Lehigh Stays Hot In 64-59 Win Over Rival Lafayette

Saturday, January 24

Bethlehem, Pa.

7:00 PM

Lehigh University

9-12,5-3Patriot

Lafayette College

5-16,2-6Patriot

Lafayette

Lehigh

Photo by: Hannahally Photography

Lehigh Stays Hot In 64-59 Win Over Rival Lafayette

1/24/2026 10:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh men's basketball welcomed rival Lafayette to Stabler Arena on Saturday evening for The Rivalry, presented by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, part of Jefferson Health. The Mountain Hawks deterred a late comeback attempt from the Leopards to earn a 64-59 victory.

🔊 Head coach Brett Reed after tonight's W over that team in Easton!#GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/BWv51VBb3e
— Lehigh Men's Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 25, 2026

Lehigh (9-12, 5-3 PL) has now won five of its last six games, including two in a row. Lafayette (5-16, 2-6 PL) has now lost five of its last six meetings against the Mountain Hawks. Murray H. Goodman '48 head coach Brett Reed reached 296 career wins following tonight's victory, putting him only four away from becoming the second coach in Patriot League history to reach 300 wins.

The Leopards had a strong start to the first half, outscoring the Mountain Hawks 10-3 before the first media timeout. Lehigh's offense began to pick up after the break, with a personal 6-0 run from Joshua Ingram putting the Mountain Hawks ahead 13-10 at the 12:20 mark. A Jalen Vazquez triple and bucket from Hank Alvey gave Lehigh an 18-14 lead at the under eight media timeout.

Lafayette cut the lead to one on a Shareef Jackson layup, but Andrew Urosevic converted a four-point play and hit another triple that put Lehigh up 27-19 and prompted a Leopards timeout. An Edouard Benoit bucket and two Nasir Whitlock free throws extended the Mountain Hawks lead to 12 with under four minutes remaining in the half. Another Alvey bucket with seven seconds to go gave Lehigh a 38-22 halftime advantage.

The Leopards held the Mountain Hawks scoreless through the first four minutes of the second half, cutting their deficit to 12 in the process. Whitlock gave the Mountain Hawks some cushion by way of a personal 8-2 run that put Lehigh up 46-28 at the 13:03 mark. A 6-0 Lafayette run cut the Lehigh advantage to 11 before an Ingram layup lifted the Mountain Hawks to a 50-37 lead at the under 12 media timeout.

Lafayette trimmed the lead to single digits with 7:10 to go by way of two Jackson free throws. Trailing by five, Lafayette's Caleb Williams drilled pull-up three that cut their deficit to two with 3:43 remaining, forcing a Lehigh timeout. Alvey and Whitlock pushed Lehigh's lead back up six out of the break to lead 58-52. After a Lafayette timeout, Williams converted a four-point play that once again brought the Leopards within two.

Leading by three, Alvey put his team up by five on a wide-open dunk with 1:04 remaining. Jackson scored on the other end for Lafayette, setting the score at 62-59. Ingram knocked down a three that would've iced the game for the Mountain Hawks, but it was determined that he did not get the shot off before the shot clock expired. Andrew Phillips got a clean look off for the Leopards to tie, but his shot did not fall. Whitlock knocked down two free throws in the final seconds to ice the game for the Mountain Hawks.

Lehigh shot 42.3% (22-52) from the field, 47.1% (8-17) from three, and 92.3 (12-13) from the free throw line. Lafayette posted shooting splits of 36.2% (21-58) from the floor, 23.8% (5-21) from distance, and 63.2% (12-19) from the charity stripe. The Mountain Hawks outrebounded the Leopards 35-31 and outscored Lafayette 12-4 in bench points.

Whitlock once again led the way for the Mountain Hawks, scoring a game-high 20 points on 6-12 shooting with three rebounds, three assists, and a steal. The reigning Patriot League Player of the Week has scored 20+ points in four consecutive outings.

Alvey put up 12 points with seven rebounds and two steals, marking his 13th double-digit scoring game of the season. Ingram stuffed the stat sheet with ten points, nine rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block. Urosevic chipped in seven points off the bench.

Williams paced the Leopards with 18 points while Mark Butler (14p) and Jackson (13p) also reached double-figures for Lafayette.

Lehigh hits the road to face Army West Point on Wednesday, January 28 at 6 p.m.

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