Saturday, March 1
West Point, N.Y.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
11-18,6-12Patriot
89
at
67
Army
16-14,10-8Patriot
1
2
F
Lehigh
42
47
89
Army West Point
29
38
67
Photo by: Clark Boinis
Lehigh Cruises Past Army West Point 89-67 In Regular Season
3/1/2025 6:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Patriot League regular season concluded on Saturday afternoon for Lehigh men's basketball for an afternoon matchup on the road against the Army West Point Black Knights. Five players scored in double-figures and the Mountain Hawks earned a dominant 89-67 victory.
"There was a lot of positive energy out there on the floor today," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Our guys made positive plays, I thought they worked very hard… Our guys demonstrated some unity, some resiliency, and just continued to push forward."
With the win and other results around the Patriot League, Lehigh (11-18, 6-12 PL) has secured the ninth seed in the league standings. Army West Point (16-14, 10-8 PL) can finish anywhere from third to sixth based on results of Saturday's games.
The Black Knights honored their seniors ahead of Saturday's game and had five seniors in their starting five, which included four players making their first career starts. The Mountain Hawks jumped ahead to a 12-2 lead during this stretch before many of Army's usual starters checked into the game. Following the switch, the Black Knights went on a 13-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. Following Army's run, Lehigh scored eight unanswered to go back up by five thanks to buckets from Nasir Whitlock, Cam Gillus and Ben Knostman. The teams continued to trade buckets in the final ten minutes of the first half until an Edouard Benoit four-point play kicked off a 12-0 Lehigh run with under three minutes remaining. The Mountain Hawks entered the locker room ahead 42-29.
Trailing by 13, the Black Knights came out of the gates hot in the second half, eventually cutting the Lehigh lead to two with 13:02 to go. Despite the comeback, the Mountain Hawks weren't deterred, shooting 5-5 over the next three minutes in a 13-4 run. Lehigh shot an impressive 63.0% from the field in the second half and assisted on nearly half of their baskets in the frame. A Tyler Whitney-Sidney layup put the Mountain Hawks ahead 77-60, which prompted an Army timeout with 5:18 to play. The Black Knights couldn't gain any ground in the final minutes, allowing Lehigh's reserves to enter the game and seal the victory.
Lehigh shot an efficient 54.4% (31-57) from the field and 27.3% (6-22) from three while Army West Point shot 36.1% (22-61) and 13.6% (3-22). The Mountain Hawks were excellent at the free throw line, shooting 91.3% (21-23) to Army West Point's 74.1% (20-27). Lehigh outrebounded Army West Point 46-24, making the Mountain Hawks a perfect 8-0 when they win the battle of the boards on the season. In addition, the Mountain Hawks are 6-0 when they score 80+ points.
"If we can get over ten offensive rebounds, that's a big feat for our team," said Reed. "We were pretty effective, [our bigs] cleaned up the rebounds that were available for them and got us extra possessions, and in addition we were able to neutralize a decent amount of their transition game."
Joshua Ingram led the Mountain Hawks offensively, scoring a season-high 23 points while grabbing 13 rebounds to record his first-career double-double. The sophomore shot 8-9 from the floor and 6-6 from the free throw line.
"The thing that doesn't show in the stat line was that we put [Josh] on a difficult cover," said Reed. "Not only was he producing on the offensive end, he was spending a tremendous amount of energy on the defensive end as well and continued to give us positive games."
Whitlock finished the night with 14 points to go along with three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Gillus also reached 14 points while shooting 7-8 from the free throw line. Whitney-Sidney tallied 12 points while first-year Hank Alvey posted 10 points on a perfect 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the line. Knostman stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six assists, three rebounds and a steal.
"[Ben's] impact on the game was really positive," said Reed. "His plus-minus differential was outstanding for the minutes he played."
The Black Knights were led by Jalen Rucker with 22 points. He was joined by Ryan Curry (16p) and AJ Allenspach (15p) in double-figures.
Lehigh's Patriot League Tournament first round game will be played on Tuesday, March 4 on the road against the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Baltimore.
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 positive energy out there on the floor today," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "Our guys made positive plays, I thought they worked very hard… Our guys demonstrated some unity, some resiliency, and just continued to push forward."
With the win and other results around the Patriot League, Lehigh (11-18, 6-12 PL) has secured the ninth seed in the league standings. Army West Point (16-14, 10-8 PL) can finish anywhere from third to sixth based on results of Saturday's games.
The Black Knights honored their seniors ahead of Saturday's game and had five seniors in their starting five, which included four players making their first career starts. The Mountain Hawks jumped ahead to a 12-2 lead during this stretch before many of Army's usual starters checked into the game. Following the switch, the Black Knights went on a 13-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. Following Army's run, Lehigh scored eight unanswered to go back up by five thanks to buckets from Nasir Whitlock, Cam Gillus and Ben Knostman. The teams continued to trade buckets in the final ten minutes of the first half until an Edouard Benoit four-point play kicked off a 12-0 Lehigh run with under three minutes remaining. The Mountain Hawks entered the locker room ahead 42-29.
Trailing by 13, the Black Knights came out of the gates hot in the second half, eventually cutting the Lehigh lead to two with 13:02 to go. Despite the comeback, the Mountain Hawks weren't deterred, shooting 5-5 over the next three minutes in a 13-4 run. Lehigh shot an impressive 63.0% from the field in the second half and assisted on nearly half of their baskets in the frame. A Tyler Whitney-Sidney layup put the Mountain Hawks ahead 77-60, which prompted an Army timeout with 5:18 to play. The Black Knights couldn't gain any ground in the final minutes, allowing Lehigh's reserves to enter the game and seal the victory.
Lehigh shot an efficient 54.4% (31-57) from the field and 27.3% (6-22) from three while Army West Point shot 36.1% (22-61) and 13.6% (3-22). The Mountain Hawks were excellent at the free throw line, shooting 91.3% (21-23) to Army West Point's 74.1% (20-27). Lehigh outrebounded Army West Point 46-24, making the Mountain Hawks a perfect 8-0 when they win the battle of the boards on the season. In addition, the Mountain Hawks are 6-0 when they score 80+ points.
"If we can get over ten offensive rebounds, that's a big feat for our team," said Reed. "We were pretty effective, [our bigs] cleaned up the rebounds that were available for them and got us extra possessions, and in addition we were able to neutralize a decent amount of their transition game."
Joshua Ingram led the Mountain Hawks offensively, scoring a season-high 23 points while grabbing 13 rebounds to record his first-career double-double. The sophomore shot 8-9 from the floor and 6-6 from the free throw line.
"The thing that doesn't show in the stat line was that we put [Josh] on a difficult cover," said Reed. "Not only was he producing on the offensive end, he was spending a tremendous amount of energy on the defensive end as well and continued to give us positive games."
Whitlock finished the night with 14 points to go along with three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Gillus also reached 14 points while shooting 7-8 from the free throw line. Whitney-Sidney tallied 12 points while first-year Hank Alvey posted 10 points on a perfect 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the line. Knostman stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six assists, three rebounds and a steal.
"[Ben's] impact on the game was really positive," said Reed. "His plus-minus differential was outstanding for the minutes he played."
The Black Knights were led by Jalen Rucker with 22 points. He was joined by Ryan Curry (16p) and AJ Allenspach (15p) in double-figures.
Lehigh's Patriot League Tournament first round game will be played on Tuesday, March 4 on the road against the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Baltimore.
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
ARM
FG%
.544
.361
3FG%
.273
.136
FT%
.913
.741
RB
46
24
TO
18
12
STL
5
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F/C
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