Lehigh defeats Army in crucial contest

Lehigh defeated Army 84-71 on Jan. 26 at Stabler Arena, climbing to 6-3 in the Patriot League. 

Navy, Army, Loyola and Lehigh are all tied for second in the Patriot League at 6-3; Colgate leads the league in win percentage at 4-1.

The offense was balanced in the first half with eight Lehigh players scoring. Jeameril Wilson led the way with seven first half points. 

“Our team is really well rounded, I feel like we can all do multiple things and that showed up today,” junior Evan Taylor said.

Freshman standouts Keith Higgins and Tyler Whitney-Sidney saw the majority of the guard minutes early in the game. Whitney-Sidney played 13 first-half minutes scoring six points and dishing out a first-half assist. He ended the game with a game high 19 points four assists and four rebounds.

Upperclassmen Evan Taylor, Nic Lynch and Jeameril Wilson remained steady in their first-half minutes, providing the three highest efficiency grades while playing the most minutes for the Mountain Hawks. 

Lehigh fell behind 44-42 early in the second half until Whitney-Sidney went on a 5-0 run by himself, which consisted of a three point shot and a fast break dunk after picking an Army player’s pocket on defense.

The Mountain Hawks didn’t look back, never surrendering the lead again, and winning the game 84-71. 

Lehigh had 21 assists on 32 made field goals while shooting 55% from the field.

The starting lineup was in rhythm throughout the game and Coach Reed decided to keep them in for the first 10 minutes of the second half. The lineup was able to extend the lead and left the game with a 61-52 lead.

“If a team is playing really well then I try to ride that momentum,” Coach Reed said. “To some respect they are in a flow state where they are playing really well and playing off each other and you don’t want to break that up.”

Lehigh looks to continue their strong play when they travel to Holy Cross on Friday Jan. 28.