28 February, 2007
by Elliot Smilowitz
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| Army (15-15, 4-10 Patriot) |
24 |
23 |
47 |
| Lehigh (12-19, 7-7 Patriot) |
19 |
27 |
46 |
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The Army Black Knights advanced to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament, defeating Lehigh 47-46 in Stabler Arena on a controversial final shot.
Jose Olivero hit 2 free throws to give Lehigh a 46-45 edge with 4 seconds remaining. On the ensuing final possession, Josh Miller ran the length of the court, and put up a lay-up that went in. To the dismay of Lehigh partisans, the referees ruled that Miller got the shot off before the buzzer. Many onlookers, including Lehigh’s official athletics site, felt that the shot wasn’t released until after the buzzer, but the refs did not budge.
Army won with a balanced scoring effort, led by 12 points from Cleveland Richard. Jarell Brown scored 11, Matt Bell added 10, and Miller pitched in 9. Jose Olivero and Jason Mgebroff scored 11 apiece to lead the Mountain Hawks, and Bryan White grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
The game went back and forth from the start, with neither team able to gain traction offensively. Lehigh shot 29.1 percent from the floor for the game, while Army shot 34.5 percent. Lehigh led 6-2 at the start, and lost that lead, but never trailed by more than 6. They finally regained the lead on Olivero’s free throws with 4 seconds, and seemed primed to win before Miller’s miracle.
Army will now head to Bucknell on Sunday to face the Bison, who beat Navy 62-43 tonight. The Black Knights lost 74-49 to Bucknell in Lewisburg earlier this year, but held close until the final minute last week in West Point before falling 54-49 to the Bison.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
After Army took a 6-point lead with 2:46 to go, Lehigh pulled within 1 point on back-to-back baskets from Phil Anderson and Kyle Neptune. The teams exchanged 1 made free throw apiece, before Miller missed a shot, giving Lehigh the ball with the shot clock off.
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| Key sign it was over |
Olivero was fouled with 4 seconds left, and hit both free throws to give his Mountain Hawks a 46-45 lead. Miller, who is not considered a go-to scorer for Army, received the inbounds, ran the length of the floor, and put up a shot very close to the buzzer. The shot sank, and officials called it good, though Lehigh’s official athletics site says the shot “clearly appeared to have come after the final buzzer.â€
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| Key performance |
The little-used Miller, in addition to having the winning shot, scored 9 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and tossed 3 assists.
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| Key statistic |
Lehigh is a much better rebounding team than Army, but the rebounding differential was only 42-41 in favor of the Hawks. By neutralizing Lehigh’s interior advantage, Army was able to make the game a shootout at the end.
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| Notes |
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Mgebroff started for the first time since returning from his injury, getting 11 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes. Anderson, coming off the bench, tallied 2 points and 5 boards in 13 minutes.
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| – |
Doug Williams was held scoreless, but again led the Knights in rebounds with 6.
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Neither team could find its stroke from long range. Lehigh shot 1-of-12 from the arc, Army 3-of-14.
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The win was Army’s first league tournament victory since 1996. They had lost 10 consecutive first round games.
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