Lehigh Completes Comeback, Defeats Boston University in Patriot League Tournament
By Zachary McMahon –
The No. 2-ranked Boston University Terriers hosted the No. 6-ranked Lehigh Mountain Hawks in the men’s Patriot League Semifinal basketball tournament at The Roof on the campus of BU in Boston on Sunday. BU won against Navy on Thursday in the quarterfinal by the score of 70-62. Meanwhile, Lehigh upset No. 3 Lafayette in Easton, PA by the score of 76-61.
BU swept the regular season series by winning both the home and away games, but that did not come without a fight as BU won by a combined three points in both matchups, and the teams won by three points or less in each of the last four matchups (BU is 3-1 in that stretch). Also, BU had won six out of the last seven matchups against Lehigh. BU came into the matchup 2-1 against the Mountain Hawks all-time in the Patriot League tournament.
BU also came into the tournament on a six-game winning streak, which was the first time since 2011 that they came into the semifinals on a 6+ game winning streak, when they were in the America East Tournament which they ended up winning the conference tournament, and going into the March Madness tournament.
In the first half, the Terriers dominated the Mountain Hawks, as they would lead by as much as 21 points until Cam Gillus of Lehigh made a three-pointer towards the end of the half.
Lehigh started the second half with a 27-8 run for the first 13 minutes of the half, and they took the lead 55-54 when Keith Higgins Jr. made a jumpshot. This was their first lead of the game.
Later in the half, Lehigh would jump out to a six point lead until the Terriers scored seven unanswered points in one minute, capped off by a three-pointer by Anthony Morales.
The game would go into overtime after Miles Brewster missed his second free throw after making his first, which tied the game at 70.
The Mountain Hawks lead all throughout the overtime period, as they would again have a six-point lead, and then they would end up winning the game by five points with a 84-79 score to eliminate the BU Terriers.
Gillus lead all scorers with 30 points for the Mountain Hawks, followed by Morales’s career-high 27 points off the bench for the Terriers. Kyrone Alexander led the BU starters with 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
The Mountain Hawks will be traveling to Hamliton, NY to face off against No.1 Colgate University for the Patriot League Championship as they attempt to pull off a third straight upset in the tournament. The game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
