Lehigh loses heartbreaker to Army in game that came down to final seconds

Saturday, February 1

Bethlehem, Pa.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

5-17,2-8Patriot

Army West Point

11-10,6-4Patriot

Army West Point

Lehigh

Lehigh loses heartbreaker to Army in game that came down to final seconds

2/1/2020 11:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sophomore Nic Lynch paced the Lehigh men's basketball offense with a career-high 25 points and career-high tying 13 rebounds, but Tommy Funk carried visiting Army West Point, scoring 33 points to lead the Black Knights to a slim 80-79 victory over the Mountain Hawks on Saturday evening in Stabler Arena. Lehigh had two chances in the final seconds for the win as senior Jordan Cohen had a good look at a jumper and Lynch grabbed the offensive rebound, but the shots were just a little off the mark. The Mountain Hawks, who fell a little short of snapping Army's five-game winning streak, return to action on Wednesday night to host Colgate at 7 p.m.

"Our guys showed a lot of heart and resiliency," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "We were down nine with six minutes left. It would have been easy for things to cave in, but our guys found resiliency. They found some toughness and got some stops, on a night when Tommy Funk was absolutely sensational. A lot of the shots he made, particularly in the first half, were very well contested."

Funk was on fire all night, shooting 7-of-9 from 3-point range and 10-of-14 from the field overall. Matt Wilson added 21 points for the Black Knights as the seniors combined for 54 of their 80.

Lynch was 10-of-13 from the field, easily surpassing his previous career high of 16 points. Freshman Reed Fenton finished with 18 points, knocking down 6-of-10 3-pointers. He became the first Mountain Hawk with six or more 3-pointers in a game since Kyle Leufroy on January 19, 2019 against Bucknell. Cohen had 13 points, shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range, while junior Marques Wilson tallied nine points and a career-high seven assists.

"Nic Lynch was absolutely sensational," said Reed. "A performance like that from Nic generally is enough to bolster us and give us the point production we need. He was efficient and did a really good job with some of his face up moves, his jump shot then also, getting to his hook. He was really comfortable and confident. Although they tried to put a lot of traffic on him in the second half, he only had one turnover as well (for the game)."

The Mountain Hawks jumped out to an early 11-2 lead, with Lynch scoring six of those points. Army quickly pulled back into the game, getting within two at 14-12 following a pair of Funk free throws with 12:07 on the clock.

What a start! Nic Lynch with six early points to help the Mountain Hawks take an early 11-2 lead vs. Army. Lehigh currently in front 11-4 at our first media timeout. Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LKqhd3 pic.twitter.com/cD1cJ15sDE
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 2, 2020

A Cohen jumper with 9:46 to go in the first made it six straight Lehigh points and gave the Mountain Hawks a 20-12 advantage. Not long after, the Black Knights staged a 7-0 run to pull even at 25 with 6:37 remaining.

From there, Lehigh outscored Army 23-19 over the final 5:55 of the stanza in an incredible display of offense on both sides. The sequence began with Fenton hitting his first 3-pointer of the game, starting a string of four treys in the span of 2:56. Fenton's third gave the Mountain Hawks a nine-point lead back at 36-27 while his fourth made it 39-32. Lehigh's lead remained at multiple possessions for the remaining minutes of the first, but Funk knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the first half (on four attempts) to pull Army within 48-44 after 20 minutes of play.

Here's how Reed Fenton's 3-point barrage started. Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LKqhd3 pic.twitter.com/r05dQpN4J8
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 2, 2020

What a sequence for Nic Lynch!! Gets to 12 points on one end then takes the charge on the other. Watch: https://t.co/WUw3LKqhd3 pic.twitter.com/j651irIzDV
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 2, 2020

In the first half, Lehigh shot 70.4 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from 3-point range. Army came in at 64.0 percent and 60.0 percent from long range.

The second half was back-and-forth, with nine lead changes. A 3-pointer just over two minutes in gave Army the lead back at 53-51. Not long after, the Mountain Hawks used a 7-0 run, which included Fenton's fifth trey, to take a 63-57 advantage with 14:15 still left in the second half. The Black Knights came right back with a 7-0 run to take the lead back.

The scoring has continued! Marques Wilson (@_M_W_II) with this 3-point play to help Lehigh lead Army 58-57 at our first media timeout of the second half. pic.twitter.com/1Iw9iDg19W
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 2, 2020

The scoring pace slowed down a bit, but Army's lead reached nine, 76-67, with just over six minutes remaining. However, Lehigh wouldn't go down quietly.

The Mountain Hawks used a 7-0 surge, capped off by a Cohen 3-pointer, to pull right back within two at 76-74 with 3:58 to go.

Cohen trey makes it a 7-0 Lehigh run to pull the Mountain Hawks within two late! Watch the finish: https://t.co/WUw3LKqhd3 pic.twitter.com/Vehgdz4wWp
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 2, 2020

Down six with less than two minutes on the clock, Fenton hit his sixth 3-pointer and Lynch knocked down two free throws with 53 seconds remaining to pull within 80-79. The Mountain Hawks got a defensive stop and had two chances to win it, but neither Cohen nor Lynch's attempts would fall.

Mountain Hawks with two GREAT looks for the win, but neither fall and Lehigh falls to Army, 80-79. pic.twitter.com/y0auKaV660
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 2, 2020

For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 53.6 percent from the field (30-of-56), including 43.5 percent from 3-point range (10-of-23). Army finished at 51.7 percent (30-of-58) and 52.6 percent from behind the arc (10-of-19). Final rebounds were tied at 28.

Lehigh will remain home on Wednesday to host defending Patriot League Champion Colgate at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets, please click here.

"I appreciate the resiliency of our guys when we were down to continue that fight," said Reed. "We didn't do any favors for ourselves playing a really tough schedule in the nonleague, so there weren't a lot of opportunities to see light at the end of the tunnel. We had to learn and grow and some of those teams were more experienced at that stage of the year. Then, you have a couple injuries, while other guys are fighting and working.

"I don't want our guys to get discouraged because they did show a lot of fight," Reed continued. "We had 19 assists on 30 field goals. I thought the ball was shared fairly well. There are some process things that are very, very good. When you're not necessarily seeing the return on your investment, it's easy to get downtrodden and I just wouldn't want our guys to be discouraged because there are enough positive things we can pull from tonight."

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Gallery: (2/1/2020) Men's Basketball vs. Army, 2/1/20