Lehigh men’s basketball falls to Cornell in season opener

Lehigh failed to take advantage of a halftime lead in an 84-78 loss against Cornell in their season opener Monday night at Stabler Arena.

This was the first Lehigh basketball game since they lost at home to Lafayette in the quarterfinal of last year’s Patriot League tournament.

Cornell lost in the first round of the Ivy League tournament to Yale after recording a 17-17 record in the regular season.

From the start of the game, Lehigh quickly developed an advantage on the boards. Lehigh’s 22 rebounds led Cornell’s 15 in the half and allowed the Mountain Hawks to put up five more shot attempts than Cornell in the first half.

Senior forward Dominic Parolin said that the result tonight showed how much potential the team has when playing at their best and complimented the rebounding effort.

“I think we’re just a lot more athletic than last year,” Parolin said. “We’re a lot bigger and stronger and obviously that translated.”

Sophomore forward Bube Momah tallied a game-leading 10 rebounds on the night.

The two teams stayed practically level in the first half until a 3-pointer from first-year guard Nasir Whitlock gave Lehigh a 23-20 lead. The Mountain Hawks carried that lead to the end of the half where they led 44-39.

Lehigh’s scoring was propelled by a strong start from junior guard Tyler Whitney-Sidney. Whitney-Sidney shot six-for-nine and led all of the game’s scorers with 16 at the half.

While Whitney-Sidney sat out a sizable portion of the second half with cramps, he commended his teammates for creating chances for him.

“My team did a great job of finding me early,” Whitney-Sidney said. “I was taking what the defense was giving me and wasn’t really trying to force shots.”

Cornell was being led by sophomore guard Cooper Noard who made five 3-pointers in the first half. 

With around 15 minutes left in the second half, Cornell went on a 6-0 run to close Lehigh’s lead down to 58-57.

The game had 16 lead changes as down the stretch the teams continued to fight with each other. 

Tied at 64 with around eight minutes left in the half, Cornell’s junior guard Guy Ragland fell over backward as he made a 3-pointer to take the lead. Emblematic of how tight the game was, Whitlock took the ball for Lehigh and tied the game again with a contested three of his own from the right wing.

Cornell began to take control of the game when Ragland scored on a slam dunk to give Cornell a 72-69 lead. Cornell built out a six-point lead they did not give up throughout the rest of the game.

Lehigh coach Brett Reed said the team would have to build on what happened tonight as they face much stronger competition with their next two games against Penn State and North Carolina.

“I think we’ve got to continue to do a good job with consistent defense and hopefully do so with a little less fouling and a little more possession,” Reed said.

Lehigh men’s basketball will play their next game on Friday, Nov. 10, against Penn State in State College.