Sunday, January 16
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
6-12,4-2Patriot
57
vs
69
Loyola (Md.)
11-6,5-1Patriot
1
2
F
Loyola Maryland
23
46
69
Lehigh
33
24
57
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Greyhounds Storm Back to Beat Mountain Hawks, 69-57
1/16/2022 10:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's basketball team led by 10 at the half and 11 with less than 14 minutes remaining, but visiting Loyola Maryland outscored the Mountain Hawks 37-14 over the final 13:01 to leave Stabler Arena with a 69-57 win on Sunday evening. In a matchup of two (of the four) teams tied for first place entering the day, the Greyhounds were led by the league's leading scorer Cam Spencer, who finished with 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Junior Evan Taylor led the Mountain Hawks with 20 points and nine rebounds.
"I thought we had a very strong portion of the first half," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Our defensive intensity was great, the execution of our defensive game plan was very good and we ended up really moving the ball and making some quick decisions. I thought Nic Lynch gave us an interior presence, knocked down a couple shots, and we were feeling very comfortable."
With the win, Loyola improves to 5-1 in Patriot League play while Lehigh falls to 4-2.
Taylor paced Lehigh's offense in the second half, scoring 14 of the Mountain Hawks' 24 second-half points.
"Evan had a tough defensive matchup with Cam Spencer and I thought in some individual one-on-one situations, he ended up challenging some shots and making things very difficult for him," said Reed. "He gave us a little bit of an offensive spark in a night where we had other guys who were a little bit off during stretches of time, particularly in the second half."
The senior duo of Jeameril Wilson and Nic Lynch paced Lehigh in the first. Wilson scored all 11 of his points in the first half, while Lynch tallied 10 of his 14 before halftime. For the game, the two combined to shoot 11-of-15 from the field.
The Mountain Hawk jumped out to early leads of 10-2 and 12-4, as Wilson began with four straight points, followed by four consecutive from Taylor and four in a row from Lynch.
Loyola chipped away to within four at 15-11 and 17-13 before a 5-0 Lehigh surge – behind a Keith Higgins Jr. 3-pointer and Wilson put back dunk immediately off a missed three – gave Lehigh a 22-13 advantage with 6:15 left in the first half.
Leading 23-17, the Mountain Hawks scored eight of the next 10 points, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers from Lynch in the span of 1:19. The second gave Lehigh its largest lead, 31-19, with 3:03 remaining in the stanza. The Mountain Hawks went into the half leading, 33-23.
The Greyhounds had a big response, staging a 19-2 run, as a Golden Dike layup gave Loyola a 51-45 lead with 6:11 remaining.
Loyola's lead continued to expand from there, as the Greyhounds finished off the 69-57 final.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 48.9 percent from the field (22-of-45), including 28.6 percent from 3-point range (4-of-14). Loyola finished at 44.3 percent (27-of-61) and 20.0 percent from behind the arc (3-of-15). Lehigh held a 32-31 edge in rebounds. Turnovers hurt the Mountain Hawks, as they finished with 16. Loyola had just five.
The Mountain Hawks now hit the road on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup at Navy.
"One of the most important things for us is to make sure we don't go on our heels, that we continue to be confident and believe in ourselves," said Reed. "That's really an important ingredient with this team. I see it where they play with great energy, they play hard, but doubt can creep in. And I'd like for them to understand that we really do believe in them."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
"I thought we had a very strong portion of the first half," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Our defensive intensity was great, the execution of our defensive game plan was very good and we ended up really moving the ball and making some quick decisions. I thought Nic Lynch gave us an interior presence, knocked down a couple shots, and we were feeling very comfortable."
With the win, Loyola improves to 5-1 in Patriot League play while Lehigh falls to 4-2.
"In the beginning of the second half, I thought we got a little tentative," Reed continued. "We were on our heels, turned the basketball over and started to reduce the amount of movement and quick decisions we were making. That sputtered us on offense. Give Loyola credit; they made a lot of very good plays."Great start, tough finish. 📹 highlights from Sunday night in Stabler pic.twitter.com/6JmTKPUUVs
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 17, 2022
Taylor paced Lehigh's offense in the second half, scoring 14 of the Mountain Hawks' 24 second-half points.
"Evan had a tough defensive matchup with Cam Spencer and I thought in some individual one-on-one situations, he ended up challenging some shots and making things very difficult for him," said Reed. "He gave us a little bit of an offensive spark in a night where we had other guys who were a little bit off during stretches of time, particularly in the second half."
The senior duo of Jeameril Wilson and Nic Lynch paced Lehigh in the first. Wilson scored all 11 of his points in the first half, while Lynch tallied 10 of his 14 before halftime. For the game, the two combined to shoot 11-of-15 from the field.
The Mountain Hawk jumped out to early leads of 10-2 and 12-4, as Wilson began with four straight points, followed by four consecutive from Taylor and four in a row from Lynch.
Loyola chipped away to within four at 15-11 and 17-13 before a 5-0 Lehigh surge – behind a Keith Higgins Jr. 3-pointer and Wilson put back dunk immediately off a missed three – gave Lehigh a 22-13 advantage with 6:15 left in the first half.
Leading 23-17, the Mountain Hawks scored eight of the next 10 points, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers from Lynch in the span of 1:19. The second gave Lehigh its largest lead, 31-19, with 3:03 remaining in the stanza. The Mountain Hawks went into the half leading, 33-23.
Loyola scored nine of the first 13 second-half points to get within 37-32, but the Mountain Hawks answered with six in a row – four of the points scored by Taylor – to take a 43-32 lead with 14:26 on the clock..@Niclynch44's second 3-pointer in 1:19 puts the Mountain Hawks up 31-19 late in the first half.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 16, 2022
Watch on @CBSSportsNet
Listen on https://t.co/Px9lklqMP2: https://t.co/JkOTldBhyX pic.twitter.com/2Bu1vc3erx
The Greyhounds had a big response, staging a 19-2 run, as a Golden Dike layup gave Loyola a 51-45 lead with 6:11 remaining.
Loyola's lead continued to expand from there, as the Greyhounds finished off the 69-57 final.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 48.9 percent from the field (22-of-45), including 28.6 percent from 3-point range (4-of-14). Loyola finished at 44.3 percent (27-of-61) and 20.0 percent from behind the arc (3-of-15). Lehigh held a 32-31 edge in rebounds. Turnovers hurt the Mountain Hawks, as they finished with 16. Loyola had just five.
The Mountain Hawks now hit the road on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup at Navy.
"One of the most important things for us is to make sure we don't go on our heels, that we continue to be confident and believe in ourselves," said Reed. "That's really an important ingredient with this team. I see it where they play with great energy, they play hard, but doubt can creep in. And I'd like for them to understand that we really do believe in them."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Loyola
Lehigh
FG%
.443
.489
3FG%
.200
.286
FT%
.750
.692
RB
31
32
TO
5
16
STL
9
2
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballLehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, November 12
2025-20226 Lehigh Men's Basketball Season Preview
Thursday, October 30
Season Preview: Men's Basketball
Thursday, October 31
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, October 30
