Saturday, February 5
Bethlehem, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
9-15,7-5Patriot
74
vs
80
Boston University
16-9,7-5Patriot
1
2
F
Boston U.
35
45
80
Lehigh
35
39
74
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Mountain Hawks Suffer 80-74 Defeat vs. Boston University
2/5/2022 5:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Despite 50 combined points from junior Evan Taylor and senior Nic Lynch, the Lehigh men's basketball team suffered a 80-74 loss against Boston University on Saturday at Stabler Arena. Tied at 35 at the half, the Terriers began the second half on an 18-9 run, the Mountain Hawks fought back to within one, but couldn't retake the lead. With the loss, Lehigh falls to 7-5 in Patriot League play and are now tied for third in the standings.
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The Mountain Hawks had 14 turnovers to BU's five, while the Terriers held a 14-0 edge in points off turnovers, which proved critical.
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"It's not like the volume of turnovers was crazy, but it really affected the game," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "You could feel it. I thought there was a stretch of time when we didn't take care of the basketball. Boston University capitalized. Obviously, they shot the ball really, really well in the second half (51.9 percent from the field, including 70.0 percent from three) – particularly in a stretch during the beginning to middle of the second. It seemed like we tried to over-penetrate in the second half and tried to make too many individualized plays.
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"We went through a stage shortly afterwards when we moved the ball quickly and moved it really well," Reed continued. "I thought Marques Wilson helped us get the ball moving and then we had some great shots… unbelievable looks. We weren't making them because we were a little bit out of rhythm. Boston University was. Tie that in with the turnover difference, and our offense ignited some of their offense and hurt our defense."
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"Nic knocked down two 3-pointers, made his free throws, so there were a lot of positive things," said Reed. "What Evan was able to contribute for us was big. I thought Marques had a pretty solid game. During a small stretch when they went to zone, I thought Tyler was part of the group that helped ignite us by dribbling and kicking."
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Sukhmail Mathon posted a double-double for the Terriers, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds. Walter Whyte added another 16 points for BU.
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Taylor started the scoring for Lehigh with a driving layup and followed with a jumper by first year Keith Higgins Jr., on the way to an early 6-0 lead.
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The Terriers responded and opened leads of 9-8 and 11-10, but the Mountain Hawk defense kept BU scoreless for nearly five minutes, and went on a 10-0 run, to take a 20-11 advantage following a Lynch layup with 10:42 on the first-half clock.
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Lynch responded with a 3-pointer, but it wasn't until a few minutes later that the Mountain Hawks made their biggest charge. Trailing 56-47 then 58-50, they scored five straight points to cut the Terriers' lead to 58-55 with 8:01 left in the game. The run reached 10-3 as a Taylor 3-point play got the Mountain Hawks within one, 61-60, with 6:08 remaining. Â
BU answered and extended its lead to as much as seven. A 3-pointer by Taylor cut the Terriers' lead to 75-71 with just under a minute left, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to come all the way back.
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For the game, Lehigh shot 54.3 percent from the floor (25-of-46) and 46.7 percent from 3-point range (7-of-15). Boston University finished at 48.3 percent from the floor (29-of-60) and 50 percent from the 3-point line (11-of-22). The Mountain Hawks held a 28-26 edge in rebounds.
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Saturday's game was part of the "This Game is No Secret" ERACISM Initiative (Equality, Reconciliation, Action - Coaches Inclusion Social Movement). The game was also presented by Lehigh's Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.
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The Mountain Hawks will head to Colgate on Wednesday, Feb 9 to face the Raiders. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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The Mountain Hawks had 14 turnovers to BU's five, while the Terriers held a 14-0 edge in points off turnovers, which proved critical.
Â
"It's not like the volume of turnovers was crazy, but it really affected the game," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "You could feel it. I thought there was a stretch of time when we didn't take care of the basketball. Boston University capitalized. Obviously, they shot the ball really, really well in the second half (51.9 percent from the field, including 70.0 percent from three) – particularly in a stretch during the beginning to middle of the second. It seemed like we tried to over-penetrate in the second half and tried to make too many individualized plays.
