Tuesday, November 16
West Long Branch, N.J.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
0-3,0-0Patriot
75
at
85
Monmouth
2-1,0-0MAAC
1
2
F
Lehigh
34
41
75
Monmouth
47
38
85
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Lehigh Nearly Comes from 20 Back, but Falls 85-75 at Monmouth
11/16/2021 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Monmouth opened a 20-point lead with 14 minutes left in the second half, but the Lehigh men's basketball team wouldn't quit, chipping away until getting within four with 1:49 remaining. However, the Mountain Hawks couldn't get any closer as the Hawks answered with a basket and hit their free throws down the stretch to defeat Lehigh, 85-75 on Tuesday evening. Junior Jeameril Wilson led the offense with 20 points via 8-of-10 shooting, while adding six rebounds, four assists, a steal and block.
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Wilson was also plus-16 in his 32 minutes on the evening, the best mark for either side.
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"Jeameril scored the basketball for us," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought he gave us a spark. He's got a unique ability to finish. He knocked down his threes. He got some rebounds for us against a pretty tall matchup. He was giving up inches out there against [Walker] Miller."
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Fourteen of Wilson's points came in the first half. Three other Mountain Hawks finished with double-figure points, as junior Evan Taylor scored 14 (11 in the second half) while fifth-year senior Marques Wilson tallied 13 (11 of which also came in the second half). Sophomore Dominic Parolin posted 19 points and seven rebounds.
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"I love the way we came out and attacked. I like the balance we had between the interior and perimeter scoring," said Reed. "I actually liked some of the pace and tempo too. Guys slowed down enough to see the open looks. It's unfortunate that we just didn't have the maturity when we were up; we started getting very casual. Casual with our defense. We ended up having 11 [first-half] 11 turnovers which really hurt us, most of which took place later in the half and we dug ourselves a hole."
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"When Pappas has an opportunity to get a couple open looks, you can't do that with a shooter because as soon as he gets one, then he hits two," said Reed. "The basket seems so big. The shots he made in the second half were extremely challenging. We had one that he banked, he had one in a step-back that was out of balance and another one with a guy hanging on him. It was some of the first-half miscommunication and lack of awareness that really hurt us."
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Tied at nine in the early going, the Mountain Hawks scored eight straight points – five of the points coming from Jeameril Wilson, with a Nic Lynch 3-point play sandwiched in between. That put Lehigh ahead, 17-9 just over five minutes into the contest.
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Monmouth responded with a 12-2 run of its own, capped off by a Shavar Reynolds 3-pointer that gave the Hawks the lead back at 21-19.
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The game stayed within a possession until late in the half. Tied at 31, the Hawks ended on a 16-3 run, which included a trio of 3-pointers from Papas, to take a 47-34 halftime advantage.
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A pair of early second-half offensive rebounds from Taylor led to points for the Mountain Hawks, but Monmouth still opened a 20-point, 62-42 lead with 14:06 on the clock.
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From there, Lehigh slowly began to chip away. A Keith Higgins Jr. 3-pointer with 11:56 remaining pulled the Mountain Hawks within 64-50 at the under-12 media timeout.
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For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 49.1 percent from the field (27-of-55), including 35.0 percent from 3-point range (7-of-20). Monmouth finished at 43.1 percent (28-of-65) and 40.0 percent from behind the arc (8-of-20). Monmouth held a 37-31 edge in rebounds.
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Lehigh had 17 turnovers to Monmouth's nine, but the Mountain Hawks had just six in the second half.
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"The bright side is I started to see something that I thought was great building material from those guys, with the way they played with more discipline and maturity," said Reed.
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Lehigh will remain on the road on Friday for a showdown at Merrimack. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
ÂGallery: (11-16-2021) Men's Basketball at Monmouth, 11/16/21
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Wilson was also plus-16 in his 32 minutes on the evening, the best mark for either side.
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"Jeameril scored the basketball for us," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "I thought he gave us a spark. He's got a unique ability to finish. He knocked down his threes. He got some rebounds for us against a pretty tall matchup. He was giving up inches out there against [Walker] Miller."
Â
Fourteen of Wilson's points came in the first half. Three other Mountain Hawks finished with double-figure points, as junior Evan Taylor scored 14 (11 in the second half) while fifth-year senior Marques Wilson tallied 13 (11 of which also came in the second half). Sophomore Dominic Parolin posted 19 points and seven rebounds.
