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Sunday, February 04, 2007
Lehigh-American notebook
Notes and observations from Lehigh's 56-54 win at American Saturday.

  • For the first time this season, Kyle Neptune did not start for Lehigh. In his place, sophomore Matt Szalachowski, who made his first start of the season, second of his career. Neptune checked in at the 17:30 mark. Lehigh coach Billy Taylor termed it a coaches decision saying it was not disciplinary in nature. Taylor said the move was an effort to give the Mountain Hawks more energy off the bench.

  • Sekou Lewis drew his third straight start for AU. Lewis has gone from not playing in 10 of American's first 16 games to the starting lineup. He has played more minutes in each of two of American's last three games than he played total the first 16 games (15 minutes). Linas Lekavicius also returned to the AU starting five after starting the last three games on the bench. It was the eighth different starting lineup AU coach Jeff Jones has tried this season. In all, 10 of the 14 guys on AU's roster have made at least one start.

    The lineup tinkering will likely continue, Jones said. Nobody has emerged all seasonto stake an outright claim on the four spot, so it will be filled game-by-game with the decision on who starts determined by matchups and what Jones sees in practice.

  • Through the first nine minutes of the game, the two teams combined for an Army-Colgate-like five field goals and 11 turnovers. Keeping with that Army-Colgate theme, American scored 2 points in the first 6:29 of the game. At the 11 minute mark of the first half, Lehigh was 2 for 9 from the field (with 4 turnovers), American 3 for 10 (with 7). Both also had more personal fouls (4 for Lehigh, 5 for AU) than field goals at that point.

  • By the next timeout, with 7:53 to go in the half, it got even worse. At that point, AU was shooting 25 percent (3 of 12) with 10 turnovers. Lehigh was 3 for 13 (23.1 percent) with 5 turnovers. Adding to the ugliness, Lehigh came out of the timeout and missed two layups on its next possession.

  • AU actually heated up late in the half, improving to 9 of 21 (42.9 percent) from the field at the intermission. They still had more turnovers (12) than field goals, though. Lehigh stayed icy, finishing the half 7 of 26 from the field (26.9 percent). The Mountain Hawks still managed to eke out a 24-22 halftime lead, thanks to 9 of 12 shooting at the foul line. Lehigh finished the half plus-2 in field goals to turnovers ratio (7-5), but combined the two teams were minus-1 (16-17).

  • NOTABLE FIRST HALF BOX SCORE LINES:
    Lehigh: Zahir Carrington -- 0 for 3 from the field, 0 everything else in 4 minutes; John Gourlay -- 0 for 2 from the field, 2 fouls, 7 minutes
    American: Sekou Lewis -- 0 for 1, 2 fouls, 1 turnover in 5 minutes; Linas Lekavicius, 2 fouls, 1 assist, 1 turnover in 6 minutes; Garrison Carr -- 0 for 1, the rest zeroes in 4 minutes

  • Dubious stat of the half: Derrick Mercer -- all 5-8 of him --had the only two blocked shots in the first half.

  • Lehigh's shooting woes continued in the second half. The Hawks had just two field goals in the first 9 minutes of the half, going 2 for 7 (28.6 percent) in that stretch. AU, on the other hand, went 8 for 14 (57.1 percent) in that stretch. Only Lehigh's 4 for 4 free throw shooting in that stretch kept the Jawks from trailing by more than the 38-32 hole it found itself in at the 11 minute mark.

  • Adding to Lehigh's woes, Jose Olivero, who had one foul at the half, picked up three in the first 9:13 of the second, forcing coach Billy Taylor to sit his leading scorer with 10:43 to go in the game. At that point, Olivero had more fouls (4) than field goals (3 -- on 9 shots).

  • Lehigh actually played better offense without Olivero than it did with him. When Olivero sat down the Hawks were shooting under 30 percent from the field. By the time he returned they had turned a 6-point deficit into a 5 point lead and had their second-half field goal percentage above 50 percent.

  • Both teams were much better offensiveloy the second half. Lehigh was 8 for 17 (47.1 percent) from the field after the break with just four second half turnovers. AU hit 60 percent (15 of 25) from the field the second half with 4 turnovers.

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    • Published at 7:52 AM by Hoop Time.
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