Thursday, November 10
Blacksburg, Va.
6:00 PM
Lehigh University
0-2,0-0Patriot
52
at
78
Virginia Tech
2-0,0-0ACC
1
2
F
Lehigh
25
27
52
Virginia Tech
43
35
78
Photo by: L.J. Smith
Alamudun and Parolin Finish in Double-Figures in Lehigh’s Loss to Virginia Tech
11/10/2022 11:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Lehigh men's basketball squad took on their second Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent in the opening week of the season, falling to Virginia Tech 78-52 inside Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night. The Mountain Hawks are now 0-2 on the year, while the Hokies improve 2-0.
Virginia Tech opened the contest with a 9-0 run before Lehigh recorded their first points of the evening to cut the deficit to five points, 9-4. Each squad added ten points each and the Mountain Hawks got back within five points at 19-14 with 8:46 remaining in the first half. The Hokies pushed their advantage to 18 points on a few occasions in the half, including heading into the intermission at a score of 43-25.
"It was disappointing to open with a 9-0 deficit after the great energy and offensive bursts we had on Monday against Syracuse," commented 16th-year head coach Brett Reed. "Fortunately, we were able to get a little more grounded throughout the first half, but that slow start did hurt us."
Sophomore Keith Higgins Jr. opened the second half with a three-pointer, then saw seven-straight points from sophomore Tyler Whitney-Sidney which brought the Mountain Hawks within 13 points at 48-35. Unfortunately, that's the closest Lehigh would come within, doing so with 16:19 remaining in the game. Virginia Tech stretched their lead to as many as 26 points, handing the Mountain Hawks their second loss of the season.
Eight Mountain Hawks recorded a point inside Cassell Coliseum, with senior Jakob Alamudun and junior Dominic Parolin both reaching double figures. Alamudun scored a team-high 14 points coming off the bench, to go with four rebounds and an assist. Parolin tossed in 10 points, and was the co-leader in rebounds with five. Higgins registered nine points with three rebounds and two assists while Whitney-Sidney tacked on eight points, with seven of his eight points coming in the second half, and adding four rebounds, a team-leading three steals and one assist.
"Jakob (Alamudun) did some really good things, where he was knocking down shots, stated Reed. "I thought he was playing his best basketball, and scoring the easiest, when he was thinking about himself second. He has to continue to walk the fine line of being an offensive threat and not forcing shots."
Senior Evan Taylor was held to four points, all scored in the second half, and brought down five rebounds as fellow senior Reed Fenton connected on a three-pointer and grabbed two boards. Rounding out the Lehigh scorers Thursday night was junior JT Tan, who made one basket for his two points and first-year Henri Adiassa scored his first-collegiate basket on a dunk in the first half. Junior Jalin Sinclair was credited for a team-high seven assists to go with his two rebounds.
"It's nice to have someone like Jalin (Sinclair) that can see action and generate offense," added Reed. "Virginia Tech's physicality didn't allow us to create as many offensive advantages, which led us to play through him more than we have had to."
The Mountain Hawks concluded the night shooting 36.5 percent while the Hokies shot 52.5 percent from the field. Virginia shot 27.8 percent (5-18) from beyond the three-point line and 66.8 percent (11-16) at the foul line while Lehigh was 23.8 (5-21) from long distance and 50.0 percent from the free-throw line, attempting just two total in the game. The Hokies out-rebounded the Brown and White 36-32 in the matchup.
"In a game that was physical, we were able to compete on the glass. I'm glad that we rebounded the basketball well, and have to continue to do so and continue to block better moving forward," concluded Reed.
Lehigh will play its first home game of the season on Sunday afternoon when the Mountain Hawks take on Misericordia in Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall at 4 p.m. The Mountain Hawks are playing their first game back in Grace Hall since the opening of Stabler Arena in 1979.
