Late-game comeback lifts Lions over Lehigh

Despite a pesky Lehigh team that hung with Columbia for most of the game, Pat Foley’s scoring spree midway through the second half put the Lions ahead for good and led them to a 75-70 victory Thursday night at Levien Gymnasium.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Light Blue and avenged its 73-59 loss last year to the Mountain Hawks.

“We were really disappointed after Sacred Heart because we just had two or three big lapses in the game and didn’t make plays down the stretch,” Foley said. “That was something we were really focusing on for this game and we did a good job of executing and getting big rebounds.”

Foley functioned mainly as a distributor in the first half, dishing out five assists. Then, with his team down 40-39 with 15:44 to play, he came alive offensively.

“I saw some lanes in the secondary break,” he said. “A few guys weren’t getting back as quickly and they bumbled some matchups so I tried to take advantage of some openings I saw.”

First he navigated through a sea of defenders to hit a jumper in the lane and give the Lions the lead. Then, after Brian Grimes made one of two free throws, he blocked Marquis Hall’s 3-point attempt and sank a three on the other end to give the Light Blue a five-point advantage. Though Lehigh responded with four points, Foley, who had 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second period, scored four more on his own. Foley’s scoring output matched his career high, which he set against Brown last season.

The Mountain Hawks did manage to tie the score at 53 with 8:51 to play, but Niko Scott then hit his second 3-pointer of the game to take back the lead.
Scott has struggled on offense early this season, but he provided the scoring boost Jones has been looking for with 14 points despite a foul-shortened first half.

“It’s all about getting in a rhythm as a shooter especially,” Scott said. “That’s what happened tonight.”

Lehigh continued to battle back and for the rest of the game the Lions would build five-to-eight-point leads only to see Lehigh narrow the gap.
“It always seems to happen to us,” coach Joe Jones said.

When John Daniels took a pass from Brian Grimes to extend the lead to 63-56 with just over five minutes left, it seemed as if the game might be in hand, but then a four-point play from Hall brought the Mud Hens back within three.

“We have to make some more plays defensively down the stretch,” Foley said. “We didn’t focus as much and we need to work on it. They hit some big shots.”

The Mountain Hawks got as close as four with 21.6 seconds to play thanks to a 3-pointer by Hall, but they were never able to rally all the way back.
“It was more annoying than anything,” Foley said.

Though the Lions controlled most of the second half, the first half was another story.

The Light Blue got off to a torrid start from the field, making five of its first six shots en route to an 11-4 lead.

Yet the momentum would quickly shift as the Mountain Hawks dissected the Lions’ defense, registering assists on five of their first eight shots. Five different players scored during a 16-3 run, which gave Lehigh a 20-14 lead.

“Early in the first half we didn’t defend well,” Jones said. “We weren’t locked in. Once we went to the bench we played better defensively.”
Noruwa Agho, who had a quiet night overall, stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer at the 11:13 mark. After that shot, the game slowed down and turned into a seesaw battle for the rest of the half.

Neither team took a lead larger than five, as both struggled to hold on to the ball, turning it over 18 times combined in the first period. Ultimately, Lehigh held the halftime lead at 33-31.

The Lions’ deficit might have been much larger if not for Grimes, who made six of their 11 field goals in the half. He also equaled his scoring output of the three previous games combined with 19 tonight, a new career high.

As the career highs for Foley and Grimes might indicate, Columbia had arguably its best offensive game of the season, shooting 50.9 percent and scoring a season-high 75 points.

“Tonight we played at a quicker tempo and we need to continue to play at that tempo,” Jones said. “If we can score in the 70s we’re a much better team because that means we’re defending well, too, and pushing the ball up the floor.”

The Light Blue will look to continue playing well when it travels to Stony Brook (5-2) on Saturday.

In their most recent matchup, the Seawolves lost to St. John’s on Wednesday, 63-55. Sophomore guard Bryan Dougher led Stony Brook with 13 points and three steals. Dougher is second on the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game—behind senior guard Muhammad El-Amin’s 13.5 points per game—but he is only shooting 34.1 percent from the field.

Sophomore forward Tommy Brenton has been dominating the boards for the Seawolves, averaging 10.3 rebounds per contest. Brenton pulled down 12 rebounds against St. John’s.

Before falling to the Red Storm, Stony Brook defeated Lehigh 71-52. Dougher led the team in scoring in that game, too, posting 18 points.
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in Stony Brook, N.Y.