City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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The Lehigh Mountain Hawks came up just short of a trip to the NCAA tournament as they fell to 9-seed Holy Cross in the Patriot League championship game by a final score of 59-56.

At First…
Lehigh was about as cold as a team can be in the opening frame, making just six of its 23 shot attempts while going 1-of-7 from three. It took them all the way until the 2:24 mark to get their first three-point attempt--and break double digits--as Kahron Ross cut the lead to 22-11 with a big triple from the wing off a Tim Kempton pass from down low.

The Crusaders went into the half up 25-14 behind nine points each from Malachi Alexander and Eric Green.

Turning Point…
Lehigh finally started to heat up coming out of the break, cutting the lead to 28-22 almost instantly. Holy Cross was able to open it back up to nine a few minutes later, but after slowly chipping away, Lehigh made it a 4 point game with just under 11 minutes to go.

Holy Cross would enter the final four minutes with a 55-46 lead, but again Lehigh responded to cut it to just one in the final minute

However, it just wasn’t enough, as the Mountain Hawks missed four different three-point attempts to tie on the final possession.

Shining Stars…
Tim Kempton had a phenomenal night for Lehigh in the final game of his junior season, dropping 20 points and proving why he won back-to-back Patriot League player of the year honors.

However, Holy Cross’ Malachi Alexander was the true player of the game, leading the Crusaders to the NCAA tournament with a game-high 26.

Noteworthy Numbers…
38: Despite opening up the game with such a rough shooting performance, Lehigh finished with a respectable 38-percent mark from the field.

9: This is Holy Cross’ first trip to the NCAA tournament in nine years; their head coach Bill Carmody hasn’t been to the dance since 1998 with Princeton.

Up Next…
Lehigh’s season ends with a mark of 16-15 following this loss. Holy Cross will await its NCAA tournament draw (almost certainly as a 16-seed), to be decided on this coming Sunday, March 13.