Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
8-8, 5-0PL
Lehigh
4-12, 2-3PL
Bison Withstand Lehigh Rally, Move to 5-0 in PL after 82-76 Win in Bethlehem
1/11/2016 10:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Chris Hass scored 21 points while becoming one of Bucknell's top-20 all-time scorers, and Stephen Brown had 14 points, six assists, three steals and no turnovers to lead Bucknell past Lehigh 82-76 on Monday night at Stabler Arena. Nana Foulland added 12 points and D.J. MacLeay had 11 off the bench to help the Bison keep a hold on sole possession of first place in the Patriot League at 5-0.
For the second time in 48 hours, Bucknell (8-8, 5-0 PL) built a big halftime lead and then withstood a furious rally by the opponent in the second half. The Bison held off Holy Cross on Saturday to take over first place by themselves, and on a short turnaround for CBS Sports Network's Patriot League Game of the Week, they never gave up the lead after Lehigh (4-12, 2-3) reduced a 14-point halftime deficit down to one.
“I thought we played with a tremendous amount of purpose and really played well together as a team,” said head coach Nathan Davis. “We had a great response after Lehigh cut it to one because we played unselfishly and made big team plays. Our leadership is very good, and they guys are getting better every day.”
Tim Kempton (29) and Kyle Leufroy (23) both recorded career scoring highs and combined for 52 of Lehigh's 76 points.
Bucknell led 43-29 at halftime after a big surge to close the opening period, but Lehigh quickly got back in it after the Bison were whistled for a bucketful of fouls in the first 10 minutes of the second. Jesse Chuku's desperation 3-pointer late in the shot clock capped a 12-4 run and brought the Mountain Hawks within 51-50.
The margin was just two at 56-54 when MacLeay's layup started a 7-0 Bison run. Hass scored on a slashing layup, then Brown passed back to Hass for a transition 3-pointer that made it 63-54 with 8:57 left.
Lehigh got back within four on two free throws by Justin Goldsborough with 4:24 to go, but then the Bison opened up some breathing room with a game-changing 8-0 run. First they looked inside to Foulland for a short lefty jump-hook deep in the paint. After a defensive stop, Bucknell ran the shot clock all the way down before Ryan Frazier swished a tough, contested 3-pointer. Hass rebounded a missed three by Kahron Ross, and Nate Jones followed with a great crosscourt pass to Brown for another trey that made it 75-63 with 2:29 to go.
Bucknell committed a few turnovers down the stretch but went 5-for-6 at the foul line in the final 1:10 to ice it. Leufroy's 3-pointer with seven seconds to go capped the scoring.
The Bison committed only two turnovers in the first half but had 12 in the second. Bucknell shot 63.2 percent in the second half and 50.9 percent for the game. The Bison continued their torrid 3-point shooting, making 11 of 22 in the game after hitting 16 of 25 against Holy Cross on Saturday.
In the Holy Cross game the Bison broke a school record with seven different players hitting a 3-pointer. They tied that record in this one, as the team's first seven treys of the night came from seven different players.
The Bison led 14-11 after a Foulland 3-point play at the 14:54 mark, but they missed their next 10 shots and didn't score again for more than five minutes. Solid defense helped Bucknell survive the cold spell, as Lehigh scored only five points in that span to go up by a pair.
It was tied at 23 after two Kempton free throws, and then the Bison got hot. A 3-pointer by John Azzinaro off a nice skip pass from MacLeay kick-started a 20-6 surge to end the first half. Hass scored nine of his 12 first-half points in that stretch, coming from two mid-range jumpers, a three and tip-in of his own miss.
MacLeay's high-low feed to Dom Hoffman for a layup with 10 seconds to go closed out the half.
Hass recorded his 18th career 20-point game, hitting 7 of 17 from the field and all five of his free throws. He also moved past Gerald Purnell, Joe Gallagher and Dan Bowen into 19th place on Bucknell's all-time list with 1,195 points.
The Bison snapped a two-game losing streak in Stabler Arena and improved to 101-64 all-time against Lehigh. They return to action on Saturday against Colgate at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
