Saturday, November 30
Bethlehem, Pa.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
2-5,0-0Patriot
74
vs
69
Marist College
4-2,0-0MAAC
1
2
F
Marist
38
31
69
Lehigh
37
37
74
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Mountain Hawks Earn 74-69 Victory Over Marist
12/1/2024 12:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After two women's basketball games were played at Stabler Arena as part of Lehigh's Christmas City Classic tournament on Saturday, Lehigh men's basketball took to the court for a matchup with the Marist College Red Foxes. An efficient night from the floor and solid showing on the boards helped the Mountain Hawks defeat the Red Foxes 74-69 to pick up their second win of the season.
"I thought our guys showed a lot of grit, showed a lot of toughness, played good individual defense and were there to cover for each other," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Marist is a very good team, they had won four in a row… Our guys really battled, fought and competed all the way through."
Lehigh (2-5) and Marist (4-2) have now met one another nine times, with the Mountain Hawks owning a 9-0 advantage in the series. The two teams have now met in each of the past three seasons, with each game being decided by ten or fewer points. The Red Foxes entered Saturday's game winners of four straight while the Mountain Hawks were coming off of an 88-78 defeat at Saint Francis on Tuesday.
The first half was a very closely-contested affair, as both offenses shot over 55% in the frame, including 63.6% from the Mountain Hawks. Despite this, it would be the Red Foxes who entered the locker room with a slim advantage. Marist reached their largest lead of the night at 26-17 after a Martin Kawa jumper, but Lehigh carried out a 12-7 run over the next five minutes of gameplay to cut the lead to four. Trailing by four in the final seconds of the half, sophomore Joshua Ingram hoisted up a prayer from halfcourt that banked in at the buzzer, setting the score at 38-37 at the end of the period.
Lehigh began the second half on a strong note, beginning the stanza on an 11-2 run to take an eight-point lead. The Mountain Hawks locked in defensively, holding the Red Foxes to only four field goals through the first 11:30 of the half. A Ben Knostman triple gave Lehigh its largest lead at 56-46 with 8:33 to go in the game. Although Marist kept the game within single digits the rest of the way, Lehigh would not relinquish their lead and hold on to move to 2-0 at Stabler Arena this season.
The Mountain Hawks shot an efficient 54.2% from the floor and 45.5% from three for the game, despite only attempting 11 triples. Lehigh found success at the charity stripe, getting to the line 25 times as opposed to Marist's eight free throw attempts. The Mountain Hawks tied the Red Foxes with 31 boards apiece, which included a combined 23 rebounds from Lehigh's guards.
"If we're going to play smaller, the way our rebounding margin has gone, we need to make an adjustment," said Reed. "If we can continue to get rebounding from every position, it's going to make a huge difference for us as we move forward."
Leading the way for Lehigh was junior Bube Momah, who tallied a season-high 15 points in 23 minutes off the bench. Momah was also critical in Lehigh's win over Marist a season ago when he posted his career-high of 19.
"There's a little bit of a family history, [Bube's] brother played at Marist," said Reed. "I think he's got a little extra motivation going into this one."
Sophomore Cam Gillus posted 14 points and six rebounds on the night, including a 7-9 mark from the free throw line. Gillus reached double-digits for the second consecutive game and third time overall on the season in Saturday's win.
Senior Keith Higgins Jr. was Lehigh's third scorer in double figures, adding 12 points to extend his streak of scoring 10+ points to six games. Higgins also hauled in a game-high ten rebounds to record his second career double-double, the first of which also coming against Marist last season.
The Mountain Hawks will play at home again on Wednesday, December 4 against the Monmouth Hawks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Stabler Arena.
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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"I thought our guys showed a lot of grit, showed a lot of toughness, played good individual defense and were there to cover for each other," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Marist is a very good team, they had won four in a row… Our guys really battled, fought and competed all the way through."
Lehigh (2-5) and Marist (4-2) have now met one another nine times, with the Mountain Hawks owning a 9-0 advantage in the series. The two teams have now met in each of the past three seasons, with each game being decided by ten or fewer points. The Red Foxes entered Saturday's game winners of four straight while the Mountain Hawks were coming off of an 88-78 defeat at Saint Francis on Tuesday.
The first half was a very closely-contested affair, as both offenses shot over 55% in the frame, including 63.6% from the Mountain Hawks. Despite this, it would be the Red Foxes who entered the locker room with a slim advantage. Marist reached their largest lead of the night at 26-17 after a Martin Kawa jumper, but Lehigh carried out a 12-7 run over the next five minutes of gameplay to cut the lead to four. Trailing by four in the final seconds of the half, sophomore Joshua Ingram hoisted up a prayer from halfcourt that banked in at the buzzer, setting the score at 38-37 at the end of the period.
Lehigh began the second half on a strong note, beginning the stanza on an 11-2 run to take an eight-point lead. The Mountain Hawks locked in defensively, holding the Red Foxes to only four field goals through the first 11:30 of the half. A Ben Knostman triple gave Lehigh its largest lead at 56-46 with 8:33 to go in the game. Although Marist kept the game within single digits the rest of the way, Lehigh would not relinquish their lead and hold on to move to 2-0 at Stabler Arena this season.
The Mountain Hawks shot an efficient 54.2% from the floor and 45.5% from three for the game, despite only attempting 11 triples. Lehigh found success at the charity stripe, getting to the line 25 times as opposed to Marist's eight free throw attempts. The Mountain Hawks tied the Red Foxes with 31 boards apiece, which included a combined 23 rebounds from Lehigh's guards.
"If we're going to play smaller, the way our rebounding margin has gone, we need to make an adjustment," said Reed. "If we can continue to get rebounding from every position, it's going to make a huge difference for us as we move forward."
Leading the way for Lehigh was junior Bube Momah, who tallied a season-high 15 points in 23 minutes off the bench. Momah was also critical in Lehigh's win over Marist a season ago when he posted his career-high of 19.
"There's a little bit of a family history, [Bube's] brother played at Marist," said Reed. "I think he's got a little extra motivation going into this one."
Sophomore Cam Gillus posted 14 points and six rebounds on the night, including a 7-9 mark from the free throw line. Gillus reached double-digits for the second consecutive game and third time overall on the season in Saturday's win.
Senior Keith Higgins Jr. was Lehigh's third scorer in double figures, adding 12 points to extend his streak of scoring 10+ points to six games. Higgins also hauled in a game-high ten rebounds to record his second career double-double, the first of which also coming against Marist last season.
The Mountain Hawks will play at home again on Wednesday, December 4 against the Monmouth Hawks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Stabler Arena.
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
Marist
Lehigh
FG%
.424
.491
3FG%
.280
.417
FT%
.750
.680
RB
33
35
TO
5
8
STL
5
2
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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