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"I love the way we came out and attacked. I like the balance we had between the interior and perimeter scoring," said Reed. "I actually liked some of the pace and tempo too. Guys slowed down enough to see the open looks. It's unfortunate that we just didn't have the maturity when we were up; we started getting very casual. Casual with our defense. We ended up having 11 [first-half] 11 turnovers which really hurt us, most of which took place later in the half and we dug ourselves a hole."
The story for Monmouth was George Papas, who finished with a game-high 31 points via 11-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range. Twenty-one of those points came in the first half.The guys never quit. Take a look back at some of the top highlights from tonight's defeat at Monmouth 📹 pic.twitter.com/x5wc1HSr9L
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 17, 2021
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"When Pappas has an opportunity to get a couple open looks, you can't do that with a shooter because as soon as he gets one, then he hits two," said Reed. "The basket seems so big. The shots he made in the second half were extremely challenging. We had one that he banked, he had one in a step-back that was out of balance and another one with a guy hanging on him. It was some of the first-half miscommunication and lack of awareness that really hurt us."
Â
Tied at nine in the early going, the Mountain Hawks scored eight straight points – five of the points coming from Jeameril Wilson, with a Nic Lynch 3-point play sandwiched in between. That put Lehigh ahead, 17-9 just over five minutes into the contest.
Â
Monmouth responded with a 12-2 run of its own, capped off by a Shavar Reynolds 3-pointer that gave the Hawks the lead back at 21-19.
Â
The game stayed within a possession until late in the half. Tied at 31, the Hawks ended on a 16-3 run, which included a trio of 3-pointers from Papas, to take a 47-34 halftime advantage.
Â
A pair of early second-half offensive rebounds from Taylor led to points for the Mountain Hawks, but Monmouth still opened a 20-point, 62-42 lead with 14:06 on the clock.
Â
From there, Lehigh slowly began to chip away. A Keith Higgins Jr. 3-pointer with 11:56 remaining pulled the Mountain Hawks within 64-50 at the under-12 media timeout.
A few minutes later, a Taylor trey pulled Lehigh within 11 at 71-60 at the under-8 timeout.Just moments ago, the Mountain Hawks were down 20, but this Keith Higgins Jr. 3-pointer gets Lehigh back within 14 with a lot of time still remaining.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 17, 2021
Watch on ESPN3: https://t.co/LTV8knsSzG pic.twitter.com/co7z5J1izJ
Two Lynch free throws with 4:27 remaining got Lehigh within single digits at 75-66, then not long after, a Marques Wilson 3-pointer got the Mountain Hawks within 77-71 with 2:50 still to go.ET hits the three and the Mountain Hawks are back within 11 at the under-8 media timeout!
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 17, 2021
Watch on ESPN3: https://t.co/LTV8knsSzG pic.twitter.com/WDnHcTHIji
A short Taylor jumper got Lehigh within four at 77-73 with 1:49 remaining, but that's as close as the Mountain Hawks would come as Monmouth answered on its ensuing possession and hit its free throws down the stretch for the 85-75 final.We've got a ballgame! Marques hits a huge 3-pointer to get the Mountain Hawks within six. Lehigh was down 20 earlier this half. Let's get this.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 17, 2021
Watch the conclusion on ESPN3: https://t.co/LTV8knsSzG pic.twitter.com/jjZl3mBaA0
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For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 49.1 percent from the field (27-of-55), including 35.0 percent from 3-point range (7-of-20). Monmouth finished at 43.1 percent (28-of-65) and 40.0 percent from behind the arc (8-of-20). Monmouth held a 37-31 edge in rebounds.
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Lehigh had 17 turnovers to Monmouth's nine, but the Mountain Hawks had just six in the second half.
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"The bright side is I started to see something that I thought was great building material from those guys, with the way they played with more discipline and maturity," said Reed.
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Lehigh will remain on the road on Friday for a showdown at Merrimack. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Â
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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We caught up with head coach @BrettReed following tonight's 85-75 defeat at Monmouth. pic.twitter.com/QOOrhcvshj
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) November 17, 2021
Team Stats
Lehigh
MU
FG%
.491
.431
3FG%
.350
.400
FT%
.778
.913
RB
31
37
TO
17
9
STL
4
10
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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