Tuesday, November 12
New York, N.Y.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
0-3,0-0Patriot
75
at
76
Columbia University
4-0,0-0Ivy League
1
2
F
Lehigh
37
38
75
Columbia
40
36
76
Photo by: Clark Boinis
Higgins' Late Game Heroics Fall Short In 76-75 Loss At Columbia
11/12/2024 10:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK – Playing their third road contest in a row, Lehigh men's basketball traveled east on Tuesday evening for a meeting with the red-hot Columbia University Lions at Levien Gymnasium in Manhattan. Despite a late surge from the Mountain Hawks to tie the game in the closing seconds, the Lions ultimately walked away with a narrow 76-75 victory.
Tuesday's game was the 38th all-time meeting between Lehigh (0-3) and Columbia (4-0), with series favoring the Lions 26-12. Columbia entered the night winners of three straight, including a win over Villanova, while the Mountain Hawks were coming off of two power conference tests against Northwestern and Georgetown.
Lehigh and Columbia traded baskets through the first five minutes of the game, but a three-minute scoring drought from the Mountain Hawks allowed the Lions to take a 22-11 lead with under twelve to play in the first half. However, Lehigh found a 12-3 run of their own to fueled by two Nasir Whitlock triples to crawl back into the game. Both offensives continued to produce efficiently to the tune of 51.7% for Lehigh and 53.6% for Columbia from the field in the opening frame. Two Tommy Conniff free throws in the final seconds of the half made the score 40-37 in favor of Columbia after 20 minutes.
The Mountain Hawks' offense continued to hum into the second half, as the team shot 58.3% from the floor and 50% from three in the period. The Lions had led for the entirety of the game until a Conniff hook shot tied the contest at 50 apiece, bringing the Lehigh bench to their feet. Columbia's Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa responded in kind with a three-pointer, sparking a 13-1 run that allowed the Lions to take a twelve-point lead late in the second half.
A chance for a Lehigh comeback began to look slim as Columbia led 71-58 with under three minutes to play in the game. Keith Higgins Jr. knocked down a triple with 1:23 on the clock and swiftly nabbed a steal on the inbound, immediately hitting another three to cut Columbia's lead to five. With sixteen seconds remaining, Higgins connected on another shot from distance to set the score at 74-72. Columbia's Avery Brown was fouled, and after he made only one of two free throws, Higgins once again buried a three-point jumper to tie the game at 75. On the final possession of the game, Brown drove towards the basket on Cam Gillus but drew a whistle with 0.8 on the clock before he got to the paint. The junior guard knocked down the first free throw and intentionally missed the second to secure Columbia's fourth-straight win.
Lehigh finished the night shooting 54.7% from the field and 40.9% from three as opposed to Columbia's 45.2% and 36.0%. Neither team shot particularly well from the free throw line, as both teams shot under 58%. However, a 40-27 rebounding advantage for Columbia, which included 16 offensive boards, proved to be critical to the Lions success.
"We've got to control what we can control. We can't control the whistle at all times, but what we can do is control our effort on the glass," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "During that stretch of time when Columbia extended their lead, it came from extra possessions, extra opportunities and finishes at the rim."
Higgins tied his career-high of 28 points in the loss, shooting 10-15 from the field with a career-high seven made threes. The senior added two rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist.
"At [the end of the game] we had four guards out there, so the spacing against the zone was a little bit greater," said Reed. "Obviously our steals turned into scores, but Keith just stepped up and made some incredible shots. He's a big shot maker, there's no doubt about that."
Conniff reached a new career-high himself, notching 10 points on an efficient 4-5 shooting in 18 minutes off the bench. Senior Tyler Whitney-Sidney joined Conniff and Higgins in double figures with 10 points to go along with four assists and three rebounds.
"I was really proud of Tommy," said Reed. "He's worked so hard throughout the course of his career to improve his body and give himself an opportunity to make these types of contributions, and the fact that he was able to do it in a pretty important game was great to see."
First-year Hank Alvey led Lehigh with a career-high eight rebounds while scoring eight points on a perfect 4-4 mark from the field. Sophomore Joshua Ingram dished out a career-high five assists to lead the Mountain Hawks while Gillus and senior Ben Knostman each tallied four assists themselves.
