Bucknell University
10-12, 4-5PL
Lehigh
15-7, 7-2PL
Lehigh Men Send Bucknell to Third Straight Setback, 61-49
2/11/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2003
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Matt Logie made four second-half 3-pointers and led all scorers with 20 points to lead Lehigh to a 61-49 victory over Bucknell Tuesday night at Stabler Arena.
Zlatko Savovic added 19 points for the Mountain Hawks, who improved to 15-7 overall and 7-2 in Patriot League play. Bucknell has dropped three straight contests to fall to 10-12, 4-5.
After going without a 3-point basket in the opening half, Logie came out on fire in the second stanza, starting the half with two straight treys to push a five-point halftime lead to 11 at 28-17. Lehigh's first five field goals of the second half came from beyond the arc, with Logie adding two more and Mitch Gilfillan one.
Logie's third bomb gave Lehigh a 33-21 lead, but the Bison scored nine of the next 12 points to close within six with 9:05 remaining. The Bison still trailed by a half-dozen at the 7:30 mark when they came up short in a crucial exchange. Forward Ben Slater, who had a terrific night shooting from the outside, could not convert an open layup, and second later Lehigh's Chris Stephenson was fouled on a layup and finished the 3-point play to make what might have been a four-point margin a nine-point spread at 44-35.
Savovic's two free throws with 3:52 remaining made it 53-42, and Lehigh maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Both teams came out of the gates ice cold in a first half that included three ties and three lead changes. Bucknell made only 7 of 32 shots in the first half, while Lehigh connected on just 7 of 21.
After spotting the Bison a quick 4-0 lead, the Mountain Hawks used a 14-2 run to grab an eight-point lead following Matt Crawford's alley-oop jam at the 8:10 mark. But reserve forward Jeremiah Bennett scored on a put-back and a 3-pointer to spark an 11-2 Bucknell run that gave the Bison a 17-16 edge.
Lehigh scored the final six points of the half, all from the free-throw line, to claim a 22-17 halftime lead. For the game, the Mountain Hawks converted 24 of 26 free throws, compared to Bucknell's 8 of 14.
Savovic made 9 of 10 from the line and added seven assists (Lehigh's only seven of the game) and six rebounds. Lehigh held a 41-31 rebounding edge.
Dan Blankenship scored a season-high 13 points for Bucknell, while Slater finished with a season-high 10, all coming on jump shots of at least 15 feet. Bennett scored a career-high nine points off the bench.
Bucknell's leading scorer Boakai Lalugba was held to a season-low six points and five rebounds. He had scored in double figures in 23 straight games.
The Bison committed a season-low nine turnovers, but made only 3 of 20 3-point attempts and shot 32.8 percent overall.
Bucknell was without the services of starting guard Matt Quinn, who remained in Lewisburg due to the flu.
Bucknell hosts Navy Friday at 9 p.m. on the Patriot League TV game of the week (DirecTV, channel 611).
