Improved depth has men off to strong start
For the past few seasons, Lehigh practices often featured coaches participating in scrimmages and drills so the Mountain Hawks could work 5-on-5.
A healthy group of returning players and freshmen ready to play college basketball have allowed Lehigh’s assistants to return to the sidelines this fall.
The Mountain Hawks’ improved depth has popped in practice and games. Players can’t loaf through a possession with someone waiting to take their minutes. When an off game has forced coach Brett Reed to turn to his bench, he has found players capable of contributing.
Lehigh carried a 5-2 record into this week, which will see it visit Yale on Wednesday and Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday before a break for exams. It is the Mountain Hawks’ best start since they opened the 2012-13 season 9-2.
“We’ve had so many different players step forward for us,” Reed said Saturday, after Lehigh pulled away for an 82-70 win over Arkansas State. “Whether it’s foul trouble for a post player, and we’ve gotten great production, or somebody like Caleb Bennett tonight, who I thought gave us tremendous energy and toughness in the first half, moving his feet and playing defense and then in the second half grabbing key rebounds.
“That’s been kind of typical for us so far this year, because we’ve always had somebody kind of step up, and it hasn’t always been relying so heavily upon our
starters.”
Lehigh has rolled with the same starting five — guards Kyle Leufroy, Lance Tejada and Jordan Cohen, forward Pat Andree and center James Karnik — through the season’s opening month. Four underclassmen reserves — sophomores Bennett and Marques Wilson plus freshmen Nic Lynch and Jeameril Wilson — have all averaged between 13 and 18 minutes per game.
Lynch, a 6-foot-11, 250-pound center, has been especially important to Lehigh’s rotation. When Karnik had foul trouble last season, the Mountain Hawks lacked size to replace him. Lynch has
kept Lehigh from enduring any drop-off when it turns to the bench for another post player.
The added competitiveness on the roster has also led to improved defensive focus. The Mountain Hawks have held foes to 36.2 percent shooting overall and 31.6 percent shooting from 3-point range.
“We’re pretty confident in the 10 players we have on the team,”
Leufroy said. “Practices, drills, they’re pretty competitive whether it’s first unit, second unit. That honestly helps us prepping for these games. We want our second unit, just everybody, to push us as much as possible.
“As you can see, we have people that shoot the ball at a high clip. So defensively alone, that challenges us and pushes us at practice. It’s just fun, man. We’re guys that love
to compete at a high level.”
Back on track
The East Stroudsburg University men have ripped off five straight wins after dropping both games in a season-opening tournament in North Carolina. The Warriors have won their games by an average of 20.6 points, with none of their victories coming by fewer than 16 points.
Redshirt senior Josh Williams has excelled with increased playing time. He leads the Warriors in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (9.6 rpg) while playing 25.7 minutes per game. He averaged 12.5 minutes per game as a reserve last season.
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