20 January, 2007
by Elliot Smilowitz
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| Lafayette (7-13, 1-4 Patriot) |
21 |
48 |
69 |
| Lehigh (9-12, 4-1 Patriot) |
37 |
40 |
77 |
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Lehigh opened leads as big as 18 over local rival Lafayette, before withstanding a furious late Leopard rally to win 77-69. Lehigh went 27-for-35 from the free throw line, including 12-of-12 in the final minute and a half.
The Mountain Hawks sprinted to a 19-4 lead, and ended up scoring 37 first-half points. They did it on the back of a balanced offense, as 4 players scored 6 points or more in the half. Meanwhile, the Leopards shot 6-for-24 in the first half. The second half was a different story for Lafayette, though: 10-of-19 on three-pointers and 5-for-5 on two-pointers. Lehigh was able to stay out in front for most of the half, leading by 14 with 4:09 to go. However, from there, three-point shots by Michael Gruner, Paul Cummins, Matt Betley and Andrew Brown, as well as a traditional three-point play by Ted Detmer, comprised a 15-4 to bring Lafayette within 3 points. They got no closer, however, as Lehigh used free throw shooting to close the game out.
Brown finished with 30 points, shooting 9-of-14 from the field, 6-for-9 for three, and 6-for-6 on free throws. No other Leopard reached double digits scoring. Marquis Hall led Lehigh with 24 points. Jose Olivero added 16, Bryan White scored 13 and Kyle Neptune chipped in 12.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
Marquis Hall scored the first points of the game for Lehigh with a three-pointer. Moments later, Jose Olivero nailed a three of his own, making the score 8-1.These two shots began a huge run for Lehigh, who stormed to a 19-4 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. Lehigh shot 7-for-11 in that stretch, while Lafayette went 1-for-12.
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| Key sign it was over |
Lafayette stormed back into the game, culminating with an Andrew Brown three-pointer with 1:39 left that brought the Leopard deficit to 65-62. From then on, every Lehigh possession went to the foul line, where the Mountain Hawks went 12-for-12.
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| Key performance |
Hall had a breakout game. He scored 24 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 from the line. He also hit 3 three-pointers, grabbed 5 rebounds and tossed 6 assists.
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| Key statistic |
Lafayette shot 3-of-15 on three-pointers and 3-of-9 on two-pointers in the first half, as Lehigh built their huge lead. By the time the Leopards’ shots were falling, their deficit was too big to overcome.
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| Notes |
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Lehigh won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Leopards 33-24. Bryan White grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.
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Both teams had more assists than turnovers: Lehigh’s ratio was 17 assists to 13 turnovers, Lafayette’s 16 assists to 14 turnovers.
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The Leopards tried a new starting lineup, going with Brown, Cummins and Betley in the backcourt, and Schmidt and Detmer in the frontcourt.
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Lehigh travels to Bucknell Tuesday night in the battle of the Patriot League’s 4-1 teams. Lafayette hosts Army Wednesday.
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