The Mountain Hawks will stay on the road for one last game before the team's home opener against Valley Forge on November 20. Lehigh's next bout is against UCLA on Friday, November 15 at 10 p.m. EST from Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
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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Tuesday's game was the 38th all-time meeting between Lehigh (0-3) and Columbia (4-0), with series favoring the Lions 26-12. Columbia entered the night winners of three straight, including a win over Villanova, while the Mountain Hawks were coming off of two power conference tests against Northwestern and Georgetown.
Lehigh and Columbia traded baskets through the first five minutes of the game, but a three-minute scoring drought from the Mountain Hawks allowed the Lions to take a 22-11 lead with under twelve to play in the first half. However, Lehigh found a 12-3 run of their own to fueled by two Nasir Whitlock triples to crawl back into the game. Both offensives continued to produce efficiently to the tune of 51.7% for Lehigh and 53.6% for Columbia from the field in the opening frame. Two Tommy Conniff free throws in the final seconds of the half made the score 40-37 in favor of Columbia after 20 minutes.
The Mountain Hawks' offense continued to hum into the second half, as the team shot 58.3% from the floor and 50% from three in the period. The Lions had led for the entirety of the game until a Conniff hook shot tied the contest at 50 apiece, bringing the Lehigh bench to their feet. Columbia's Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa responded in kind with a three-pointer, sparking a 13-1 run that allowed the Lions to take a twelve-point lead late in the second half.
A chance for a Lehigh comeback began to look slim as Columbia led 71-58 with under three minutes to play in the game. Keith Higgins Jr. knocked down a triple with 1:23 on the clock and swiftly nabbed a steal on the inbound, immediately hitting another three to cut Columbia's lead to five. With sixteen seconds remaining, Higgins connected on another shot from distance to set the score at 74-72. Columbia's Avery Brown was fouled, and after he made only one of two free throws, Higgins once again buried a three-point jumper to tie the game at 75. On the final possession of the game, Brown drove towards the basket on Cam Gillus but drew a whistle with 0.8 on the clock before he got to the paint. The junior guard knocked down the first free throw and intentionally missed the second to secure Columbia's fourth-straight win.
Lehigh finished the night shooting 54.7% from the field and 40.9% from three as opposed to Columbia's 45.2% and 36.0%. Neither team shot particularly well from the free throw line, as both teams shot under 58%. However, a 40-27 rebounding advantage for Columbia, which included 16 offensive boards, proved to be critical to the Lions success.
"We've got to control what we can control. We can't control the whistle at all times, but what we can do is control our effort on the glass," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "During that stretch of time when Columbia extended their lead, it came from extra possessions, extra opportunities and finishes at the rim."
Higgins tied his career-high of 28 points in the loss, shooting 10-15 from the field with a career-high seven made threes. The senior added two rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist.
"At [the end of the game] we had four guards out there, so the spacing against the zone was a little bit greater," said Reed. "Obviously our steals turned into scores, but Keith just stepped up and made some incredible shots. He's a big shot maker, there's no doubt about that."
Conniff reached a new career-high himself, notching 10 points on an efficient 4-5 shooting in 18 minutes off the bench. Senior Tyler Whitney-Sidney joined Conniff and Higgins in double figures with 10 points to go along with four assists and three rebounds.
"I was really proud of Tommy," said Reed. "He's worked so hard throughout the course of his career to improve his body and give himself an opportunity to make these types of contributions, and the fact that he was able to do it in a pretty important game was great to see."
First-year Hank Alvey led Lehigh with a career-high eight rebounds while scoring eight points on a perfect 4-4 mark from the field. Sophomore Joshua Ingram dished out a career-high five assists to lead the Mountain Hawks while Gillus and senior Ben Knostman each tallied four assists themselves.
The Mountain Hawks will stay on the road for one last game before the team's home opener against Valley Forge on November 20. Lehigh's next bout is against UCLA on Friday, November 15 at 10 p.m. EST from Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
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
CU
FG%
.547
.452
3FG%
.409
.360
FT%
.571
.524
RB
27
40
TO
8
6
STL
2
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
28
FGM
10
3FGM
7
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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