The Grace Hall game is student-focused with a very limited seating capacity, so non-season ticket holders do not have access to advance ticket purchases for this game. Questions can be directed to Lehigh Ticket Services at 610-758-4263 or via email at athelticstickets@lehigh.edu
Season tickets (which include the Grace Hall game) are on sale now and can be purchased HERE. Single-game tickets for Stabler Arena games are on sale HERE.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Virginia Tech opened the contest with a 9-0 run before Lehigh recorded their first points of the evening to cut the deficit to five points, 9-4. Each squad added ten points each and the Mountain Hawks got back within five points at 19-14 with 8:46 remaining in the first half. The Hokies pushed their advantage to 18 points on a few occasions in the half, including heading into the intermission at a score of 43-25.
"It was disappointing to open with a 9-0 deficit after the great energy and offensive bursts we had on Monday against Syracuse," commented 16th-year head coach Brett Reed. "Fortunately, we were able to get a little more grounded throughout the first half, but that slow start did hurt us."
Sophomore Keith Higgins Jr. opened the second half with a three-pointer, then saw seven-straight points from sophomore Tyler Whitney-Sidney which brought the Mountain Hawks within 13 points at 48-35. Unfortunately, that's the closest Lehigh would come within, doing so with 16:19 remaining in the game. Virginia Tech stretched their lead to as many as 26 points, handing the Mountain Hawks their second loss of the season.
Eight Mountain Hawks recorded a point inside Cassell Coliseum, with senior Jakob Alamudun and junior Dominic Parolin both reaching double figures. Alamudun scored a team-high 14 points coming off the bench, to go with four rebounds and an assist. Parolin tossed in 10 points, and was the co-leader in rebounds with five. Higgins registered nine points with three rebounds and two assists while Whitney-Sidney tacked on eight points, with seven of his eight points coming in the second half, and adding four rebounds, a team-leading three steals and one assist.
"Jakob (Alamudun) did some really good things, where he was knocking down shots, stated Reed. "I thought he was playing his best basketball, and scoring the easiest, when he was thinking about himself second. He has to continue to walk the fine line of being an offensive threat and not forcing shots."
Senior Evan Taylor was held to four points, all scored in the second half, and brought down five rebounds as fellow senior Reed Fenton connected on a three-pointer and grabbed two boards. Rounding out the Lehigh scorers Thursday night was junior JT Tan, who made one basket for his two points and first-year Henri Adiassa scored his first-collegiate basket on a dunk in the first half. Junior Jalin Sinclair was credited for a team-high seven assists to go with his two rebounds.
"It's nice to have someone like Jalin (Sinclair) that can see action and generate offense," added Reed. "Virginia Tech's physicality didn't allow us to create as many offensive advantages, which led us to play through him more than we have had to."
The Mountain Hawks concluded the night shooting 36.5 percent while the Hokies shot 52.5 percent from the field. Virginia shot 27.8 percent (5-18) from beyond the three-point line and 66.8 percent (11-16) at the foul line while Lehigh was 23.8 (5-21) from long distance and 50.0 percent from the free-throw line, attempting just two total in the game. The Hokies out-rebounded the Brown and White 36-32 in the matchup.
"In a game that was physical, we were able to compete on the glass. I'm glad that we rebounded the basketball well, and have to continue to do so and continue to block better moving forward," concluded Reed.
Lehigh will play its first home game of the season on Sunday afternoon when the Mountain Hawks take on Misericordia in Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall at 4 p.m. The Mountain Hawks are playing their first game back in Grace Hall since the opening of Stabler Arena in 1979.
The Grace Hall game is student-focused with a very limited seating capacity, so non-season ticket holders do not have access to advance ticket purchases for this game. Questions can be directed to Lehigh Ticket Services at 610-758-4263 or via email at athelticstickets@lehigh.edu
Season tickets (which include the Grace Hall game) are on sale now and can be purchased HERE. Single-game tickets for Stabler Arena games are on sale HERE.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
Lehigh
VT
FG%
.365
.525
3FG%
.238
.278
FT%
.500
.688
RB
32
36
TO
11
5
STL
4
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF/C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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