Thursday, March 7
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 P.M.
Lehigh University
20-10
75
vs
70
Army West Point (Quarterfinals)
13-19
1
2
F
Army West Point
41
29
70
Lehigh
29
46
75
Mountain Hawks storm back for 75-70 quarterfinal win over Army West Point
3/7/2019 11:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Trailing by 15 early in the second half, the third-seeded Lehigh men's basketball team staged a 23-3 run to take a five-point lead, on its way to a 75-70 Patriot League Quarterfinal victory over No. 6 seed Army West Point on Thursday evening in Stabler Arena. Junior Jordan Cohen led the offense with 18 points, 14 coming in the second half, while sophomore James Karnik had 15 points and nine boards. The Mountain Hawks shot just 4-of-23 from three (17.4 percent), but buckled down defensively in the second half, and shot 29-of-33 from the free throw line for the game, to improve to 3-0 vs. the Black Knights this season – each time coming back from a double-digit second-half deficit. With the win, Lehigh improves to 20-10 on the season, its second 20-win season in the last three years.
"It was really important for us to be able to survive," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "It got to the point in the first half that we were playing so poorly and we were so loose with the ball. You could feel the collective air come out of this place. We'd get an open look or a finish opportunity and we weren't able to convert. We stayed the course for a little while in the first half, but then we started to almost feel sorry for ourselves. We fell back and Army made a push.
"We had to challenge the guys in the second half and they responded," Reed continued. "If you think about the steals that we got, the deflections, the blocked shots and we even mustered two charges in this game, those are some of the grit plays that we need to see. Generally with this team this year, when we make shots, it energizes our defense. Tonight, we weren't getting that boost; we weren't getting that energy. We had to put our energy into our defense, which ultimately created our offense."
Along with Cohen and Karnik, senior Lance Tejada scored 16 points while freshman Jeameril Wilson had 11 points, the rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Tommy Funk led Army with 22 points.
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead behind a three-pointer from Pat Andree and layup from Karnik, but the Black Knights responded with nine of the next 11 to take a 9-7 advantage with 16:02 left in the first half.
The Mountain Hawks wouldn't lead the rest of the half, but did pull even at 20 behind an Andree trey with 11:24 on the clock.
That proved to be Lehigh's final field goal of the half as Army scored 21 of the final 30 points of the stanza, all nine Mountain Hawks' points coming from the free throw line. A John Emezie jumper with 33 seconds remaining gave the Black Knights a 41-29 halftime advantage.
Funk knocked down a trey just 14 seconds into the second half, but the Mountain Hawks responded by holding the Black Knights scoreless for the next 3:54, staging an 8-0 run in the process. The run continued, reaching 23-3 as Lehigh's D allowed just three Army points in the span of 9:35. A Tejada layup capped off the rally, giving the Mountain Hawks a 52-47 edge with 10:22 left in the second half.
Lehigh's lead eventually swelled to seven at 60-53 with 6:07 remaining, capped off by four straight Tejada points.
But the Black Knights wouldn't go down quietly. They staged a 9-2 run to pull even at 62 with 4:19 on the clock, but Lehigh came right back with a 7-1 surge to go up 69-63 following a Kyle Leufroy trey with 1:42 on the clock.
Army pulled as close as two down the stretch, but the Mountain Hawks hit enough free throws to wrap up the 75-70 win.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 36.8 percent from the field (21-of-57), including 17.4 percent from three-point range (4-of-23). Army shot 41.0 percent (25-of-61) and 18.5 percent from three (5-of-27). Lehigh held a 44-32 edge on the glass.
Lehigh returns to action on Sunday when it travels to second-seeded Bucknell for the Patriot League Semifinals. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. A fan bus will be available for $10/person, which does NOT include a ticket to the game. Click here to purchase your bus and game tickets.
"If you want to be the best, you've got to beat good teams," said Reed. "We've had some success at Sojka Pavilion and we've had some success against this Bucknell team. We lost a game at the buzzer, which really stung for us. They've worn us down at times. We have to make sure we display some of the characteristics that turned this game around as we go into a hostile environment. We've got to manufacture our opportunities, we've got to manufacture our energy and we've got to be the tightest-knit group and be able to go into that place and steal a win."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
"It was really important for us to be able to survive," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "It got to the point in the first half that we were playing so poorly and we were so loose with the ball. You could feel the collective air come out of this place. We'd get an open look or a finish opportunity and we weren't able to convert. We stayed the course for a little while in the first half, but then we started to almost feel sorry for ourselves. We fell back and Army made a push.
