National Basketball Association
Holy Cross 59, Lehigh 56
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Where: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Officials:
# Evan Burroughs, # Tony Crisp, # Shannon Garrick
Attendance:
4587
By The Sports Xchange
Malachi Alexander scored 26 points, and No. 9-seed Holy Cross completed an improbable run with a 59-56 upset of No. 2-seed Lehigh on Wednesday in the Patriots League Tournament championship game on the Mountain Hawks' home court in Bethlehem, Pa.
Holy Cross went winless on the road in Patriot League play during the regular season, but won four straight road games in the conference tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Crusaders (14-19) are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.
Center Tim Kempton scored 20 points to lead the Mountain Hawks, who had an 11-game winning streak snapped and their NCAA tournament hopes dashed.
Holy Cross stormed out to a 20-6 lead, capped by a 3-pointer by Alexander. Lehigh struggled to crack the Crusaders' one-three-one zone. With five minutes left in the first half, the Mountain Hawks had eight turnovers and only three field goals. Holy Cross led 25-14 at halftime.
The Mountain Hawks chipped away at the deficit early in the second half. A three-point play by Kempton cut the Holy Cross lead to 42-38 with 9:28 left to play. Lehigh senior forward Jesse Chuku hit a 3-pointer that cut the Holy Cross lead to one, 55-54 with 1:06 to play.
The Mountain Hawks were down three in the last minute and had four attempts at a potential tying 3-pointer on their final possession, but couldn't get one to fall.
Top Game Performances
| Holy Cross |
|
Lehigh |
|
Malachi Alexander 26 |
Scoring |
Tim Kempton 20 |
|
Robert Champion 6 |
Assists |
Kahron Ross 6 |
|
Malachi Alexander 9 |
Rebounds |
Kyle Leufroy 8 |
|
Malachi Alexander 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Tim Kempton 4 |
|
Anthony Thompson 3 |
Steals |
Kahron Ross 3 |
|
Karl Charles 1 |
Blocks |
Kahron Ross 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Holy Cross
|
59 |
44.7 |
11-29 |
6-12 |
18 |
23 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
| Lehigh
|
56 |
38.2 |
8-26 |
6-7 |
15 |
34 |
1 |
4 |
11 |
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