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Monday, February 19, 2007
Lehigh suffers from 'Pards senior moment
An ugly start to Lafayette's senior day festivities was long forgotten after one of the Leopards' three seniors hit two foul shots to seal a win over Lehigh.


Jamaal Hilliard will never forget the last two shots he took in Kirby Sports Center. Neither will his Lafayette teammates.

Hilliard, who spent much of his career in Kirby sitting in street clothes due to injuries, hit a pair of free throws with 2 seconds left in the second overtime Sunday to seal the Leopards 75-71 double OT upset of archrival Lehigh (11-16 overall, 7-5 Patriot).

It was a senior night dream ending to a game that got off to a nightmarish start for Lafayette (9-18, 3-9). Missing their first 15 shots from the field, the Leopards went the first 8:51 of the game without scoring, falling into an early 11-0 hole.

Fortunately for Lafayette, Lehigh was not exactly shooting the lights out, either. After that 11-0 spurt in the first 5:25, the Mountain Hawks went the next 6:21 without scoring.

That slowdown allowed Lafayette to climb back into the game. After cutting the deficit to 11-3 with foul shots, the Leopards scored their first field goal with 8:45 to go in the first half. That bucket, a layup by Andrew Brown, pulled the 'Pards within two possessions at 11-5.

It was 24-23 Lehigh at the half, 52-52 after Jose Olivero hit a jumpere to tie it with 13 seconds to go in regulation.

After Matt Betley tied it at 62-62 with 24 seconds to go in the first OT, Lehigh played for one shot, giving Lehigh a chance play for the last shot and a win. Jose Olivero's jumper rimmed out, sending the game to a second OT.

While Hilliard's free throws will be what most fans remember, it was his defense on Olivero that helped make the upset possible. Lehigh's leading scorer finished with 15 points when he fouled out in the second OT. But he had to work hard for those points. Olivero was 3 for 17 from the field, 1 for 9 from three-point range.

Olivero was one of four Lehigh players to foul out, a process that sent Lafayette to the line 37 times, where they knocked down 30. That enabled the Leopards to overcome Lehigh's five field goal advantage.

Marquis Hall had a game-high 22 points for the Mountain Hawks, who were 24 for 69 (34.8 percent) from the field, 6 of 23 from the arc. Lehigh went 17 for 22 at the charity stripe. Lehigh held a 50-42 edge on the boards, but was whistled for 29 fouls to 19 called on Lafayette.

Olivero's foul problems limited him to 32 minutes of action. Kyle Neptune played 29 minutes before he fouled out with 11 points. Phil Anderson (23 min.) and Zahir Carrington (24 min.) also fouled out for Lehigh and Bryan White finished with four personals.

Ted Detmer had four fouls for Lafayette. Nobody else had more than three.

Brown and Bilal Abdullah each had 14 points for Lafayette. Brown dished out 6 assists. Betley posted 13 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

Jason Mgebroff played 13 minutes for Lehigh in his second game back after sitting since December with stress fracture in his leg. Mgebroff had 2 points and 0 rebounds.

Lehigh, which has already clinched the No. 3 seed for the postseason, hosts bucknell Wednesday and Holy Cross Sunday to close out the regular season. Lafayette, which is at Army on Wednesday and at American Friday, can still finish as high as tied for fourth in the regular season. Under any fourth-place tie scenarios, the best seeding Lafayette can hope for following the tiebreakers would be fifth.
Box score | Watch the 2nd OT | Express-Times | Morning Call (gamer) | Morning Call (column)

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Published at 7:03 AM by Hoop Time.
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