Sunday, March 10
Lewisburg, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
at
Bucknell (Semifinals)
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh set for Sunday showdown at Bucknell with spot in championship game on the line
3/9/2019 10:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Coming off a gritty win against sixth-seeded Army West Point to keep its season alive, the third-seeded Lehigh men's basketball team continues its journey in the Patriot League Tournament on Sunday when it travels to No. 2 seed Bucknell for the Patriot League Semifinals. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will air nation-wide on the CBS Sports Network. The Mountain Hawks and Bison are set to square off in the league tournament for the second time in the last three years and first since the 2017 championship game. It's the first time the teams will play before the title game since 2011 when Lehigh played at Bucknell, also in the semifinal round.
The Mountain Hawks struggled offensively on Thursday, but utilized strong defense to come back from a 15-point deficit early in the second half. After Army hit a three just 14 seconds into the period, Lehigh staged a 23-3 run over the next 9:35 to take a 52-47 lead midway through the stanza. The Black Knights had another run in them, pulling even with 4:19 remaining, but Lehigh immediately responded with a 7-1 run and wouldn't trail the rest of the way. The Mountain Hawks wrapped up the 75-70 victory, ironically the same score as the first meeting this season between Lehigh and Army. In all three matchups this year, Lehigh erased double-figure second-half deficits to win - trailing by 18 in the first meeting, 11 in the second and 15 on Thursday night. In the first meeting, the Mountain Hawks trailed by 19 in the first half, which proved to be the largest comeback in Brett Reed's 12 seasons as Lehigh head coach.
Junior Jordan Cohen led the charge offensively in the second half, scoring 14 points after halftime and finishing with 18 for the game. He added six rebounds, two assists, a block and steal. Cohen hit some big shots, including the go-ahead jumper to give Lehigh a 64-62 lead after Army had pulled even. Cohen later scored a big basket with 21 seconds remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a 72-68 edge.
Freshman Jeameril Wilson played a big role in the second half, scoring nine points to finish with 11 for the game. The Mountain Hawks were just 4-of-23 from three for the game, but Wilson hit a big shot from behind the arc as part of Lehigh's 23-3 run. Senior Lance Tejada struggled from three (0-of-6), but was tenacious in knocking down 5-of-8 two-pointers and 6-of-7 from the line. Sophomore James Karnik had 15 points and nine boards while senior Kyle Leufroy posted nine points and seven rebounds. He didn't convert a two-pointer, but hit a big three in the final two minutes and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe for the game to up his Patriot League-leading percentage to 91.6 for the season.
Lehigh's defense was strong for a good majority of the game, helping it improve to 10-0 after a loss this season. Lehigh also reached 20 wins for the second time in the last three years and fifth time in the last 10. The Mountain Hawks went without a field goal for the final 11:24 of the first half (following a Pat Andree three-pointer that tied the score at 20), but Lehigh found a way to hang close. The Mountain Hawks hit nine free throws to help them stay within 12 at the half. In the end, Lehigh allowed just 45 points over the game's final 39:19 after allowing 25 over the first 10:41. The Black Knights shot just 28.6 percent from the field in the second half and just 12.5 percent from three.
Lehigh has advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament for the third time in the last four years. The Mountain Hawks are 3-1 over their last four Patriot League Semifinal contests, having won their last two – both in Leufroy's career, when he was a freshman (winning at home vs. American) and sophomore (winning at Boston University).
Bucknell lost three-of-four heading into its regular season finale, but defeated Army West Point to finish in a tie for first and earn the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament before beating Holy Cross in the quarterfinals. The Bison enter Sunday's game 20-11 on the season. They finished 13-5 in the league - 9-0 at home and 4-5 on the road. The Bison are 11-3 at home, dropping their first three to Fairfield, Canisius and Northeastern, but winning every game since. First team All-Patriot League honoree Kimbal Mackenzie leads the offense in scoring (17.2) while second teamer Nate Sestina comes in at 15.4 points and a team-leading 8.4 boards per contest.
Lehigh has lost two straight and four of the last five against Bison, but the last 10 meetings have seen each side winning five. Bucknell leads the all-time series, 105-68. The Mountain Hawks won four-of-five between 2015 and 2017, which included consecutive wins at Bucknell - winning 80-65 on Feb. 10, 2016 and 82-71 on Jan. 11, 2017. Since, the Bison have won three straight in Sojka Pavilion. Lehigh won the first-ever men's basketball game in Sojka, beating Bucknell in 2003. The Mountain Hawks are 7-13 all-time in Sojka (winning 35.0 percent) (including the postseason) while the rest of the Patriot League is 19-120 (13.7 percent). Bucknell is Lehigh's second-most played rival of all-time, only behind Lafayette.
