Mountain Hawks pick up convincing wire-to-wire 80-66 win at American

Wednesday, February 27

Washington, D.C.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

19-9, 12-5PL

American

14-14, 8-9PL

Lehigh

American

Mountain Hawks pick up convincing wire-to-wire 80-66 win at American

2/27/2019 11:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lehigh men's basketball team opened as much as a 23-point second-half lead and held off an Eagles' surge to pick up an impressive 80-66 win at American on Wednesday evening in Bender Arena. Five Mountain Hawks scored in double figures for the seventh time this season (and sixth time in Patriot League play), led by 18 points from senior Kyle Leufroy and a career-high 17 from freshman Jeameril Wilson. Sophomore James Karnik added 17 points as well, 12 coming in the second half. With the win, the Mountain Hawks are now in a three-way tie for first place (with Bucknell and Colgate) in the Patriot League standings at 12-5, heading into the final day of the regular season on Saturday.

"We spend a lot of time talking about what it takes to win," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "There was a challenge to our guys after our last game and in practice to really be able to answer the call. We have invested an incredible amount of time to talk about the components of a winning team – from teamwork to toughness to all the things that really go into making a team strong. And then, we obviously practice and we train. But we weren't living into the things that we were talking about as consistently as we needed to.

"I'm so pleased that our guys were able to answer the call tonight, play as hard as they did and take as much pride in the defensive end as they did. There were a number of jump balls where we were really being aggressive and getting our hands on the basketball. We took multiple charges. We ended up doing a good job overall of staying in front and our bigs were incredible in the first half of being able to clog up the paint and force contested finishes."

THIRD charge Mountain Hawks have taken tonight. This one by Karnik. Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. pic.twitter.com/Kcduy9Ngdc
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 28, 2019

With Wednesday's win, Leufroy finished off his second perfect regular season against a team in his career. He is now a perfect 8-0 in the regular season against archrival Lafayette and American (9-0 overall vs. American including the postseason).

Making his second start of the season, Wilson excelled at both ends of the floor, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-2 from three and adding six rebounds, two steals and a block.

"Jeameril did a great job," said Reed. "He ended up also drawing a couple fouls that doesn't show up in the stat line, which gets American – who doesn't always play a lot of depth – a little bit more in foul trouble because he brought an element of attacking the basket. That allowed us to get to the free throw line and allowed us to have some good opportunities. For the young guy to step into that role and play the way he played with the energy and passion that he displayed, plus overall some pretty good efficiency, I was really proud of him. His two classmates (Nic Lynch and Joe Foley) were terrific as well. When you start getting that type of production from young guys, you have five guys in double figures, you hold a team down and you end up playing some pretty good defense, that makes you a strong team.

"I couldn't be more proud of these guys for their performance."

Leufroy's 18 points included 9-of-9 from the free throw line, along with six assists. Karnik finished 6-of-7 from the field while adding eight rebounds and two blocks in just 23 minutes due to foul trouble. Junior Jordan Cohen added 11 points while senior Lance Tejada had 10, along with five assists.

Lehigh allowed just 22 first-half points, a season-low for points in any half. The half began with the Mountain Hawks not allowing a point for the game's first 3:44 and just two points over the first 6:31. Leading 6-5, Lehigh used a 9-0 run, beginning and ending with Tejada threes, to take a 15-5 advantage with exactly 13 minutes on the clock.

Mountain Hawks on a 9-0 run to take a 15-5 lead at the under-12 media timeout. Included were two LT threes. Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. pic.twitter.com/smXWJYWMcf
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 28, 2019

The Mountain Hawks' lead eventually reached 13 at 20-7, American pulled as close as seven (24-17), but a 6-0 Lehigh surge in the span of just 1:17, ending with a layup from freshman Nic Lynch, gave the Mountain Hawks a 30-17 edge with just over four minutes remaining.

Lynch would wrap up the first-half scoring with a three-point play in the final minute to give Lehigh a 36-22 halftime edge.

What vision by Leufroy, and the finish by Lynch. Watch the second half: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. pic.twitter.com/7VCpqyhL9G
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 28, 2019

Leading 41-26 early in the second, Lehigh used an 8-0 run – featuring a Wilson three, Leufroy three and Cohen acrobatic move to the basket – to take a 49-26 lead with 14:18 on the clock.

How. Did. He. Finish. That? Jordan Cohen with the acrobatic, highlight-reel basket. #SCTop10 #PLTop3 Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. pic.twitter.com/fbbOo8l19i
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 28, 2019

Lehigh regained 23-point leads following a Cohen trey, and later Wilson three-point play, to give the Mountain Hawks a 55-32 edge with 12:29 remaining.

From there, American slowly chipped away, scoring 18 of the next 22 points, capped off by a Sa'eed Nelson layup, to pull within 59-50 with 6:11 on the clock. That's as close as the Eagles would get, however. Consecutive dunks from Wilson and Karnik in the span of 50 seconds gave the Mountain Hawks a 69-53 edge, on the way to the 80-66 final.

Jeameril Wilson WITH AUTHORITY! #PLTop3 #SCTop10 Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. pic.twitter.com/qvdXW77lVs
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 28, 2019

How about another dunk? Yes please.
Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LK8FOt. pic.twitter.com/3RZAr2Ogdh
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 28, 2019

For the game, Lehigh shot 53.2 percent from the field (25-of-47), including 42.9 percent from three-point range (6-of-14). American finished at 40.3 percent (25-of-62) and 23.8 percent from distance (5-of-21). The Mountain Hawks held a 37-31 edge on the glass.

Lehigh closes out the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Loyola to face the Greyhounds. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks have clinched a home game in the Patriot League Quarterfinals, which will be played next Thursday, Mar. 7 at 7 p.m. in Stabler Arena. Tickets are now available and may be purchased by clicking here.

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