Monday, February 11
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
75
at
87
Bucknell
1
2
F
Lehigh
38
37
75
Bucknell
35
52
87
Bucknell surges past Mountain Hawks in second half, 87-75
2/11/2019 10:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Lehigh used a 14-0 first-half run to open a 22-11 lead, but Bucknell pulled within three at the half and used a 15-1 second-half run to take a double-figure lead, on the way to downing the Mountain Hawks 87-75 on Monday evening in Sojka Pavilion. Lehigh trimmed a 16-point deficit with just over six minutes remaining down to nine with 4:06 on the clock, but that's as close as the Mountain Hawks would come. Sophomore James Karnik led Lehigh with 21 points to tie a career high, along with nine rebounds as five Mountain Hawks finished with double-figure points.
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"James gave us a lot of fight tonight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We were using the floor balance and we ended up making some nice passes and getting him some interior touches. He was able to convert for us at a pretty high level."
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With the loss, Lehigh falls to 16-8 on the season, 9-4 in Patriot League play. The Mountain Hawks stand alone in second place in the league standings, now two games behind the 11-2 Bison with five regular-season games remaining.
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One of the nation's top shooting teams, Lehigh finished at 41.7 percent from the field (25-of-60) and just 27.3 percent from three-point range (6-of-22), struggling offensively for long stretches of Monday's game.
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"We had a number of good looks during a stretch in the second half, many shots we would take," said Reed. "We weren't able to capitalize and we weren't able to knock them down at the rate that we needed to against a team that's pretty prolific and can score."
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Along with Karnik's 21 points, junior Jordan Cohen had 15 and a game-high seven assists. Classmate Pat Andree had 12 points while seniors Kyle Leufroy and Lance Tejada each had 10. With a driving first-half layup, Tejada reached 1,000 collegiate points (including his time at East Carolina), becoming the 37th Lehigh player in school history to reach that milestone.
Bucknell was led by Kimbal Mackenzie, who scored 27 points while Nate Sestina had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
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Trailing 11-8 early, the Mountain Hawks staged a big run, beginning with a basket from Andree and including threes from Tejada and later Leufroy. Leufroy's trey made it 14 straight Lehigh points, giving the Mountain Hawks a 22-11 edge with 8:13 left in the first half.
After Karnik gave Lehigh a 28-19 edge, the Bison scored seven straight points to quickly pull within two heading into the final media timeout of the half.
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Threes from Tejada and later Andree gave Lehigh leads of seven and five points, but a Mackenzie hoop in the final seconds of the first pulled Bucknell within 38-35 at the half.
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Karnik scored the first four second-half points to put Lehigh up seven, but that's when Bison turned the tides with a 15-1 run. Bucknell's lead eventually reached 16 at 66-50, with Lehigh scoring just 12 points over the first 13:38 of the second.
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"The dry spell we hit hurt us a great deal," said Reed. "Bucknell did a good job of capitalizing, was on the attack in transition off of misses and Mackenzie continued to score in a variety of ways during that run."
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The Mountain Hawks scored 13 of the next 19 points as an Andree trey pulled Lehigh within nine at 72-63 with 4:06 still remaining.
From there, the Mountain Hawks scored 12 points over the final four minutes, but allowed 15, eight of which were free throws over the final 1:04 to help the Bison wrap up the victory.
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While Lehigh shot 41.7 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three, Bucknell finished at 43.1 and 25.0 percent. The Bison held a 43-31 edge in rebounds.
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The Mountain Hawks remain on the road on Saturday at Boston University. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Lehigh's next home game is Wednesday, Feb. 20 vs. Army West Point at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online and may be purchased by clicking here.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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"James gave us a lot of fight tonight," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We were using the floor balance and we ended up making some nice passes and getting him some interior touches. He was able to convert for us at a pretty high level."
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With the loss, Lehigh falls to 16-8 on the season, 9-4 in Patriot League play. The Mountain Hawks stand alone in second place in the league standings, now two games behind the 11-2 Bison with five regular-season games remaining.
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One of the nation's top shooting teams, Lehigh finished at 41.7 percent from the field (25-of-60) and just 27.3 percent from three-point range (6-of-22), struggling offensively for long stretches of Monday's game.
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"We had a number of good looks during a stretch in the second half, many shots we would take," said Reed. "We weren't able to capitalize and we weren't able to knock them down at the rate that we needed to against a team that's pretty prolific and can score."
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Along with Karnik's 21 points, junior Jordan Cohen had 15 and a game-high seven assists. Classmate Pat Andree had 12 points while seniors Kyle Leufroy and Lance Tejada each had 10. With a driving first-half layup, Tejada reached 1,000 collegiate points (including his time at East Carolina), becoming the 37th Lehigh player in school history to reach that milestone.
ÂHere's a look at Lance Tejada's 1,000th collegiate point earlier today. Congratulations, LT! pic.twitter.com/5gjf0imIWU
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 12, 2019
Bucknell was led by Kimbal Mackenzie, who scored 27 points while Nate Sestina had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
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Trailing 11-8 early, the Mountain Hawks staged a big run, beginning with a basket from Andree and including threes from Tejada and later Leufroy. Leufroy's trey made it 14 straight Lehigh points, giving the Mountain Hawks a 22-11 edge with 8:13 left in the first half.
ÂMountain Hawks riding a 14-0 run as this Leufroy trey gives Lehigh a 22-11 lead and forces a Bucknell timeout with 8:09 left in the first. Watch on @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/Ve2hCRK2LN
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 12, 2019
After Karnik gave Lehigh a 28-19 edge, the Bison scored seven straight points to quickly pull within two heading into the final media timeout of the half.
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Threes from Tejada and later Andree gave Lehigh leads of seven and five points, but a Mackenzie hoop in the final seconds of the first pulled Bucknell within 38-35 at the half.
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Karnik scored the first four second-half points to put Lehigh up seven, but that's when Bison turned the tides with a 15-1 run. Bucknell's lead eventually reached 16 at 66-50, with Lehigh scoring just 12 points over the first 13:38 of the second.
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"The dry spell we hit hurt us a great deal," said Reed. "Bucknell did a good job of capitalizing, was on the attack in transition off of misses and Mackenzie continued to score in a variety of ways during that run."
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The Mountain Hawks scored 13 of the next 19 points as an Andree trey pulled Lehigh within nine at 72-63 with 4:06 still remaining.
ÂBig three from Andree not long ago to pull the Mountain Hawks back to within single digits. pic.twitter.com/dXXJ7660wT
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 12, 2019
From there, the Mountain Hawks scored 12 points over the final four minutes, but allowed 15, eight of which were free throws over the final 1:04 to help the Bison wrap up the victory.
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While Lehigh shot 41.7 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three, Bucknell finished at 43.1 and 25.0 percent. The Bison held a 43-31 edge in rebounds.
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The Mountain Hawks remain on the road on Saturday at Boston University. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Lehigh's next home game is Wednesday, Feb. 20 vs. Army West Point at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online and may be purchased by clicking here.
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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
M-352
M-83
FG%
.417
.431
3FG%
.273
.250
FT%
.792
.806
RB
31
43
TO
8
10
STL
2
4
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
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