Feb. 19, 2006
Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette men's hoops headed back to Easton, Pa. with an 82-64 loss at the hands of arch rival Lehigh on Sunday afternoon at Stabler Arena.
With the loss, Lafayette dropped to 10-15 overall and 4-8 in Patriot League action. Lehigh improved to 18-9 and 11-1 in the conference.
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a commanding 30-8 lead midway through the first. However, the Leopards responded by scoring 13 of the next 18 points over the ensuing four minutes, trimming the deficit to 35-21 at the 5:25 mark. Sophomore guard Matt Betley capped the spurt with a pair of his six points in the half. Lehigh entered the break holding a 44-28 advantage.
Lehigh senior guard Joe Knight stung the Leopards early in the second, surrounding a layin with a pair of triples to score the opening eight points of the half. Senior guard Pat Betley sandwiched another Knight three with a couple of his own, making it 55-34 Lehigh with 17 minutes remaining.
Unfortunately, Lafayette was unable to stop a red hot Lehigh offense as the Mountain Hawks led by as many as 27 with 10:34 on the clock. A Bilal Abdullah free throw cut the lead to 15, 75-60, at the 2:21 mark, but the Leopards would get no closer.
Lafayette shot 39 percent (22-of-56) from the field, while Lehigh hit for 57 percent (30-of-53) on the other end. The Mountain Hawks matched a season-high 11 threes in the game, led by Knight with five.
For the eighth straight game, senior forward Andrei Capusan (13 points) led the Leopards in the scoring column. The co-captain went 7-for-7 from the stripe. Matt Betley and sophomore guard Paul Cummins followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Betley tied junior Jamaal Hilliard with five boards.
Freshman Andrew Brown tied a career-high six assists to go with his eight points.
Knight led all scorers with a 21-point effort, while Jose Olivero, the Patriot League's leading scorer, finished with 16. Kyle Neptune added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds. The Mountain Hawks edged Lafayette 33-29 off the glass.
Lafayette closes out the regular season with a pair of home contests, beginning with a Wednesday night showdown with Army at 7 p.m.
Notes:
-Lehigh swept the season series for the first time since 2001. The two teams have split the last eight meetings, but Lafayette owns a 134-70 all-time mark vs. the Mountain Hawks/Engineers.
-In two games vs. the Leopards, the Lehigh offense has been hot. Lehigh, which is shooting 42 percent from the field for the season, shot 57 percent on Sunday which followed up a 66 percent effort against Lafayette on Jan. 21 at Kirby Sports Center.
-Both teams finished with seven steals. Andrew Brown and Matt Betley each collected a pair.
-Still a bit injury-ridden, Ted Detmer (ankle) and Jamaal Hilliard (finger) saw 13 and 27 minutes of action, respectively.