If Lehigh wins on Sunday, it would advance to the Patriot League Championship Game for the third time in the last four years. With a win, the Mountain Hawks would either travel to top seed Colgate or host fifth-seeded Navy on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
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The Mountain Hawks struggled offensively on Thursday, but utilized strong defense to come back from a 15-point deficit early in the second half. After Army hit a three just 14 seconds into the period, Lehigh staged a 23-3 run over the next 9:35 to take a 52-47 lead midway through the stanza. The Black Knights had another run in them, pulling even with 4:19 remaining, but Lehigh immediately responded with a 7-1 run and wouldn't trail the rest of the way. The Mountain Hawks wrapped up the 75-70 victory, ironically the same score as the first meeting this season between Lehigh and Army. In all three matchups this year, Lehigh erased double-figure second-half deficits to win - trailing by 18 in the first meeting, 11 in the second and 15 on Thursday night. In the first meeting, the Mountain Hawks trailed by 19 in the first half, which proved to be the largest comeback in Brett Reed's 12 seasons as Lehigh head coach.
Junior Jordan Cohen led the charge offensively in the second half, scoring 14 points after halftime and finishing with 18 for the game. He added six rebounds, two assists, a block and steal. Cohen hit some big shots, including the go-ahead jumper to give Lehigh a 64-62 lead after Army had pulled even. Cohen later scored a big basket with 21 seconds remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a 72-68 edge.
Freshman Jeameril Wilson played a big role in the second half, scoring nine points to finish with 11 for the game. The Mountain Hawks were just 4-of-23 from three for the game, but Wilson hit a big shot from behind the arc as part of Lehigh's 23-3 run. Senior Lance Tejada struggled from three (0-of-6), but was tenacious in knocking down 5-of-8 two-pointers and 6-of-7 from the line. Sophomore James Karnik had 15 points and nine boards while senior Kyle Leufroy posted nine points and seven rebounds. He didn't convert a two-pointer, but hit a big three in the final two minutes and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe for the game to up his Patriot League-leading percentage to 91.6 for the season.
Lehigh's defense was strong for a good majority of the game, helping it improve to 10-0 after a loss this season. Lehigh also reached 20 wins for the second time in the last three years and fifth time in the last 10. The Mountain Hawks went without a field goal for the final 11:24 of the first half (following a Pat Andree three-pointer that tied the score at 20), but Lehigh found a way to hang close. The Mountain Hawks hit nine free throws to help them stay within 12 at the half. In the end, Lehigh allowed just 45 points over the game's final 39:19 after allowing 25 over the first 10:41. The Black Knights shot just 28.6 percent from the field in the second half and just 12.5 percent from three.
Lehigh has advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament for the third time in the last four years. The Mountain Hawks are 3-1 over their last four Patriot League Semifinal contests, having won their last two – both in Leufroy's career, when he was a freshman (winning at home vs. American) and sophomore (winning at Boston University).
Bucknell lost three-of-four heading into its regular season finale, but defeated Army West Point to finish in a tie for first and earn the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament before beating Holy Cross in the quarterfinals. The Bison enter Sunday's game 20-11 on the season. They finished 13-5 in the league - 9-0 at home and 4-5 on the road. The Bison are 11-3 at home, dropping their first three to Fairfield, Canisius and Northeastern, but winning every game since. First team All-Patriot League honoree Kimbal Mackenzie leads the offense in scoring (17.2) while second teamer Nate Sestina comes in at 15.4 points and a team-leading 8.4 boards per contest.
Lehigh has lost two straight and four of the last five against Bison, but the last 10 meetings have seen each side winning five. Bucknell leads the all-time series, 105-68. The Mountain Hawks won four-of-five between 2015 and 2017, which included consecutive wins at Bucknell - winning 80-65 on Feb. 10, 2016 and 82-71 on Jan. 11, 2017. Since, the Bison have won three straight in Sojka Pavilion. Lehigh won the first-ever men's basketball game in Sojka, beating Bucknell in 2003. The Mountain Hawks are 7-13 all-time in Sojka (winning 35.0 percent) (including the postseason) while the rest of the Patriot League is 19-120 (13.7 percent). Bucknell is Lehigh's second-most played rival of all-time, only behind Lafayette.
If Lehigh wins on Sunday, it would advance to the Patriot League Championship Game for the third time in the last four years. With a win, the Mountain Hawks would either travel to top seed Colgate or host fifth-seeded Navy on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
We catch up with Coach @BrettReed ahead of Sunday's Patriot League semifinal at Bucknell! pic.twitter.com/j5ZajE5SRB
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) March 10, 2019
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| Date: | March 10, 2019 |
| Opponent: | Bucknell Bison |
| Tip-off: | 2 PM |
| Arena/Capacity: | Sojka Pavilion/4,000 |
| Location: | Lewisburg, Pa. |
| Lehigh's Record: | 20-10, 12-6 Patriot League |
| Army's Record: | 20-11, 13-5 Patriot League |
| Series: | Bucknell leads, 105-68 |
| Radio: | Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Tom Fallon and Greg Falkenbach '72. Pregame coverage gets underway at 1:30 p.m. |
| Television: | CBS Sports Network |
| Internet Video: | CBS Sports Network |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | Bucknell Official Website |
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