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Thursday, March 01, 2007
Late bucket gives Army win
Interpret that headline how you please. To Lehigh fans and officials and the media covering the game, Josh Miller's game-winner came after the buzzer. Officially, it came late in the game. Either way, it gave Army a 47-46 upset win over the hard-luck Mountain Hawks.

Be clear about one thing: Lehigh didn't deserve to win. Not after shooting 29.1 percent from the field (16 of 55). Not after going 1 for 12 from the three-point arc and 13 for 21 from the free throw line. Even a slight improvement from horrid to mediocre would have given the Hawks the extra two points it needed to advance to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.

Lehigh's best player, first team all-league pick Jose Olivero, was 2 for 13 from the field, and missed 4 of his 11 free throws.

But if the reports from media at the game are accurate, and the three guys whose stories are linked below are all top-notch, sixth-seeded Army didn't deserve to win, either. Reports indicate the PL All-Access video of the game clearly showed Miller's runner was still in his hands when the red lights in the backboard came on.

The officials ran straight off the court after the shot and did not check a video monitor at the scorers table.

This was the first Lehigh home game all season that was not carried by the local cable company. It is unclear whether rules allow using Internet video shot by the home team for reviews, though Lehigh folks argue the rules state any "electronic" video available.

Immediately after the game, Lehigh prepared a DVD to ship to Mickey Crowley, the league's supervisor of officials, in hopes of overturning the outcome, though that appears unlikely.

Lehigh coach Billy Taylor, who usually is very calm even when an end of the game call does not go the Hawks' way, reportedly sprinted after the officials as they left the court, presumably hoping to get them to look at the Webcast video.

Taylor told reporters:
"We have to fight the fight because it was clearly after the light went off, so we are going to continue to fight until they say we can't anymore, and then we'll fight some more."
That time might be better spent working on shooting. Although No. 3 seed Lehigh (12-19) finished the season ranked third in the league in scoring, it came into the game shooting 36 percent from the field in its last nine games. Had it managed even that meager performance, there would be no controversy.

Cleveland Richards led Army with 12 points. Jarrell Brown added 11 and Matt Bell 10 for the Black Knights (15-15), who barring an unexpected overturn of the outcome, will be at No. 2 Bucknell for a Sunday afternoon semifinal.

Like Lehigh, Army also had its chances to avoid the close finish. The Black Knights were just 6 of 13 from the foul line and hit just 19 of 55 from the field (34.5 percent), including 3 of 14 from the arc.

Senior center Jason Mgebroff, who missed most of the conference schedule due to stress fractures in his leg, added 11 points for Lehigh, which ends its season with four straight losses. League Rookie of the year Marquis Hall has 9 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Bryan White led all rebounders with 12.

A total of 804 fans were on hand to watch what likely was the final game of the careers of Lehigh's four seniors.
Box score |
Morning Call (gamer) | Morning Call (column) | Express-Times

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Published at 7:29 AM by Hoop Time.
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