City of Basketball Love

Max Buchdahl (@max_buchdahl)
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It has been only four days since Lehigh picked up a 81-73 home victory over Boston University, giving the Mountain Hawks their first Patriot League win in the early goings of conference play.

On Wednesday night in Baltimore, they were looking to build off of that momentum and pick up a win in their first road conference game of the season, facing Loyola.

Despite a double-double effort from Tim Kempton and Kyle Leufroy’s second consecutive double-digit performance, the Mountain Hawks fell short,  51-50.

The loss drops Lehigh to 1-2 in conference play and 3-11 overall, while Loyola improves to 3-0 in conference play and 4-10 overall.

On a busy night for the Patriot League, one in which Army lost at home to Lafayette, Lehigh had the opportunity to gain some ground in a conference that seems up-for-grabs thus far.

“We had a chance to close out this game and steal a win on the road,” said Lehigh coach Brett Reed. “This was a very winnable game.”

Even though he finished with a double-double, Kempton’s inability to hit free throws down the stretch doomed Lehigh.

Kempton, who entered the night shooting 81 precent from the free throw line, missed a number of key free throws in the final minutes and finished a meager 2-for-8 from the line on the evening.

The six-foot-10 junior center is Lehigh’s leading scorer, averaging 18.4 points per game coming into the matchup against Loyola, but scored a season-low 10 points on Wednesday night.

“I never really got into a rhythm offensively,” Kempton said. “I just wasn’t making shots, and couldn’t make the free throws down the stretch to help us win the game.”

Reed agreed that Kempton wasn’t playing like his normal self on Wednesday night, saying that “it just seemed like he was a little out of sync.”

Kempton wasn’t the only player who struggled at the line for the Mountain Hawks, though. After the team hit nine of 11 from the line in the first half, they only converted six of 15 in the second half, finishing at 57.7 percent for the night.

“One of the big factors in the first half was being able to convert from the free throw line,” Reed said. “Unfortunately, in the second half, we came up empty. We just didn’t make our free throws to allow us to capitalize.”

Lehigh finished the first half on a 7-0 run which included a pair of made free throws. The Mountain Hawks had a 29-18 lead at halftime, one which they lost in the opening moments of the second half and were never able to regain.

“We knew that Loyola was going to make a run,” Kempton said. “We didn’t take care of it as well as we needed to.”

The game remained close in the final minutes, which neither team leading by more than three in the last four minutes of the game.

Lehigh guard Austin Price hit a reverse layup to give his team a one-point lead with 50 seconds to go. After a Loyola miss, Kempton went to the line for a one-and-one, but missed the front end and allowed the Greyhounds a shot at the lead.

Loyola guard Andre Walker drove to the basket and made a layup, scored the last of his game-high 18 points.

The Mountain Hawks had a chance at the final second, but a missed layup by guard Tyler Jenkins sealed the Loyola win.

Even with the disappointment not being able to finish a win, Leufroy, a freshman guard, remained a bright spot for the Mountain Hawks.

After scoring a career-high 20 points on Saturday night in Boston, Leufroy tied Kempton for a team-high 10 points on Wednesday. It’s the first time this season that he’s had back-to-back double-digit performances.

“I’m just trying to stay aggressive and not force anything,” Leufroy said.

Reed saw Leufroy’s size and athleticism help him gain an important edge on the offensive side of the ball.

“Kyle was able to take his man, find some finishes, and put us in a position to convert,” Reed said. “That’s a strong quality and it’s going to be important for us.”

Despite tonight’s loss, the unpredictability of the Patriot League puts Reed and his team in a good position to rebound from this loss and continue to strive towards the top of the conference.  

“This isn’t a loss we want on our record,” Kempton said. “You never want to lose a game like this, but hopefully it’s able to fuel us.”