Thursday, December 21
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
6:00 PM
Lehigh University
2-8,0-0Patriot
69
at
85
Boston College
9-3,0-1ACC
1
2
F
Lehigh
29
40
69
Boston College
44
41
85
Photo by: Meg Kelly
Lehigh Can't Overcome Slow Start In 85-69 Loss To Boston College
12/21/2023 9:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Lehigh men's basketball returned to the hardwood on Thursday evening after a 12-day hiatus, taking on the Boston College Eagles in Massachusetts. A career night from BC's Claudell Harris Jr. helped lead the Eagles to an 85-69 victory over the Mountain Hawks.
"The difference maker was Harris. When you've got somebody hitting step-back fadeaway threes and everything he was doing, it becomes a bit of a challenge," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Our guys, to their credit, continued to fight and continued to battle. Honestly in the second half, the shot quality that we generated was actually very good, we just didn't convert in the way in which we needed to in order to steal a win."
Despite both programs having competed in collegiate hoops for over a century, Thursday's matchup was the first-ever meeting between Lehigh (2-8) and Boston College (9-3). The contest marked the 13th game against an ACC opponent during Reed's tenure as coach.
Thursday's game against BC was the fourth game against a power conference team for Lehigh this season, which ranks first among Patriot League teams.
The Eagles jumped ahead to an early 15-2 advantage thanks to Harris, who scored 14 of his 29 total points in the first five minutes of action. Harris finished the game shooting 10-15, including a 7-10 mark from outside the three-point line.
Although the Mountain Hawks cut the BC lead to only five points with under five to play in the first half, Lehigh found themselves down by 15 headed into the locker room after a late surge from the Eagles.
The Mountain Hawks competed well in the final 20 minutes, putting up 40 points as opposed to BC's 41. Despite the stronger showing in the second half, Lehigh's first-half deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
Keith Higgins Jr. led the Mountain Hawks in scoring for the sixth time and rebounding for the third time this season, posting 14 points and five boards on the night. The junior also tallied an assist and a steal in a team-high 30 minutes of action.
The Mountain Hawks found strong contributions from first-years Cam Gillus and Joshua Ingram, who each scored nine points on 75% shooting from the floor respectively. Ingram shot over 66% for the second game in a row, as the rookie tallied 14 points on 6-9 from the floor against Cairn on December 9.
"It was nice to see [Josh] give us some positive energy," said Reed. "The activity level from that group was pretty good, and [his minutes] actually gave us a pretty nice spark in the first half. He continued to carry that forward with positive minutes and positive plays, which is great to see."
First-year Jake Pike scored his first collegiate points Thursday night, recording five points on a perfect 2-2 from the floor. The Houston, Texas product converted on a put-back layup and knocked down a triple during his time on the floor.
"[Jake] went and did something that's a tangible skill that translates to the game of basketball for our success," said Reed on Pike's put-back. "That's a really good building block for a young player that hasn't gotten a lot of minutes, and hopefully can be a confidence boost [for him]."
The Mountain Hawks will have one more non-league test prior to the start of Patriot League play on January 3. Lehigh will travel to Poughkeepsie, New York on December 30 for a matchup with the Marist Red Foxes at 2 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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"The difference maker was Harris. When you've got somebody hitting step-back fadeaway threes and everything he was doing, it becomes a bit of a challenge," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Our guys, to their credit, continued to fight and continued to battle. Honestly in the second half, the shot quality that we generated was actually very good, we just didn't convert in the way in which we needed to in order to steal a win."
Despite both programs having competed in collegiate hoops for over a century, Thursday's matchup was the first-ever meeting between Lehigh (2-8) and Boston College (9-3). The contest marked the 13th game against an ACC opponent during Reed's tenure as coach.
Thursday's game against BC was the fourth game against a power conference team for Lehigh this season, which ranks first among Patriot League teams.
The Eagles jumped ahead to an early 15-2 advantage thanks to Harris, who scored 14 of his 29 total points in the first five minutes of action. Harris finished the game shooting 10-15, including a 7-10 mark from outside the three-point line.
Although the Mountain Hawks cut the BC lead to only five points with under five to play in the first half, Lehigh found themselves down by 15 headed into the locker room after a late surge from the Eagles.
The Mountain Hawks competed well in the final 20 minutes, putting up 40 points as opposed to BC's 41. Despite the stronger showing in the second half, Lehigh's first-half deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
Keith Higgins Jr. led the Mountain Hawks in scoring for the sixth time and rebounding for the third time this season, posting 14 points and five boards on the night. The junior also tallied an assist and a steal in a team-high 30 minutes of action.
The Mountain Hawks found strong contributions from first-years Cam Gillus and Joshua Ingram, who each scored nine points on 75% shooting from the floor respectively. Ingram shot over 66% for the second game in a row, as the rookie tallied 14 points on 6-9 from the floor against Cairn on December 9.
"It was nice to see [Josh] give us some positive energy," said Reed. "The activity level from that group was pretty good, and [his minutes] actually gave us a pretty nice spark in the first half. He continued to carry that forward with positive minutes and positive plays, which is great to see."
First-year Jake Pike scored his first collegiate points Thursday night, recording five points on a perfect 2-2 from the floor. The Houston, Texas product converted on a put-back layup and knocked down a triple during his time on the floor.
"[Jake] went and did something that's a tangible skill that translates to the game of basketball for our success," said Reed on Pike's put-back. "That's a really good building block for a young player that hasn't gotten a lot of minutes, and hopefully can be a confidence boost [for him]."
The Mountain Hawks will have one more non-league test prior to the start of Patriot League play on January 3. Lehigh will travel to Poughkeepsie, New York on December 30 for a matchup with the Marist Red Foxes at 2 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Team Stats
Lehigh
BC
FG%
.407
.508
3FG%
.208
.462
FT%
.842
.650
RB
30
39
TO
10
9
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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