“Lehigh falls to American in last-second buzzer-beater”.

WASHINGTON – Sr Tyler Whitney Sidney and in the second year Nasir Whitlock Both scored 19 points to lead an undermanned Lehigh men’s basketball team on the road at American University on Wednesday night, but a last-second shot from Australia’s Lincoln Ball gave the Eagles a 68-67 victory.

“Incredibly disappointing,” said head coach Brett Reed. “Our kids fought, battled, competed and had great energy. But you can’t allow all those points when you’re up, and you can’t give away points at the finish line.”

Wednesday night’s contest was the first meeting of the season between Lehigh (6-12, 1-6 PL) and American (11-9, 5-2 PL). The Mountain Hawks entered the night having lost their last five games, while the Eagles were riding a three-game winning streak.

Lehigh’s offense took a minute to get going in the first half and scored just six points in the first nine minutes of the game. The slow start allowed the Americans to hold the lead for most of the first half, eventually taking their largest lead of the game at 27-15 with 5:21 to go. However, the Mountain Hawks began a comeback, starting with a Whitney-Sidney-and-one. Then Whitlock really got going, scoring 10 points in just two minutes, capping a 14-0 run that gave Lehigh a 29-27 lead with less than three minutes to play. The Eagles responded with five unanswered plays in the closing moments of the first to take a 32-29 lead into halftime.

The Americans extended their lead and opened the second half with quick baskets from Greg Jones and Ball. Trailing by six, Lehigh’s offense began to take effect and continued to expand the Eagles’ lead. A Nasir Whitlock The three-pointer gave the Mountain Hawks their first lead of the second half with 15:24 left. After a Matt Rogers free throw briefly restored the lead in AU’s favor, Lehigh took the lead again thanks to a 71.4% three-point rate in the first 12 minutes of the half. The Mountain Hawks continued to build their lead, eventually gaining their largest lead at 61-54 with 2:46 left.

AU’s Matt Mayock cut the deficit to two points after draining a three-pointer at 1:59, but a Whitlock jumper at the other end put Lehigh back in the lead by four points. Then the Eagles started fouling and putting Joshua IngramWhitney-Sidney, freshman Hank Alvey and Whitlock on the phone. The Mountain Hawks went 4-8 from the line in the period, keeping AU’s chances alive. After another Mayock three brought the Eagles within one point, AU finished successfully Cam Gillus from the inbounds, which resulted in the home team holding the ball and the ball with 6.1 seconds left. In the final seconds, Rogers found an open ball for a floater that fell through the net as time expired, giving American an improbable walk-off win.

Lehigh’s offense was very efficient on the night, shooting 51.1% (24-57) from the floor and 56.3% (9-16) from three-point range. The Americans reported percentages of 45.7% (21-46) from the floor and 35/0% (7-20) from downtown. The Eagles’ efficiency at the line helped them tremendously, as they shot 79.2% (19-24) and Lehigh shot 58.8% (10-17). The Eagles won the battle at the boards by a narrow margin of 27:26.

Both Whitney-Sidney and Whitlock were great for the Mountain Hawks, scoring a game-high 19 points each. Whitney-Sidney shot 6-10 from the field with four rebounds, two assists and two made three-pointers. Whitlock shot 7-9 and hit four triples, a career-best.

“Both (Tyler and Nasir) played really well at the end,” Reed said. “They helped us a lot to get us scoring. Nas came in, was super efficient and played very, very well. It’s also nice to see our senior (Tyler) being able to go the extra mile on the road and provide a boost for us as well.

In his first career start, in his first year Edouard Benoit scored nine points, four rebounds and one assist. Alvey scored seven points, a game-high seven rebounds and three assists.

Jones led the Eagles offensively on the night with 14 points. He was joined in double figures by Eric Michaels (13p) and Rogers (12p).

Lehigh returns home to Stabler Arena on Saturday, Jan. 25, to host Lafayette College in the season’s first episode of “The Rivalry,” presented by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute. The game begins at 7 p.m. and follows the Lehigh women’s basketball matchup against the Leopards at 4:30 p.m

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