Men’s basketball delivers winning performance against defending champions

With the Patriot League Tournament less than a month away, the Mountain Hawks needed to stay afloat in a league that has seen few teams separate themselves from the middle of the pack.

On Thursday, Lehigh came away with its seventh win in eight games against last year’s Patriot League champions American University, 65-58.

Now, Lehigh is just one game behind first place with an 8-5 conference record and 14-10 overall record, while the Eagles of American drop to 6-7 in the conference and 13-12 overall.

It was a sluggish start as the Hawks allowed the Eagles to sink two early threes and take a 10-2 lead in just three minutes.

“At the start of the game, I felt like we were playing good defense, but they were just making those really tough shots,” sophomore guard Austin Price said.

However, with a little over 10 minutes to go in the first half, Lehigh was able pull ahead 18-17 on the strength of threes by sophomore guards Miles Simelton and Price. The Hawks were unrelenting and ended up pulling ahead 33-19 at the half. For the final 13-minute stretch, the Hawks simply dominated, outscoring American 23-2.

The strong stretch to end the half was a team effort, as there were three different players who were each able to total four rebounds.

The teams went back and forth in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The play of sophomore forward/center Tim Kempton on offense was particularly helpful as he made a layup with over five minutes left to score his 20^th point on the night.

American threatened a little bit when they came within single digits with three minutes left. However, it was clear throughout that the night belonged to the Hawks.

It was an all around strong effort in many areas by many players. The team blocked an impressive seven American shots. Meanwhile, all eight players who saw some time on the court recorded at least one assist.

“Everyone is finding their roles,” Kempton said. “Nobody is questioning their roles like we were last year. Everyone knows what they have to do night in and night out and they are coming in and doing it.”

The success can further be seen in rebounding. Two players, Price and Simelton, either matched or broke their career high in rebounding. Each recorded six, while junior forward Jesse Chuku led the way with seven.

Simelton’s performance off of the bench was among the highlights of the night. He sunk two early threes, while also making multiple impact plays throughout the game.

Meanwhile, Simelton’s large amount of playing time reflects a larger trend that has been developing. Coach Brett Reed trusts several of his players with significant playing time, as seven players logged at least 15 minutes.

“We made the commitment to share the basketball more, get more people involved in our offense and have more people be playmakers and decision makers,” Reed said. “Fortunately for us, we are responding in a very positive way.”

The game, which was televised on CBS Sports Network, received very high attendance and had a very energetic crowd. Among those in attendance was Pete Carril, a Hall of Fame basketball coach who is mainly noted for his time at Princeton University, although he coached Lehigh men’s basketball for the 1966-67 season.

Fans attending, coaches and players alike all had reasons to be hopeful after this performance.

“The way that we build is through our team culture, and it’s shining through our performance on the court,” Kempton said. “And it’s just nice to see everything come together and to mold into this so-called championship team that you try to build to, especially during March.”