Rutgers University
Lehigh
Scarlet Knights Fall to Lehigh, 76-71
Nov 26 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Sophomore guard Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) was one of three Scarlet Knights players to score in double figures, finishing with 15 points, but it was not enough, as Rutgers (3-2) dropped a 76-71 decision to Lehigh (4-1) Wednesday evening at the RAC.
“Corey gave us great minutes tonight,” said head coach Fred Hill. “I thought Corey did an outstanding job tonight. We are asking him to play some point, which is new to him. We are putting him in a new situation. He understands the situation and he has responded outstanding and he gives us great life off the bench.”
The Scarlet Knights trailed for the entire first half and most of the second half, but they fought back thanks to a Chandler layup followed by a three pointer as Rutgers took its first lead of the game with 7:31 to go. As the two teams battled back and forth, it was the Scarlet Knights who looked like they were getting ready to pull ahead for good. Freshman Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela), who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, put back a missed Chandler layup as Rutgers found itself up one with 2:02 remaining.
But the Scarlet Knights defense, which has been solid all year and held the Mountain Hawks to 32 percent shooting in the second half after 47 percent in the first half, was unable to get some late critical stops, as Lehigh went on a 6-0 run to put the game away.
“We answered at the offensive end, but we didn’t answer on the defensive end,” Hill said. “Those are the things we talk about with our team when you have an opportunity to make a big stop and a big play, you’ve got to step up and you’ve got to do it. And that was the moment.”
The Rutgers defense also held Lehigh to 23 percent (5-for-22) from behind the arc, but the Scarlet Knights also struggled from the outside, shooting 28 percent (6-for-21) from three. Freshman Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.), who has lit up the stat sheet all season long thus far, finished with 14 points while shooting 4-for-20 from the field.
Lehigh was led by junior Marquis Hall, who had a game-high 28 points while grabbing 15 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Three other Mountain Hawks joined him in scoring double figures.
The Scarlet Knights return to the hardwood to face St. Peter’s in a 2:00 p.m. tip-off at the RAC this Sunday.
GAME NOTES
Rutgers dropped to 3-2 on the season with a 76-71 loss to Lehigh (4-1).
Tonight’s game marked the 104th all-time meeting between the two schools.
Rutgers grabbed its first lead of the night (59-57) at the 7:31 mark in the second half on a Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) three-pointer. Chandler led Rutgers with a season-high 15 points, including 13 in the second half.
Three Scarlet Knights finished with double figures in scoring for the third time this season. Chandler led the squad with 15 points while freshman Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) added 14 points and freshman Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) chipped in with 10.
Senior J.R. Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) scored seven points to move into 42nd place in career scoring at Rutgers with 932 points.
Echenique posted the first two steals of his career.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Coach Fred Hill:
On getting off to a slow start…
“I’d love to get off to a better start. I don’t know what to attribute starting slow to. I thought tonight it wasn’t the energy. We had energy. I thought our defense wasn’t up to par tonight. We have to evaluate every single thing. Certainly, our guys battle, which is one thing you love to have. I would like to be battling from ahead rather than battle back into the game.”
On coming back after facing a deficit for most of the game…
“We had an opportunity. We forced them to miss a shot and on one possession, they got three offensive rebounds and put a layup in to go back ahead of us. Those are the things we talk about with our team. When you have an opportunity to make a big stop and a big play, you’ve got to step up and you’ve got to do it. And that was the moment. We stopped them initially on the defensive end. We answered at the offensive end, but we didn’t answer on the defensive end.”
On Corey Chandler…
“Corey gave us great minutes tonight. I thought Corey did an outstanding job tonight. We are asking him to play some point, which is new to him. We are putting him in a new situation. He understands the situation and he has responded outstanding and he gives us great life off the bench. He can score and on the defensive end, he gives us great energy and he did a great job.”
On free throw shooting…
“You can’t shoot 41 percent from the free throw line in the first half and put yourself in the situation we were in. We have been inconsistent from the line. We have had games where we shot in the high 60s, in the 80s and in the 50s. Tonight, 65 percent is pretty good, but you can’t be inconsistent like that.”
Lehigh Head Coach Brett Reed
Opening Statement:
“This was a wonderful win for our team and our program. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Rutgers, the way they are developing their program and the progress they have made over recent years. For us, it was a team effort, first and foremost. To be able to track down loose balls and play with the effort, energy and intensity that we needed to play particularly on the defensive end, it was a team effort. We had some sensational performances individually from Marquis Hall and some of our other players. Some of the little things that aren’t in a stat sheet but show up big for our team such as rebounds and defensive stops (were huge).
Rebounding War:
“We put a tremendous emphasis on rebounding all throughout the preseason. It was an area of weakness this last year. As this team as continued to mature, that’s an area we knew we needed to place emphasis on and where we knew we needed to get to point where we could capitalize some of our defensive intensity. With the size differential that Rutgers had against us, we knew that not only would it be an absolute battle and war as far as positioning and creating space for rebounding but we also understood it would also be a lot of long rebounds and long balls, 50-50 balls with either team getting them. Rebounding was really critical for us and protecting the interior of our defense was critical, as well”
Putting Win In Perspective:
“I think it’s an important win in that it is a high-quality opponent. Our players come to our program with the thoughts of hopefully winning Patriot League Championships and having the chance to compete against some of the best completion that we can face throughout the country. A game like this, we have to keep it in perspective as well. That’s my job as the coach, more than them as a player, in that it is just one win. Now, if we can take some of the things that we learned and did effectively in this game and carry on for future games now we have the formula to continue to have success. If we just relax on this and don’t understand everything that went into it, all the teamwork, all the effort, all the sacrifice then we really missed the boat and it is no more than just a win on the schedule against an opponent.”