"We had to challenge the guys in the second half and they responded," Reed continued. "If you think about the steals that we got, the deflections, the blocked shots and we even mustered two charges in this game, those are some of the grit plays that we need to see. Generally with this team this year, when we make shots, it energizes our defense. Tonight, we weren't getting that boost; we weren't getting that energy. We had to put our energy into our defense, which ultimately created our offense."
Along with Cohen and Karnik, senior Lance Tejada scored 16 points while freshman Jeameril Wilson had 11 points, the rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Tommy Funk led Army with 22 points.
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead behind a three-pointer from Pat Andree and layup from Karnik, but the Black Knights responded with nine of the next 11 to take a 9-7 advantage with 16:02 left in the first half.
The Mountain Hawks wouldn't lead the rest of the half, but did pull even at 20 behind an Andree trey with 11:24 on the clock.
Andree with the big 3-pointer to get us tied up at 20-20. We hit the under 12 media timeout with 11:12 remaining. #GoLehigh Watch: https://t.co/8x8dK9m2qM pic.twitter.com/hNB8aTf5Jr
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) March 8, 2019
That proved to be Lehigh's final field goal of the half as Army scored 21 of the final 30 points of the stanza, all nine Mountain Hawks' points coming from the free throw line. A John Emezie jumper with 33 seconds remaining gave the Black Knights a 41-29 halftime advantage.
Funk knocked down a trey just 14 seconds into the second half, but the Mountain Hawks responded by holding the Black Knights scoreless for the next 3:54, staging an 8-0 run in the process. The run continued, reaching 23-3 as Lehigh's D allowed just three Army points in the span of 9:35. A Tejada layup capped off the rally, giving the Mountain Hawks a 52-47 edge with 10:22 left in the second half.
Lehigh's lead eventually swelled to seven at 60-53 with 6:07 remaining, capped off by four straight Tejada points.
James Karnik slams it home!! #GoLehigh Watch: https://t.co/8x8dK9m2qM pic.twitter.com/HqAUlYW9FW
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) March 8, 2019
Tejada back at it again, as he cuts through to put us up 60-53. #GoLehigh Watch: https://t.co/8x8dK9m2qM pic.twitter.com/7eLAjfwwo5
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) March 8, 2019
But the Black Knights wouldn't go down quietly. They staged a 9-2 run to pull even at 62 with 4:19 on the clock, but Lehigh came right back with a 7-1 surge to go up 69-63 following a Kyle Leufroy trey with 1:42 on the clock.
Just kidding about that tie. Cohen drives in the lane then drops this fadeaway jumper to put us back up by two. 3:51 remaining. #GoLehigh Watch: https://t.co/8x8dK9m2qM pic.twitter.com/oeC7z2OWK8
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) March 8, 2019
Army pulled as close as two down the stretch, but the Mountain Hawks hit enough free throws to wrap up the 75-70 win.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 36.8 percent from the field (21-of-57), including 17.4 percent from three-point range (4-of-23). Army shot 41.0 percent (25-of-61) and 18.5 percent from three (5-of-27). Lehigh held a 44-32 edge on the glass.
Lehigh returns to action on Sunday when it travels to second-seeded Bucknell for the Patriot League Semifinals. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. A fan bus will be available for $10/person, which does NOT include a ticket to the game. Click here to purchase your bus and game tickets.
"If you want to be the best, you've got to beat good teams," said Reed. "We've had some success at Sojka Pavilion and we've had some success against this Bucknell team. We lost a game at the buzzer, which really stung for us. They've worn us down at times. We have to make sure we display some of the characteristics that turned this game around as we go into a hostile environment. We've got to manufacture our opportunities, we've got to manufacture our energy and we've got to be the tightest-knit group and be able to go into that place and steal a win."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
ARMY
LEHIGH
FG%
.410
.368
3FG%
.185
.174
FT%
.600
.879
RB
32
44
TO
13
16
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
F
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