at No. 13 Auburn. Gametime is set for 6 p.m. ET.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Yale
Lehigh
FG%
.509
.491
3FG%
.304
.231
FT%
.682
.800
RB
30
31
TO
11
18
STL
7
5
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballLehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, November 12
2025-20226 Lehigh Men's Basketball Season Preview
Thursday, October 30
Season Preview: Men's Basketball
Thursday, October 31
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, October 30
