Saturday, January 13
Bethlehem, Pa.
5:00 PM
Lehigh University
4-11,1-3Patriot
66
vs
69
Holy Cross
4-13,1-3Patriot
1
2
OT 1
F
Holy Cross
22
40
7
69
Lehigh
20
42
4
66
Photo by: Holly Fasching
Lehigh Forces Overtime, Can't Complete Comeback Vs. Holy Cross
1/13/2024 9:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's basketball team hosted its second consecutive Patriot League contest on Saturday evening, welcoming the Holy Cross Crusaders to Bethlehem. Although some late magic helped the Mountain Hawks force overtime, the Crusaders were victorious by a score of 69-66 in what was a low-scoring affair.
"There was a lot of fight from our guys to make it competitive, even despite some offensive woes," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "We've just got a find a way to steal an extra possession or two in the second half… As we're scoring better, we still have got to be stingy on defense."
Holy Cross (4-13, 1-3 PL) had previously dropped their first three Patriot League games of the season before pulling out a narrow victory over Lehigh (4-11, 1-3 PL). The Crusaders win snapped a two-game losing streak to the Mountain Hawks, who earned a series-sweep over Holy Cross a season ago.
Lehigh came out of the gates hot, beginning the game on a 9-0 scoring run that forced an early Holy Cross timeout. From that point the pace of play began to slow down, but the Mountain Hawks still found themselves ahead by a twelve-point margin with under ten minutes to play. Despite their slow start, the Crusaders locked in defensively to stifle the Lehigh offense, holding them to only one basket in the final seven minutes of the half. Holy Cross' 14-2 run during that time gave them a 22-20 lead after the first 20 minutes.
Both offenses nearly doubled their scoring outputs from the first half in the second, despite the first basket of the frame coming nearly three minutes in. The Mountain Hawks knocked down 48.4% (7-13) of their three-point shots in the second stanza as opposed to their 16.7% (2-12) mark in the first. Although their offensive output increased, Holy Cross found a way to match it. A Will Batchelder triple put the Crusaders ahead by 11 with under three minutes to play, and Lehigh needed some late-game heroics if they stood to have a chance.
A series of three-point plays propelled the Mountain Hawks back into the game down the stretch, starting with a tough and-one finish from first-year Joshua Ingram. Junior Tyler Whitney-Sidney knocked down a three on the ensuing possession followed by another from first-year Nasir Whitlock that cut Holy Cross' lead to four.
With under forty seconds left in the game, senior Jalin Sinclair pulled up from the top of the key while being fouled, converting on a wild four-point play to tie the game. A.J. Wills hit a mid-range jumper on the other end to give Holy Cross a narrow two-point lead, but a driving layup from Whitlock with five seconds remaining sent the game to overtime.
After earning a three-point lead through the first three minutes of OT, Holy Cross strung together multiple solid possessions that put them ahead by four. Despite having a chance to tie at the buzzer, Sinclair's near halfcourt heave bounced off the rim to give the Crusaders the win.
"It was a tremendous fight on [our players'] part to come back from a pretty late deficit and continue to fight and attack," said Reed. "We put ourselves in a position to force overtime, which was, in my opinion, a great position to be in with all the momentum at the end of regulation."
Whitlock led the charge for the Mountain Hawks, scoring a career-high 15 points on a 6-11 clip from the field. The rookie knocked down three triples and grabbed three boards in a career-high 27 minutes of play.
"[Nasir's performance] was really important, because he gave us an offensive spark on a night where a lot of guys were off," said Reed. "His offensive spark really gave us a little confidence we needed."
Joining Whitlock with 15 points was senior Dominic Parolin, who recorded the most minutes he's played since November 29. Parolin hauled in eight rebounds and knocked down a triple in 30 minutes of game time.
"It was nice to see Dom really impact the game," said Reed. "He scored the basketball on the inside, but his effort crashing the offensive glass was really important for us. We're thankful to have him back… He was ready to go and played really hard."
