Mountain Hawks basketball team looks to improve on 2020-21 campaign
BETHLEHEM, Penn. — The Lehigh University football team has been going through a dreadful season. It鈥檚 been so bad that the team didn鈥檛 score their first touchdown until the game seven loss against Fordham. While the football season will mercifully come to an end in the coming weeks, the Mountain Hawks take to the hardwood with hopes to improve from last season鈥檚 10th place finish in the Patriot League.
The Mountain Hawks enter the 2021-22 season under head coach Brett Reed, who is in his 15th season as head coach of Lehigh. He was an assistant for the Mountain Hawks from 2002 through 2007 and has a career record of 233-188. Reed led Lehigh to the NCAA Tournament in 2009-10, losing in the first round to Kansas, 90-74. Two seasons later, Lehigh won its biggest game under Reed and one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history by taking down Duke, 75-70. C.J. McCollum led the way and has since had an excellent career playing for the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA.
Lehigh enters this season coming of a COVID-19 shortened campaign in which they went 4-11 and only 4-10 in the conference. Marques Wilson led the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game. Nic Lynch was the only other player that averaged double digits in scoring, dropping 12.1 per contest. Evan Taylor led the Mountain Hawks with 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Mountain Hawks are now a veteran team that is returning its top five scorers. Wilson is a fifth-year senior. Lynch, a 6-foot-11 center, is a senior. Sophomore forward Dominic Parolin averaged 6.1 points per game last year and at 6-foot-8 looks to be more of a presence inside this season. Also returning is senior forward Jeameril Wilson, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds last season. Keep an eye on junior guard Reed Fenton. Although he averaged only 5.8 points on 30.2% from the floor, he hit 88.5% from the free throw line. With added experience, expect significantly better shooting from the floor and overall better contribution.
The Mountain Hawks did a nice job recruiting this past season. Freshman Keith Higgins, a 6-foot-4 guard, scored over 1,300 points in three seasons, averaging nearly 18 points per game. He was named first team All-Mission League last season and was ranked in the top 20 players in Southern California. A proven scorer of the basketball, Higgins set a school record with a 51-point performance last year.
Burker Chebuhar, a 6-foot-8 forward, was a 1,000-point scorer and four-year varsity player at The Walker School. He is the school鈥檚 all-time leading rebounder. Point guard Tyler Whitney-Sidney came in as a top 50 nationally ranked player at his position and number one point guard in Massachusetts by ESPN. Guard Ben Knostman averaged 14.1 points, 9.1 assists and 9.1 rebounds per game and was named first team All-Ohio as a senior.
Lehigh begins their schedule on Nov. 10 against Rutgers on the road. They have a top 25 game against Virginia on the road on Nov. 26 and face Syracuse on the road on Dec. 18. Their 13-game nonconference schedule concludes Dec. 29 with a game against Penn State-Lehigh Valley. Conference play begins New Year鈥檚 Day 2022 on the road against American University. Always hot tickets, the two games against rival Lafayette take place at home on Feb. 12 and on the road on Feb. 26 to conclude the regular season.
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