Dec. 30, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Lehigh grabbed the lone victory in the first two days of action after the Christmas break, as the Mountain Hawks improved to .500 on the season with an 89-78 win at Longwood on Monday. American, Holy Cross and Bucknell all fell on Monday, while Lafayette lost in overtime at Delaware on Tuesday.

The Leopards and Crusaders had very close defeats, with Lafayette dropping an 82-72 overtime decision at Delaware and Holy Cross losing by just two points, 70-68, at home against George Washington. Bucknell fell at home against Loyola (Md.), 55-49, while American lost at Florida, 76-60.

Lehigh (6-6) got back to the .500 mark with a strong offensive showing at Longwood, shooting 52.3 percent from the field in the game and 62.5 percent (20-of-32) in the second half to outscore Longwood, 53-41, after trailing by one point at halftime. Lehigh went down by seven points early in the second half and was still down five with 8:58 to play before going on a 24-8 run to turn the game around. Four players scored in double figures for the Mountain Hawks, with a career-high 21 points for Rob Keefer and C.J. McCollum also totaling 21. Michael Ojo scored 11 points and Zahir Carrington had his second straight double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, scoring his 1,000th career point on a dunk that capped the decisive run. Marquis Hall had seven points and tied a career high with 10 assists in the game, his fourth double-figure assist game this year.

Lafayette (7-6) appeared ready to join its local rival in the winner's circle when it held a 59-52 lead at Delaware with 2:17 to play, but the Blue Hens closed out regulation with a 9-2 run to send the contest to overtime on Tuesday. Delaware put together another run in overtime to take control, going on a 10-2 surge to go up by eight points with 59 seconds left and hold on for the 10-point win. Jared Mintz was the only Leopard player in double figures, as he scored 26 points while shooting 9-for-13 from the floor and 8-for-8 from the line. Lafayette saw its three-game win streak come to an end.

Holy Cross (2-10) had the most heartbreaking defeat of Monday's losing teams, as the Crusaders nearly fought all the way back against George Washington after trailing, 20-4, in the opening minutes. The deficit was still 14 at halftime, but Holy Cross continued to chip away. The Crusaders had one final chance after a pair of missed free throws by the Colonials in the final seconds, but Mike Cavataio just missed on a 30-foot shot at the buzzer. Three players scored in double digits for Holy Cross, with a season-high 20 for Devin Brown, 16 for R.J. Evans and 13 for Andrew Beinert.

Bucknell (4-9) dropped its sixth straight game, as the Bison shot just 33.3 percent in the 55-49 loss to Loyola (Md.). Bucknell trailed nearly from start to finish, but did cut the gap to 52-49 with 25 seconds left before Loyola (Md.) scored to seal the win. Mike Muscala led Bucknell with 10 points, while Patrick Behan had nine points and 10 rebounds.

American (2-11) fell behind by 21 points at halftime at Florida, but did outscore the Gators by five in the second half to end up with the 16-point defeat. Nick Hendra had his second career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Vlad Moldoveanu scored 14.

Six Patriot League teams still play one more game before the New Year, with five of those on Wednesday. Army puts its 9-2 mark on the line at SMU, while Bucknell (Marist) and Navy (Coppin State) are at home trying to end losing skids. Lehigh goes to Delaware State while Colgate visits New Hampshire to fill out the slate.

The Patriot League will provide a brief synopsis and links to school recaps and box scores on the men's basketball page every night during non-League play, and continue the expanded recaps once League action begins. School recap and box score links are also available on the men's basketball composite schedule, where any live stat, audio and video links are provided prior to each contest.

The scores from Monday and Tuesday are listed below, with the links on each school name going to the institution's recap and box score from the contest.

Monday

Lehigh 89 at Longwood 78
George Washington 70 at Holy Cross 68
Loyola (Md.) 55 at Bucknell 49
at Florida 76, American 60

Tuesday

at Delaware 82, Lafayette 72 (OT)