Sunday, February 24
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Holy Cross
Lehigh remains home for big day this Sunday vs. Holy Cross
2/22/2019 5:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Coming off an exciting comeback win over Army West Point Wednesday, the Lehigh men's basketball team wraps up its regular-season home schedule on Sunday when it hosts Holy Cross at noon. Sunday features both Senior Day and CJ McCollum Day Presented by Coordinated Health. Prior to tipoff, Kyle Leufroy and Lance Tejada will be honored as they play their final regular-season home games in the Brown and White. McCollum will also be in attendance and at halftime, the 2013 Lehigh graduate and current NBA standout will see his number honored in the Stabler Arena rafters.
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Students can take a bus over to Sunday's game, with pickup times at 11:30 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 12 p.m. and 12:15 p.m. from the Packer Avenue Bus Stop. The first 2,000 fans at Sunday's game will receive a FREE commemorative CJ McCollum rally towel.
McCollum was drafted 10th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2013 NBA Draft. The Patriot League's all-time leading scorer with 2,361 career points, he will join Daren Queenan and Mike Polaha with their numbers honored in Stabler Arena. Among McCollum's many career highlights was a 30-point effort in the 2012 NCAA Tournament against Duke, as 15th-seeded Lehigh pulled off one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.
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The present-day Mountain Hawks are making noise looking to get back to the big dance for the first time since that year; on Wednesday, Lehigh took a step towards that game. Lehigh came back from an 11-point deficit with 12:57 remaining by staging a monster 29-5 run to take a 13-point lead. The 91-81 win clinched the Mountain Hawks a top-four seed and home game in the Patriot League Quarterfinals for the ninth time in the last 10 years, guaranteeing Leufroy and Tejada will play at least one additional game at home in their careers.
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The win also pulled Lehigh into a first-place tie with Bucknell, with three regular-season games remaining. The Bison currently own the tiebreaker due to sweeping the season series. The Mountain Hawks are also just one game ahead of Colgate, who is in third place. A top two-seed would guarantee Lehigh home court advantage through the semifinals and the No. 1 seed would guarantee home court through the entire Patriot League Tournament.
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On Wednesday, the Mountain Hawks used another balanced offensive attack, with five players scoring double-figure points for the sixth time this season (including the fifth time in 15 league games). Tejada led the way with 20 points, despite foul trouble. He picked up his second foul just over two minutes in, but returned to knock down a pair of first-half threes before scoring 12 in the second half and finishing the game 3-of-4 from distance. Leufroy added 17 points, six assists and four rebounds while junior Jordan Cohen filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, a block and steal. Classmate Pat Andree had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a block and steal while sophomore James Karnik recorded 11 points on just five field-goal attempts, also converting 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Freshman Joe Foley dazzled in the first half, scoring all of his career-high eight points in the first 20 minutes to help keep the Mountain Hawks within seven heading into halftime.
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Lehigh's 29-4 second-half run came in the stretch of just 6:42. After scoring 48 points over the game's first 27:21, the Mountain Hawks scored 43 over the game's final 12:39. Lehigh's 56 second-half points marked a season high for a second half. Lehigh did score more in a half this season, netting 57 in the first-half on Jan. 26 against Boston University. The Mountain Hawks continued their impressive shooting, connecting on 50.0 percent from the field (29-of-58), including 50.0 percent from three (10-of-20) and 82.1 percent from the free throw line (23-of-28). Lehigh currently stands first nationally in three-point percentage (44.2), 10th in field goal percentage (49.2) and 18th in free throw percentage (76.3). The Mountain Hawks have shot 50 percent or better 12 times this season, eclipsing 50 percent from three on six occasions.
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The Mountain Hawks haven't seen Holy Cross for a while, last squaring off on Jan. 9 at Holy Cross. In that game, Tejada exploded for 36 points, connecting on 10 three-pointers to tie a school record. Following Sunday's game, Lehigh closes out the regular season at American on Wednesday (Feb. 27) and Loyola on Saturday (Mar. 2).
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Holy Cross enjoyed a strong nonleague slate, posting a 9-4 record, but the Crusaders have struggled in league play, currently standing 5-10. Four Crusaders are averaging double-figure points, led by 13.9 from Jacob Grandison. Austin Butler comes in at 13.2 points per game, Jehyve Floyd is averaging 11.9 and a team-high 6.2 rebounds, while Caleb Green comes in at 11.0 points per contest. The Crusaders have lost three of their last four and five of their last seven overall, but their most recent win came last Saturday against first-place Bucknell.
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Lehigh has won three straight vs. Holy Cross, winning both last season and coming back from an 18-point deficit at Holy Cross in January. At the time, the comeback marked the largest in Brett Reed's 12 seasons as Lehigh head coach, before the Mountain Hawks came back from 19 down at Army West Point in February. Lehigh has won three straight over Holy Cross at home, with the last win coming on Jan. 5, 2018 by an 83-77 final. The next two meetings came at Holy Cross, with the Mountain Hawks victorious, 71-67 then 99-94 in overtime. Lehigh and Holy Cross first met in 1976, an 84-60 Holy Cross victory, before reconvening for Patriot League play in the early 1990s.
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Following Sunday's game, the Mountain Hawks close out the regular season with a pair of road games - at American on Wednesday (Feb. 27) and Loyola on Saturday (Mar. 2). Both games are set to tip off at 7 p.m.
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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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Students can take a bus over to Sunday's game, with pickup times at 11:30 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 12 p.m. and 12:15 p.m. from the Packer Avenue Bus Stop. The first 2,000 fans at Sunday's game will receive a FREE commemorative CJ McCollum rally towel.
