Saturday, December 5
Stabler Arena
2:00 pm
Lehigh University
1-7
84
vs
50
Rochester College
8-0
1
2
F
Rochester College
26
24
50
Lehigh
43
41
84
Kempton scores 1,000th point as Lehigh cruises past Rochester College, 84-50
12/5/2015 5:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Junior Tim Kempton enjoyed a strong all-around game with 16 points and 14 rebounds, eclipsing 1,000 career points in the process as the Lehigh men's basketball team topped Rochester College, 84-50 on Saturday afternoon in Stabler Arena. The win marked the Mountain Hawks' first of the season, doing so in convincing fashion. Freshman Kyle Leufroy scored a team-high 17 points to pace the offense.
Kempton's stat line came in just 21 minutes as nine Lehigh players logged 16 minutes or more, and nine of the 10 Mountain Hawks scored at least four points. Kempton finished 6-of-9 from the field while his 14 rebounds were just one shy of tying a career high. His layup with 17:34 left in the second half gave him six for the game and 1,000 for his career.
"It's very apparent for a player to score his 1,000th point so early in his junior season that he's had a major impact on this program," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "He's been able to score at a reliable rate and I'm proud of him for that personal accomplishment. However, I'm equally as proud and want to make sure we identify that energy and spirited plays such as his rebounding numbers, and his impact in the realm of leadership and energy, are so critical for our program and our team moving forward. It's very apparent that when he plays with that type of intensity, we're a totally different team."
Kempton became the 33rd player in school history and 105th in Lehigh history to reach the 1,000-point milestone, becoming the first Mountain Hawk to do so since Mackey McKnight in November of 2013. Kempton is the first non-senior to reach the plateau since Gabe Knutson in February of 2012, late his junior season.
Leufroy was red-hot offensively on Saturday, tallying his 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting while tying a career-high six rebounds. Senior Austin Price added 15 points, two assists, two blocks and four steals while sophomore Kahron Ross just missed a double-double, posting 10 points and nine assists. Senior Justin Goldsborough had eight points and six rebounds while sophomores Tyler Jenkins and Jay Jay Davis had five points apiece, marking the first-career points for Davis.
The teams went back and forth in the opening minutes as the teams stood tied at eight, 11 and 13. Then, the Mountain Hawks began creating distance, staging a 16-2 run which began with a pair of Jesse Chuku free throws. The run included a Price three-pointer, a Goldsborough dunk off a nifty feed from Ross and a Devon Carter layup on the fast break. Eventually, a Leufroy layup and Chuku free throw closed the run, making it 29-15 with 7:12 left in the first half.
The Mountain Hawk lead reached 17 behind strong offensive play from Leufroy as the freshman knocked down a pair of three-pointers and converted a driving layup to make it 40-23 with 2:47 on the first-half clock. Those eight points came in the span of 2:23. Ross hit a three-pointer with 28 seconds on the clock to give the Mountain Hawks a 43-26 halftime advantage.
Lehigh quickly extended its lead to 25 early in the second half before even reaching the first media timeout. Kempton's 1,000th point came on a three-point play which gave the Mountain Hawks a 51-28 advantage, and another Kempton layup just over one minute later made it 53-28.
From there, the Mountain Hawks slowly increased their lead as an 8-0 turned a 59-35 advantage into their first 30-point lead of the afternoon as a Leufroy fast-break layup made it 67-35 with 10:01 remaining.
Lehigh's lead reached 34 after a Leufroy trey made it 73-39 with 6:38 on the clock. Rochester College pulled as close as 30, but a Davis three-pointer made it 84-50 with 1:26 remaining, which proved to be the final.
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 51 percent from the field (30-of-59) and 36 percent from three-point range (8-of-22). The Warriors shot 32 percent (21-of-65) and 25 percent from long distance (5-of-20). Lehigh dominated the glass, 48-26.
The Mountain Hawks will now enjoy a 12-day break of games for final exams before returning to action on Thursday, Dec. 17 at Robert Morris.
"This is a very critical time academically," said Reed. "Our players are going to be stretched with exams, with papers and much of their focus and attention will turn to a high level of performance in the classroom. We also need to continue to grow as a basketball program. We have ample days off. We strategically placed practices within those gaps of time. It can serve as a positive stress reliever and it can also help them grow individually. But our goal has to be to take steps forward through the exam period and come out a better team than we went in, while still maintaining excellence in the classroom."
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Team Stats
ROCH
LEHIGH
FG%
.323
.508
3FG%
.250
.364
FT%
.429
.762
RB
26
48
TO
13
15
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
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