Saturday, January 6
Baltimore, Md.
5:00 PM
Lehigh University
4-9,1-1Patriot
88
at
76
Loyola University Maryland
2-13,0-2Patriot
1
2
F
Lehigh
34
54
88
Loyola Maryland
39
37
76
Photo by: Clark Boinis
Sinclair Scores 30 Points In Comeback Win Over Loyola
1/6/2024 10:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BALTIMORE – Senior Jalin Sinclair and junior Tyler Whitney-Sidney combined for 55 points in Lehigh's road win over Loyola Maryland on Saturday night. The win improved Lehigh's Patriot League record to 1-1 and gave them their fourth overall win on the season.
Lehigh (4-9, 1-1 PL) improved its all-time record against Loyola (2-13, 0-2 PL) to 16-15 following the win. The two teams split games a season ago, and the Greyhounds are slated to take on the Mountain Hawks at Stabler again later this season.
The Mountain Hawks were short handed throughout the game, as senior Dominic Parolin missed his third consecutive game while junior Keith Higgins Jr. exited in the first three minutes with an injury. Without a key senior leader in Parolin and the Patriot League's leading scorer in Higgins, Lehigh needed everyone to step up to come away with a win.
Lehigh trailed Loyola 39-34 after the first 20 minutes of play, much in part to the Greyhound's 60% three-point shooting in the frame. Loyola opened the game on an 18-7 run over the course of the first six minutes of gameplay. The Mountain Hawks chipped away at the lead slowly but surely throughout the half with six different players scoring to help close the gap.
After a relatively slow start in the first half, Lehigh's offense took off in the second. The Mountain Hawks outscored the Greyhounds by a margin of 54-37 in the frame while shooting an impeccable 65.6% from the floor.
The Mountain Hawks tallied ten steals for the second game in a row after swiping 11 against American. It was a team effort on the defensive side of the floor, as six players combined to make up Lehigh's steals total.
Lehigh's 88 points mark the fourth time that the Mountain Hawks have scored 80+ this season. The team shot 59.6% from the floor and outscored the Greyhounds 50-32 in the paint. Despite Loyola shooting 55% from three and a triple double from fifth-year Golden Dike, the Mountain Hawks still found a way to pull it out.
"When you have Tyler and Jalin finishing at the rim like they did and Bube Momah finishing in the paint, that's a lot of efficiency around the basket," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Some guys really stepped up to the moment and I'm really proud of them."
Leading the charge was Sinclair, who posted a career-high 30 points on an 80% clip from the field. The senior from New York City added three assists and two steals to go along with his 30-piece. Sinclair's previous career-best was 14 points headed into Saturday's contest, but the senior went above and beyond to help his team pull out a win.
"Jalin was terrific. It was so much fun to watch him play," said Reed. "He's a wizard with the ball, he finds people, and today he was finishing like it was nobody's business."
"We talk about things like being in a flow state, and I felt that," said Sinclair. "I started off a little slow, Tyler pulled me aside after Keith went down… He said somebody's got to step up and that starts with the upperclassmen. That kind of fueled my energy every time I went back into the game."
Following a career performance of 26 points on Wednesday at American, Whitney-Sidney continued his hot streak by scoring 25 points on 10-17 shooting. The junior hauled in four rebounds and knocked down two three-pointers on route to his fourth career game of 20+ points.
Also finishing in double-figures was first-year Joshua Ingram, who matched his career-high of 14 points in the win. The rookie shot an efficient 5-6 from the floor and added four rebounds, three assists and a steal. In addition, Ingram connected on a big put-back dunk late in the second half that brought the Lehigh bench to its feet.
"Josh came in and gave us a huge spark," said Reed. "He made some key plays. His put-back was great as well and was a great energy boost for our team."
"We love pouring into our first-years," said Sinclair. "We're trying to feed a lot of confidence into them and let them know how great they can be. We see it a lot more than they see it in themselves, and they're really starting to come into their own."
Despite not scoring, junior Ben Knostman was critical to Lehigh's success. The Dayton, Ohio native posted a career-high seven assists with only one turnover while playing excellent defense on the other end, often matching up against frontcourt players.