ÂExcited to announce a commemorative rally towel giveaway for Legends Weekend Presented by @coordhealth!
— Lehigh Sports (@LehighSports) February 22, 2019
- First 500 fans at Saturday's @LehighWBB game vs. Army (7:30) (Erica Prosser Night)
- First 2,000 fans at Sunday's @LehighMBB game vs. Holy Cross (noon) (CJ McCollum Day) pic.twitter.com/RTFLsFqSeL
McCollum was drafted 10th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2013 NBA Draft. The Patriot League's all-time leading scorer with 2,361 career points, he will join Daren Queenan and Mike Polaha with their numbers honored in Stabler Arena. Among McCollum's many career highlights was a 30-point effort in the 2012 NCAA Tournament against Duke, as 15th-seeded Lehigh pulled off one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.
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The present-day Mountain Hawks are making noise looking to get back to the big dance for the first time since that year; on Wednesday, Lehigh took a step towards that game. Lehigh came back from an 11-point deficit with 12:57 remaining by staging a monster 29-5 run to take a 13-point lead. The 91-81 win clinched the Mountain Hawks a top-four seed and home game in the Patriot League Quarterfinals for the ninth time in the last 10 years, guaranteeing Leufroy and Tejada will play at least one additional game at home in their careers.
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The win also pulled Lehigh into a first-place tie with Bucknell, with three regular-season games remaining. The Bison currently own the tiebreaker due to sweeping the season series. The Mountain Hawks are also just one game ahead of Colgate, who is in third place. A top two-seed would guarantee Lehigh home court advantage through the semifinals and the No. 1 seed would guarantee home court through the entire Patriot League Tournament.
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On Wednesday, the Mountain Hawks used another balanced offensive attack, with five players scoring double-figure points for the sixth time this season (including the fifth time in 15 league games). Tejada led the way with 20 points, despite foul trouble. He picked up his second foul just over two minutes in, but returned to knock down a pair of first-half threes before scoring 12 in the second half and finishing the game 3-of-4 from distance. Leufroy added 17 points, six assists and four rebounds while junior Jordan Cohen filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, a block and steal. Classmate Pat Andree had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a block and steal while sophomore James Karnik recorded 11 points on just five field-goal attempts, also converting 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Freshman Joe Foley dazzled in the first half, scoring all of his career-high eight points in the first 20 minutes to help keep the Mountain Hawks within seven heading into halftime.
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Lehigh's 29-4 second-half run came in the stretch of just 6:42. After scoring 48 points over the game's first 27:21, the Mountain Hawks scored 43 over the game's final 12:39. Lehigh's 56 second-half points marked a season high for a second half. Lehigh did score more in a half this season, netting 57 in the first-half on Jan. 26 against Boston University. The Mountain Hawks continued their impressive shooting, connecting on 50.0 percent from the field (29-of-58), including 50.0 percent from three (10-of-20) and 82.1 percent from the free throw line (23-of-28). Lehigh currently stands first nationally in three-point percentage (44.2), 10th in field goal percentage (49.2) and 18th in free throw percentage (76.3). The Mountain Hawks have shot 50 percent or better 12 times this season, eclipsing 50 percent from three on six occasions.
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The Mountain Hawks haven't seen Holy Cross for a while, last squaring off on Jan. 9 at Holy Cross. In that game, Tejada exploded for 36 points, connecting on 10 three-pointers to tie a school record. Following Sunday's game, Lehigh closes out the regular season at American on Wednesday (Feb. 27) and Loyola on Saturday (Mar. 2).
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Holy Cross enjoyed a strong nonleague slate, posting a 9-4 record, but the Crusaders have struggled in league play, currently standing 5-10. Four Crusaders are averaging double-figure points, led by 13.9 from Jacob Grandison. Austin Butler comes in at 13.2 points per game, Jehyve Floyd is averaging 11.9 and a team-high 6.2 rebounds, while Caleb Green comes in at 11.0 points per contest. The Crusaders have lost three of their last four and five of their last seven overall, but their most recent win came last Saturday against first-place Bucknell.
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Lehigh has won three straight vs. Holy Cross, winning both last season and coming back from an 18-point deficit at Holy Cross in January. At the time, the comeback marked the largest in Brett Reed's 12 seasons as Lehigh head coach, before the Mountain Hawks came back from 19 down at Army West Point in February. Lehigh has won three straight over Holy Cross at home, with the last win coming on Jan. 5, 2018 by an 83-77 final. The next two meetings came at Holy Cross, with the Mountain Hawks victorious, 71-67 then 99-94 in overtime. Lehigh and Holy Cross first met in 1976, an 84-60 Holy Cross victory, before reconvening for Patriot League play in the early 1990s.
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Following Sunday's game, the Mountain Hawks close out the regular season with a pair of road games - at American on Wednesday (Feb. 27) and Loyola on Saturday (Mar. 2). Both games are set to tip off at 7 p.m.
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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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| Date: | February 24, 2019 |
| Opponent: | Holy Cross Crusaders |
| Tip-off: | 12 PM |
| Arena/Capacity: | Stabler Arena/5,600 |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's Record: | 18-8, 11-4 Patriot League  |
| Holy Cross' Record: | 14-14, 5-10 Patriot League |
| Series: | Holy Cross leads, 41-24 |
| Radio: | Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Tom Fallon and Greg Falkenbach '72. Pregame coverage gets underway at 11:30 a.m. |
| Television: | Service Electric 2 Sports |
| Internet Video: | Patriot League Network |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | Holy Cross Official Website |
Players Mentioned
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