Lehigh Pulls Away From Men’s Basketball

Wednesday, January 26

Bethlehem, PA

7:00 PM

Army West Point

12-9,6-3Patriot

Lehigh University

8-13,6-3Patriot

Army West Point

Lehigh

Lehigh Pulls Away From Men’s Basketball

January 26, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Game 21
SCORE	Lehigh Mountain Hawks 84, Army Black Knights 71
RECORDS	Lehigh (8-14, 6-3 Patriot) \| Army (12-9, 6-3 Patriot)
LEADING SCORERS	Lehigh – Tyler Whitney-Sidney (19) \| Army – Jalen Rucker (18)
LOCATION	Stabler Hall

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Jalen Rucker scored a team-high 18 points as the Army Black Knights dropped a road contest to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, 84-71, on Wednesday night to split the regular-season series.

GAME SUMMARY
The Black Knights, who entered the game on a three-game win streak in the series for their longest since 1999, led 44-42 with 14 minutes remaining. However, Lehigh outscored Army 42-27 to close out the game.

The Mountain Hawks jumped out a 12-4 lead before the duo of Chris Mann and Aaron Duhart ignited the Black Knights offense. A 7-0 run by Army gave the Black Knights a 16-14 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half; the tandem of Mann and Duhart combined to score 14 of Army's 16 points.

Four lead changes followed over the next four minutes with the Black Knights eventually building a 25-21 lead at the five-minute mark in the first period. Lehigh answered with an 8-0 run to regain the lead as the Mountain Hawks closed the half on a 12-5 run for a 33-30 lead at the break.

Trailing 40-36 with 17 minutes left, the Black Knights used an 8-2 run with Jalen Rucker and Josh Caldwell combining for six points and a layup by Matt Dove to take a 44-42 lead with 14 minutes remaining.

However, the Mountain Hawks outscored the Black Knights 11-2 including going 3-for-3 from the 3-point line in two minutes for a 53-46 lead. A 3-point play by Isaiah Caldwell cut the lead to 53-49, but Lehigh connected on back-to-back 3-pointers as part of its 14 3-pointers in the game.

Army had a chance to get back into the game after a basket by Jalen Rucker cut the deficit to 57-66 with 8:23 left followed by consecutive turnovers by the Mountain Hawks, but Army came away with two empty trips as Lehigh increased its lead to double digits with a layup at the 6:38 mark and kept a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

CADETS CAPSULES

Jalen Rucker scored a team-high 18 points to be in double figures for the fifth straight game.
Chris Mann netted 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting for his fourth straight game in double figures. He added three assists which were tied for a team-high.
Josh Caldwell scored 15 points and grabbed three rebounds. He had two steals to move into a tie for third place on the all-time steals list and

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Army made 18 free throws for the second straight meeting with Lehigh which are the second-most this season.
The Black Knights outscored the Mountain Hawks in points off turnovers (11-9), points in the paint (40-32), and fast-break points (17-11).

COACH'S CORNER
"We were outcoached (and) we didn't adjust to things quickly enough. We were out-toughed as they beat us to every loose ball. We had six or seven chances to take charge of the game and we didn't, and that is on me. You have to take charges, win 50-50 balls, and make free throws to win conference road games." – Jimmy Allen

UP NEXT

Army returns home on Saturday, January 29 at 1 p.m. against Lafayette.
Coverage will be provided by ESPN+ and by the Army Sports Network via the Varsity Sports Network and www.GoArmyWestPoint.com.
For ticket information, call 1-877-TIX-ARMY or visit www.goarmywestpoint.com/tickets.

For complete coverage of Army West Point men's basketball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter, Instagram, and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.