Of all the days to be at an Ivy League basketball game, and I pick the wrong one.Yes, I really would have liked to have traveled up to Boston to see Harvard pull off a historic 82-70 pummeling of Boston College (yes, that isn't a typo). Instead, I packed up the family thinking of another team with a great shot at a road win - my Mountain Hawks, of course.
I've been outside Jadwin Gym before, but I've never been in the modern, yet intimate, setting for college basketball. My wife, my five year old son and I got there late and had dinner at the "bistro" area - a cordoned area where you can eat your food and still catch the game action while you eat - a really nice touch.
Unfortunately Lehigh fell behind right at the end of the first half and never got closer to four points the rest of the way in a 73-64 defeat, breaking a five game Lehigh win streak.
The win for Princeton was as ugly as the Harvard win was beautiful. The Tigers won by hitting their shots (to the tune of 47% for the game) and fouling - early and often. Lehigh went to the free-throw line an amazing 41 times - and only canned 27 of the free points. I don't think there's anything more frustrating than seeing free points clang away off the iron - fourteen times.
Junior F Zahir Carrington had 20 points and 11 boards on the night - but went 6 for 16 shooting underneath the boards. Junior G Marquis Hall simply had a rough night, scoring 11 points but went a dismal 3 for 13. Two of his connects were three pointers.
I won't lie; I was disappointed. But despite the loss in a place where Lehigh hasn't won since 1930, I did see that this Lehigh team is different than an awful lot of the Lehigh basketball teams I've seen over the years. Better than the Austen Rowland team for sure - if they play up to their potential.
Maybe this team needed to get this bad game out of their system before hitting the really big games coming up - like the one against American this Saturday at 2PM. Here's hoping this is the case.
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