Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
13-11, 10-3PL
Lehigh
10-14, 8-5PL
Lehigh Races to Big Early Lead, Holds off Bucknell 80-65
2/10/2016 9:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Lehigh sprinted out to a 26-point lead after 14 minutes of play, then fought off a spirited Bucknell charge to win 80-65 on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell's lead in the Patriot League was reduced to two games over the triumvirate of Lehigh, Boston University and Navy, with five regular-season games remaining.
Bucknell (13-11, 10-3 Patriot League) was led by Zach Thomas with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting off the bench. Nana Foulland recorded his third career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Stephen Brown and Chris Hass added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Lehigh (10-14, 8-5 PL) got all 80 points from its starting five, led by 24 points from Kahron Ross and 23 points and 12 rebounds from Tim Kempton. Austin Price added 16 points and Kyle Leufroy 12, as the Mountain Hawks won their fourth game in a row and earned a split of the season series with Bucknell. The Bison won 82-76 in Bethlehem back on Jan. 11.
Lehigh started the game 16-for-22 from the field and led 41-15 after Ross' layup with 6:11 to play in the first half. Bucknell made some headway prior to the break, outscoring the Mountain Hawks 14-4 while holding them to 1-for-7 shooting in the final six minutes of the half.
Buckets by Foulland and Brown to start the second half stretched the run to 18-4 and reduced the lead to 45-33.
Lehigh went back up by 18 at 58-40 after Kempton's two-pointer was reversed to a three upon replay review, but the Bison weren't done. A mid-range jumper by Hass ignited a 9-0 run. Thomas followed with four straight points, and Kimbal Mackenzie swished a 3-pointer that made it a nine-point game at 58-49 with 12:52 to go.
The Bison forced a Kempton turnover out of a double team on the next possession, bringing the re-energized crowd to its feet. But with a chance to further cut into the deficit, Bucknell turned the ball back over at the other end, and Leufroy answered with a 3-point play for Lehigh.
Bucknell got back within nine on one more occasion, after a Thomas 3-pointer with 8:21 left, but Ross and Leufroy countered for Lehigh, and the Mountain Hawks led by double digits for the final 10:44.
“It was pretty simple, Lehigh beat us in every way possible,” said head coach Nathan Davis. “It starts with me, and we obviously weren't ready to play at the start of the game. Lehigh has been playing extremely well lately, they played with a purpose. We got it to a manageable deficit by halftime, but we had really dug ourselves too big of a hole. We made some mistakes on both ends of the floor, and to their credit they made us pay for it.”
The Mountain Hawks became only the fourth-team to shoot 50 percent or better from the field against Bucknell this season, finishing at 52.6 percent. The Bison shot 50 percent in the second half to finish at 41.8 percent for the game.
Lehigh was 7-for-17 from 3-point range, while Bucknell was 6-for-21. The Bison were curtailed by 18 turnovers, which led to 21 Lehigh points. Bucknell finished with a 34-32 rebounding edge.
Ben Oberfeld gave the Bison quality minutes during the run late in the first half. He had five points and four rebounds in seven minutes, as the Bucknell bench outscored Lehigh's 27-0.
The Bison are 10-3 in Patriot League play, while Lehigh, Boston University and Navy now sit in a three-way tie for second place at 8-5. Loyola and Colgate are three back at 7-6. Bucknell will be at Colgate on Saturday at 2 p.m.
