Army Rallies For 75-72 Win At Lehigh

Saturday, January 15

Bethlehem, Pa.

7 PM

Army West Point

Lehigh

Army Rallies For 75-72 Win At Lehigh

January 16, 2011 | Men's Basketball

BETHLEHEM, Pa.  – Senior F Jeremy Hence scored 20 of his career-high 26 points in the final 12:59 to lead the Army men’s basketball team back from a 14-point deficit in its 75-72 win over Lehigh at Stabler Arena on Saturday night. The Black Knights are now 10-8 overall and 2-1 in the Patriot League, while the Mountain Hawks dropped to 10-8 and 1-2 in league action.

Army trailed 54-40 with 13:09 left in the game, but outscored the Mountain Hawks 35-18 for the remainder of the game. Hence hit a three-pointer to give Army its first lead of the second half at 67-66 with 3:03 to go and then drilled four straight free throws down the stretch to help the Black Knights hang on for their first regular-season win at Lehigh since 2002.

In addition to Hence’s career-high night, senior F Nathan Hedgecock tallied a career-best 16 points and tied for the team lead with five rebounds. Sophomore F Ella Ellis and junior G Julian Simmons rounded out the Black Knights’ top scorers with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore G Jason Pancoe, making his first start since before Christmas, handed out a game-high five assists.

C.J. McCollum, the Patriot League’s leading scorer, led the Mountain Hawks with 24 points, but shot just 8-for-20 from the field. He also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Gabe Knutson was Lehigh’s only other player in double figures with 16 points.

The Black Knights shot 43.3 percent for the game, including a 10-for-25 showing from three-point range. The Mountain Hawks hit 44.6 percent overall, but were just 1-for-13 from behind the arc. It marked the first time this season Army won a game in which its opponent had a better field goal percentage.

Army outrebounded the Mountain Hawks, 37-33, including an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass.

The victory pushed Army’s road record to 7-4, tying the team’s highest win total on the road since the 1975-76 team won 10 contests on opponents’ home floors.

The Mountain Hawks scored first, but Army quickly responded with an Ellis triple to take a 3-2 lead with 19:10 left. The lead exchanged hands four more times with a three-pointer by Pancoe giving the Black Knights an 11-8 lead with 13:43 left in the first half.

Army led 15-12 after a pair of free throws by Simmons with 11:32 to go, but the Mountain Hawks used a 16-5 run to claim a 28-20 advantage with 4:37 left in the first half. Army made just two field goals during the stretch, suffering droughts of five minutes, 31 seconds and two minutes, 43 seconds without a field goal.

The Black Knights were able to wrest the momentum away from Lehigh in the last four minutes of the half. Hedgecock hit his first basket to start a 15-8 spurt to end the half. The senior’s three-pointer with 1:20 left trimmed the deficit to 32-30, and after a jumper by McCollum, Simmons drilled his first three-pointer with only seven seconds remaining in the half to pull the Black Knights within 36-35. Lehigh’s last-second shot attempt was off the mark, sending Army into the locker room down only one.

Hedgecock, who missed the last two games with an injury, led the Black Knights with eight points in the first 20 minutes. Knutson led all scorers with 10 points in the first half. Army rebounded from a 5-for-16 start to make seven of its final 14 shot attempts and end the half at 40.0 percent overall and 45.5 percent (5-11) from three-point range. The Mountain Hawks made half of their 30 field goal tries in the first half.  

Lehigh regained control coming out of the locker room, scoring 19 of the first 23 points to take a 54-40 with 13:09 to go. Army made only one of its first seven shot attempts to start the second period.

Hence took over the game, scoring eight straight points for the Black Knights as part of a 13-2 run that pulled Army within one possession at 56-53 with 9:24 to go. Two free throws by McCollum pushed the Lehigh lead back to five points, but Army scored six of the next eight, including a three-point play by Hence and a three-pointer by Ellis to trim the Lehigh lead to 60-59 with 7:50 left.

The Mountain Hawks scored the next four points on foul shots by McCollum to reclaim a five-point edge, but Army reeled off an 8-2 run that was capped by a Hence three-pointer that put the Black Knights on top 67-66 with 3:03 left. The Black Knights stretched their lead to three points on a jumper by Ellis with 1:18 on the clock.

Lehigh was able to close the gap to just one point on three occasions, but each time Army answered with a pair of made free throws. Hence was 4-for-4 from the line, while Simmons hit a pair to keep the lead at three points. McCollum’s last-second triple was off the mark and the clock expired giving the Black Knights their second straight road win in Patriot League play.

The Black Knights are 2-1 in Patriot League games for the first time since 1993-94.

Army plays its second straight road game on Wednesday, Jan. 19 when it travels to American. The Black Knights will try to snap an 11-game skid at Bender Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Game Notes: Jason Pancoe returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the last five games … Pancoe started the first nine outings before suffering an injury that kept him out of three games … Army snapped a three-game losing streak versus Lehigh … Army has won 10 games in at least five straight seasons for the first time since 1963-73 … Jeremy Hence was 6-for-7 from the line … he entered the game shooting 55.6 percent for the season … Army made double-digit three-pointers for the 10th time this season.