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Strong Second Half Leads Men's Hoops over Lehigh
63
Winner Canisius CAN 2-0
51
Lehigh LEHIGH 0-2
Winner
Canisius CAN
2-0
63
Final
51
Lehigh LEHIGH
0-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius CAN 24 39 63
Lehigh LEHIGH 26 25 51

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Canisius College Athletics

Strong Second Half Leads Men's Hoops over Lehigh

BETHLEHEM, PA - Canisius sophomore Zach Lewis scored a game-high 24 points and junior Jamal Reynolds added 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists as the Golden Griffins improved to 2-0 on the year with a 63-51 win over Lehigh Tuesday night in the Stabler Arena. With the win, Canisius moves to 2-0 for the second time in three years and for just the third time since 2000-01.

Lewis and Reynolds combined for 21 of the Griffs' 39 second-half points, as the Blue and Gold outscored the host Mountain Hawks 39-25 in the game's final 20 minutes. Lewis finished the night by going 8-for-20 from the field, 4-for-11 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Lewis' final 3-pointer came with 1:10 left on the clock with Canisius up three, to help seal the win for the Griffs, the team's 10th road victory since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.

For the second-straight game, Canisius used a pressing defense to force its opponents into a number of turnovers. Canisius was credited with 11 steals and forced 20 Lehigh turnovers in the win, while allowing the Mountain Hawks to shoot 32.7 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range.

"We made some adjustments at the half and we got some great energy off the bench tonight," Canisius head coach Jim Baron said. "This group has a lot of pride and they want to be coached. The stats go out the window. They're all okay with that. We came out angain and showed some more of that junkyard dog mentality. This is a great road win against a team that is really good on its home floor."

Junior Kevin Bleeker scored seven points and added five boards and a blocked shot to the Griffs' effort off the bench, while redshirt-freshman Jermaine Crumpton ended the night with six points, three boards and a steal. As a team, Canisius shot 32.2 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from long distance and 90.5 percent from the charity stripe. Reynolds went 6-fot-7 from the free-throw line on the night and the team made six-straight free-throws in the game's final 38 seconds to seal the victory.

Lehigh sophomore Tim Kempton had 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss for Lehigh, which fell to 0-2 on the season. Brandon Alston had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench for Lehigh as well.

Canisius will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 22, when the team travels to Olean, N.Y., to meet long-time rival St. Bonaventure. The 163rd meeting between the two programs is set to tipoff at 4 p.m., in the Reilly Center.

Game Notes: Canisius improved to 2-0 all-time against Lehigh, with the previous win coming Dec. 7, 1990 in the Pepsi Classic in Poughkeepsie, N.Y... The loss snapped Lehigh's eight-game home-opener win streak... Lewis has now scored in double figures in 15 career games and he's been good for 20 or more points three times... Senior Josiah Heath played in his 100th career game as a Griff... Freshman Jan Grzelinski was good for a team-high four assists... Freshman Cassidy Ryan played in his first career game and grabbed his first career rebound.
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