Â
"We went through a stage shortly afterwards when we moved the ball quickly and moved it really well," Reed continued. "I thought Marques Wilson helped us get the ball moving and then we had some great shots… unbelievable looks. We weren't making them because we were a little bit out of rhythm. Boston University was. Tie that in with the turnover difference, and our offense ignited some of their offense and hurt our defense."
The Mountain Hawks' offense featured three players scoring double digits. Taylor led the way, scoring a career-high 26 points, going 11-of-16 on the floor and shooting 3-of-6 from the 3-point line. Lynch scored a season-high 24 points (one off his career-high), going 7-of-10 from the field and shooting 100 percent from 3-point range (2-of-2) and the free throw line (8-of-8). Senior Jeameril Wilson added 10 points.📹 from today's action vs. Boston University 📹 pic.twitter.com/uM6yTuIm0a
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 5, 2022
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"Nic knocked down two 3-pointers, made his free throws, so there were a lot of positive things," said Reed. "What Evan was able to contribute for us was big. I thought Marques had a pretty solid game. During a small stretch when they went to zone, I thought Tyler was part of the group that helped ignite us by dribbling and kicking."
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Sukhmail Mathon posted a double-double for the Terriers, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds. Walter Whyte added another 16 points for BU.
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Taylor started the scoring for Lehigh with a driving layup and followed with a jumper by first year Keith Higgins Jr., on the way to an early 6-0 lead.
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The Terriers responded and opened leads of 9-8 and 11-10, but the Mountain Hawk defense kept BU scoreless for nearly five minutes, and went on a 10-0 run, to take a 20-11 advantage following a Lynch layup with 10:42 on the first-half clock.
The Terriers responded with a mini 7-2 run of their own to cut the Mountain Hawks' lead to 27-26 with 5:09 left in the first half. Lynch and Taylor added 3-pointers of their own to keep Lehigh ahead, 35-33, with 1:39 on the first-half clock. But the first half ended with the teams tied at 35.👀 pic.twitter.com/8xDlbovS4n
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 5, 2022
Lynch picked up from where he left off in the first half and started the scoring with a physical layup, but the Terriers dropped two 3-pointers over the ensuing minutes to take their first lead since the beginning of the first half. Boston University's lead reached as much as nine, 53-44, following a Daman Tate 3-pointer with 13:47 on the clock.BU pulled even, but not for long. Our sharp shooter @Niclynch44 got to work.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) February 5, 2022
Watch on ESPN+ https://t.co/GlMEooJbzp pic.twitter.com/wQrz732OV7
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Lynch responded with a 3-pointer, but it wasn't until a few minutes later that the Mountain Hawks made their biggest charge. Trailing 56-47 then 58-50, they scored five straight points to cut the Terriers' lead to 58-55 with 8:01 left in the game. The run reached 10-3 as a Taylor 3-point play got the Mountain Hawks within one, 61-60, with 6:08 remaining. Â
BU answered and extended its lead to as much as seven. A 3-pointer by Taylor cut the Terriers' lead to 75-71 with just under a minute left, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to come all the way back.
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For the game, Lehigh shot 54.3 percent from the floor (25-of-46) and 46.7 percent from 3-point range (7-of-15). Boston University finished at 48.3 percent from the floor (29-of-60) and 50 percent from the 3-point line (11-of-22). The Mountain Hawks held a 28-26 edge in rebounds.
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Saturday's game was part of the "This Game is No Secret" ERACISM Initiative (Equality, Reconciliation, Action - Coaches Inclusion Social Movement). The game was also presented by Lehigh's Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.
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The Mountain Hawks will head to Colgate on Wednesday, Feb 9 to face the Raiders. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
BU
Lehigh
FG%
.483
.543
3FG%
.500
.467
FT%
.786
.895
RB
26
28
TO
5
14
STL
9
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
11
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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