Thursday, March 7
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 P.M.
Lehigh University
vs
Army West Point (Quarterfinals)
Lehigh set to host Army West Point in Patriot League Quarterfinals Thursday night
3/6/2019 4:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following a strong regular season, which featured the Mountain Hawks contending for a Patriot League regular season title until the final day, the third-seeded Lehigh men's basketball team, begins its quest for an even bigger goal on Thursday when it hosts No. 6 seed Army West Point in the Patriot League Quarterfinals. Opening tipoff in Stabler Arena is set for 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks begin a quest for their first league tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth since 2012, but it won't be easy as it starts with a tough Army squad that held double-figure second-half leads against the Mountain Hawks in both regular-season contests before Lehigh stormed back to win both.
Students can take the Campus Connector to the Goodman Campus, which will leave from Packer Ave at 6:30, Drown Hall at 6:32 and Alpha Phi at 6:34 with buses departing back to main campus in 20-minute intervals after the game. (8:33, 8:53, 9:13, etc.)
Lehigh entered the final day of the regular season tied for first place, needing both Bucknell and Colgate to lose, and to win itself at Loyola, in order to secure the No. 1 seed. The Bison trailed Army by double figures with less than 10 minutes remaining while Colgate and Lafayette were tied with a minute remaining, but both came back to win and the Mountain Hawks fell at Loyola that evening to finish 12-6 in the league. With the Raiders and Bison having already won, even if Lehigh had beaten the Greyhounds, it would have been the No. 3 seed regardless due to tiebreaker.
One of the stories on Saturday for Loyola was its three-point shooting. The Greyhounds were 12-of-16 for the game. Without a late miss by Loyola, it would have tied the Patriot League record for three-point percentage in a game (12-of-15, 80.0 percent). The Mountain Hawks trailed by nine at the half, but Loyola proved too much in the second. On multiple occasions, Lehigh pulled back within 11, but couldn't get any closer.
Lehigh's backcourt combined for 46 points behind 16 apiece from both senior Kyle Leufroy and junior Jordan Cohen, and 14 from senior Lance Tejada. With his 16 points, Leufroy moved into the top 50 in Patriot League history for career scoring (currently 1,397). All three went on to be named All-Patriot League on Monday, with Tejada earning first-team laurels and Leufroy and Cohen being named to the third team. It marked Tejada's second All-League honor in his two years playing at Lehigh (named to the second team last season) while it was the first-career award for both Leufroy and Cohen.
Also strong on Saturday was freshman Nic Lynch, who saw increased minutes due to a first-half James Karnik injury. Lynch delivered with 12 points and 13 rebounds for his third-career double-double. It marked Lehigh's first double-double since exactly one month prior, when Leufroy had 22 points and 10 boards at Army West Point.
Lehigh is 1-3 all-time vs. Army in the Patriot League Tournament, having not played since 2010, a 64-45 Mountain Hawks' quarterfinal victory on the way to the tournament title. In the first regular season meeting this season, Lehigh staged the largest comeback (19 points) in Brett Reed's tenure as Mountain Hawks' head coach. Lehigh still trailed by 18 (55-37) with 13:39 remaining before outscoring Army 38-15 the rest of the way for the 75-70 win. In the second meeting (at Lehigh) just two weeks ago, the Black Knights led 59-48 with 12:57 remaining, but Lehigh staged a massive 29-5 run to take a 13-point lead. If the Mountain Hawks win on Thursday, they would advance to the Patriot League Semifinals and play on Sunday afternoon, either at second-seeded Bucknell or home vs. 10th-seeded Holy Cross.
Army has lost eight of its last 10 overall, with the two wins coming vs. Boston University and Loyola. Last time out, the Black Knights led for much of the game at Bucknell before the Bison came back to win, 62-61 in the final seconds. Matt Wilson leads Army in scoring (13.6) and rebounding (8.8), standing 14th and first in the Patriot League, respectively. Third team All-League honoree Tommy Funk is averaging 12.3 points and a league-leading 6.1 assists. Jordan Fox comes in at 7.3 points per game, Lonnie Grayson 7.3 and Alex King 7.2. Army stands eighth in the league in scoring offense (70.9) and fourth in scoring defense (71.9).
Lehigh has won three straight and six of the last seven to pull within 64-45 in the all-time series. Army's last win at Lehigh came on Dec. 30, 2015 via an 88-82 final. Since, the Mountain Hawks have won 83-69, 84-53 (Lehigh's largest-ever margin of victory vs. Army) and 91-81. The first-ever meeting between the two sides came in 1906-07, a 26-24 Lehigh victory. Army won the next matchup in 1914-15 by a 19-6 final.
If Lehigh wins on Thursday, it would advance to the Patriot League Semifinals on Sunday afternoon. If they win, the Mountain Hawks would either travel to second-seeded Bucknell or host 10th-seeded Holy Cross.