Sinclair's 12 points marked the fourth consecutive game in which the senior has reached double-figures. He and Whitney-Sidney led the team in assists with four apiece while senior Burke Chebuhar led the Mountain Hawks in rebounds for the second-straight game with nine.
Lehigh will be back on the road on Wednesday, January 17 for a trip to Navy. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Annapolis.
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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"There was a lot of fight from our guys to make it competitive, even despite some offensive woes," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "We've just got a find a way to steal an extra possession or two in the second half… As we're scoring better, we still have got to be stingy on defense."
Holy Cross (4-13, 1-3 PL) had previously dropped their first three Patriot League games of the season before pulling out a narrow victory over Lehigh (4-11, 1-3 PL). The Crusaders win snapped a two-game losing streak to the Mountain Hawks, who earned a series-sweep over Holy Cross a season ago.
Lehigh came out of the gates hot, beginning the game on a 9-0 scoring run that forced an early Holy Cross timeout. From that point the pace of play began to slow down, but the Mountain Hawks still found themselves ahead by a twelve-point margin with under ten minutes to play. Despite their slow start, the Crusaders locked in defensively to stifle the Lehigh offense, holding them to only one basket in the final seven minutes of the half. Holy Cross' 14-2 run during that time gave them a 22-20 lead after the first 20 minutes.
Both offenses nearly doubled their scoring outputs from the first half in the second, despite the first basket of the frame coming nearly three minutes in. The Mountain Hawks knocked down 48.4% (7-13) of their three-point shots in the second stanza as opposed to their 16.7% (2-12) mark in the first. Although their offensive output increased, Holy Cross found a way to match it. A Will Batchelder triple put the Crusaders ahead by 11 with under three minutes to play, and Lehigh needed some late-game heroics if they stood to have a chance.
A series of three-point plays propelled the Mountain Hawks back into the game down the stretch, starting with a tough and-one finish from first-year Joshua Ingram. Junior Tyler Whitney-Sidney knocked down a three on the ensuing possession followed by another from first-year Nasir Whitlock that cut Holy Cross' lead to four.
With under forty seconds left in the game, senior Jalin Sinclair pulled up from the top of the key while being fouled, converting on a wild four-point play to tie the game. A.J. Wills hit a mid-range jumper on the other end to give Holy Cross a narrow two-point lead, but a driving layup from Whitlock with five seconds remaining sent the game to overtime.
After earning a three-point lead through the first three minutes of OT, Holy Cross strung together multiple solid possessions that put them ahead by four. Despite having a chance to tie at the buzzer, Sinclair's near halfcourt heave bounced off the rim to give the Crusaders the win.
"It was a tremendous fight on [our players'] part to come back from a pretty late deficit and continue to fight and attack," said Reed. "We put ourselves in a position to force overtime, which was, in my opinion, a great position to be in with all the momentum at the end of regulation."
Whitlock led the charge for the Mountain Hawks, scoring a career-high 15 points on a 6-11 clip from the field. The rookie knocked down three triples and grabbed three boards in a career-high 27 minutes of play.
"[Nasir's performance] was really important, because he gave us an offensive spark on a night where a lot of guys were off," said Reed. "His offensive spark really gave us a little confidence we needed."
Joining Whitlock with 15 points was senior Dominic Parolin, who recorded the most minutes he's played since November 29. Parolin hauled in eight rebounds and knocked down a triple in 30 minutes of game time.
"It was nice to see Dom really impact the game," said Reed. "He scored the basketball on the inside, but his effort crashing the offensive glass was really important for us. We're thankful to have him back… He was ready to go and played really hard."
Sinclair's 12 points marked the fourth consecutive game in which the senior has reached double-figures. He and Whitney-Sidney led the team in assists with four apiece while senior Burke Chebuhar led the Mountain Hawks in rebounds for the second-straight game with nine.
Lehigh will be back on the road on Wednesday, January 17 for a trip to Navy. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Annapolis.
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
HolyCr
Lehigh
FG%
.410
.353
3FG%
.333
.321
FT%
.700
.600
RB
40
44
TO
8
10
STL
6
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
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