"BK is stepping into the role of a 'JYD', a junkyard dog," said Sinclair. "He played point guard for the first two years of his career, and now he's stepping into this new role but carrying those skills into it as well."
Lehigh returns to action on Wednesday, January 10 inside Stabler Arena against Bucknell. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Bethlehem.
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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Lehigh (4-9, 1-1 PL) improved its all-time record against Loyola (2-13, 0-2 PL) to 16-15 following the win. The two teams split games a season ago, and the Greyhounds are slated to take on the Mountain Hawks at Stabler again later this season.
The Mountain Hawks were short handed throughout the game, as senior Dominic Parolin missed his third consecutive game while junior Keith Higgins Jr. exited in the first three minutes with an injury. Without a key senior leader in Parolin and the Patriot League's leading scorer in Higgins, Lehigh needed everyone to step up to come away with a win.
Lehigh trailed Loyola 39-34 after the first 20 minutes of play, much in part to the Greyhound's 60% three-point shooting in the frame. Loyola opened the game on an 18-7 run over the course of the first six minutes of gameplay. The Mountain Hawks chipped away at the lead slowly but surely throughout the half with six different players scoring to help close the gap.
After a relatively slow start in the first half, Lehigh's offense took off in the second. The Mountain Hawks outscored the Greyhounds by a margin of 54-37 in the frame while shooting an impeccable 65.6% from the floor.
The Mountain Hawks tallied ten steals for the second game in a row after swiping 11 against American. It was a team effort on the defensive side of the floor, as six players combined to make up Lehigh's steals total.
Lehigh's 88 points mark the fourth time that the Mountain Hawks have scored 80+ this season. The team shot 59.6% from the floor and outscored the Greyhounds 50-32 in the paint. Despite Loyola shooting 55% from three and a triple double from fifth-year Golden Dike, the Mountain Hawks still found a way to pull it out.
"When you have Tyler and Jalin finishing at the rim like they did and Bube Momah finishing in the paint, that's a lot of efficiency around the basket," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Some guys really stepped up to the moment and I'm really proud of them."
Leading the charge was Sinclair, who posted a career-high 30 points on an 80% clip from the field. The senior from New York City added three assists and two steals to go along with his 30-piece. Sinclair's previous career-best was 14 points headed into Saturday's contest, but the senior went above and beyond to help his team pull out a win.
"Jalin was terrific. It was so much fun to watch him play," said Reed. "He's a wizard with the ball, he finds people, and today he was finishing like it was nobody's business."
"We talk about things like being in a flow state, and I felt that," said Sinclair. "I started off a little slow, Tyler pulled me aside after Keith went down… He said somebody's got to step up and that starts with the upperclassmen. That kind of fueled my energy every time I went back into the game."
Following a career performance of 26 points on Wednesday at American, Whitney-Sidney continued his hot streak by scoring 25 points on 10-17 shooting. The junior hauled in four rebounds and knocked down two three-pointers on route to his fourth career game of 20+ points.
Also finishing in double-figures was first-year Joshua Ingram, who matched his career-high of 14 points in the win. The rookie shot an efficient 5-6 from the floor and added four rebounds, three assists and a steal. In addition, Ingram connected on a big put-back dunk late in the second half that brought the Lehigh bench to its feet.
"Josh came in and gave us a huge spark," said Reed. "He made some key plays. His put-back was great as well and was a great energy boost for our team."
"We love pouring into our first-years," said Sinclair. "We're trying to feed a lot of confidence into them and let them know how great they can be. We see it a lot more than they see it in themselves, and they're really starting to come into their own."
Despite not scoring, junior Ben Knostman was critical to Lehigh's success. The Dayton, Ohio native posted a career-high seven assists with only one turnover while playing excellent defense on the other end, often matching up against frontcourt players.
"BK is stepping into the role of a 'JYD', a junkyard dog," said Sinclair. "He played point guard for the first two years of his career, and now he's stepping into this new role but carrying those skills into it as well."
Lehigh returns to action on Wednesday, January 10 inside Stabler Arena against Bucknell. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Bethlehem.
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
Loyola
FG%
.596
.509
3FG%
.333
.550
FT%
.667
.500
RB
26
33
TO
9
16
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
12
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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