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Students can take the Campus Connector to the Goodman Campus, which will leave from Packer Ave at 6:30, Drown Hall at 6:32 and Alpha Phi at 6:34 with buses departing back to main campus in 20-minute intervals after the game. (8:33, 8:53, 9:13, etc.)
Lehigh entered the final day of the regular season tied for first place, needing both Bucknell and Colgate to lose, and to win itself at Loyola, in order to secure the No. 1 seed. The Bison trailed Army by double figures with less than 10 minutes remaining while Colgate and Lafayette were tied with a minute remaining, but both came back to win and the Mountain Hawks fell at Loyola that evening to finish 12-6 in the league. With the Raiders and Bison having already won, even if Lehigh had beaten the Greyhounds, it would have been the No. 3 seed regardless due to tiebreaker.
One of the stories on Saturday for Loyola was its three-point shooting. The Greyhounds were 12-of-16 for the game. Without a late miss by Loyola, it would have tied the Patriot League record for three-point percentage in a game (12-of-15, 80.0 percent). The Mountain Hawks trailed by nine at the half, but Loyola proved too much in the second. On multiple occasions, Lehigh pulled back within 11, but couldn't get any closer.
Lehigh's backcourt combined for 46 points behind 16 apiece from both senior Kyle Leufroy and junior Jordan Cohen, and 14 from senior Lance Tejada. With his 16 points, Leufroy moved into the top 50 in Patriot League history for career scoring (currently 1,397). All three went on to be named All-Patriot League on Monday, with Tejada earning first-team laurels and Leufroy and Cohen being named to the third team. It marked Tejada's second All-League honor in his two years playing at Lehigh (named to the second team last season) while it was the first-career award for both Leufroy and Cohen.
Also strong on Saturday was freshman Nic Lynch, who saw increased minutes due to a first-half James Karnik injury. Lynch delivered with 12 points and 13 rebounds for his third-career double-double. It marked Lehigh's first double-double since exactly one month prior, when Leufroy had 22 points and 10 boards at Army West Point.
Lehigh is 1-3 all-time vs. Army in the Patriot League Tournament, having not played since 2010, a 64-45 Mountain Hawks' quarterfinal victory on the way to the tournament title. In the first regular season meeting this season, Lehigh staged the largest comeback (19 points) in Brett Reed's tenure as Mountain Hawks' head coach. Lehigh still trailed by 18 (55-37) with 13:39 remaining before outscoring Army 38-15 the rest of the way for the 75-70 win. In the second meeting (at Lehigh) just two weeks ago, the Black Knights led 59-48 with 12:57 remaining, but Lehigh staged a massive 29-5 run to take a 13-point lead. If the Mountain Hawks win on Thursday, they would advance to the Patriot League Semifinals and play on Sunday afternoon, either at second-seeded Bucknell or home vs. 10th-seeded Holy Cross.
Army has lost eight of its last 10 overall, with the two wins coming vs. Boston University and Loyola. Last time out, the Black Knights led for much of the game at Bucknell before the Bison came back to win, 62-61 in the final seconds. Matt Wilson leads Army in scoring (13.6) and rebounding (8.8), standing 14th and first in the Patriot League, respectively. Third team All-League honoree Tommy Funk is averaging 12.3 points and a league-leading 6.1 assists. Jordan Fox comes in at 7.3 points per game, Lonnie Grayson 7.3 and Alex King 7.2. Army stands eighth in the league in scoring offense (70.9) and fourth in scoring defense (71.9).
Lehigh has won three straight and six of the last seven to pull within 64-45 in the all-time series. Army's last win at Lehigh came on Dec. 30, 2015 via an 88-82 final. Since, the Mountain Hawks have won 83-69, 84-53 (Lehigh's largest-ever margin of victory vs. Army) and 91-81. The first-ever meeting between the two sides came in 1906-07, a 26-24 Lehigh victory. Army won the next matchup in 1914-15 by a 19-6 final.
If Lehigh wins on Thursday, it would advance to the Patriot League Semifinals on Sunday afternoon. If they win, the Mountain Hawks would either travel to second-seeded Bucknell or host 10th-seeded Holy Cross.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
| Date: | March 7, 2019 |
| Opponent: | Army West Point Black Knights |
| Tip-off: | 7 PM |
| Arena/Capacity: | Stabler Arena/5,600 |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's Record: | 19-10, 12-6 Patriot League |
| Army's Record: | 13-18, 8-10 Patriot League |
| Series: | Army leads, 64-45 |
| Radio: | Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Tom Fallon and Greg Falkenbach '72. Pregame coverage gets underway at 6:30 p.m. |
| Television: | Service Electric 2 Sports |
| Internet Video: | Patriot League Network |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | Army West Point Official Website |
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