Stephens Leads Tigers as Lehigh Wins, 72-57

Friday, November 16

Bethlehem, Pa.

8:30 PM

Princeton University

1-1

Lehigh

3-1

Princeton

Lehigh

Myles Stephens led Princeton with 18 points Friday night at Lehigh.

Photo by: Brent Hugo/Lehigh

November 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

A strong start to the second half built a lead for Lehigh that the Princeton men's basketball team couldn't overcome Friday night in Bethlehem as the Mountain Hawks won, 72-57.

Princeton shot 28.3 percent from the field on the night and went 4 of 32 from 3-point range. Lehigh, which shot 38.5 percent from the field, added to that advantage with a 49-37 rebounding edge.

"We really couldn't find the rim. I think we can be an excellent shooting team, too," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said. "I thought the whole story of the game, though, was the first six or seven minutes of the second half. They got right down the throat on us and that was a big point of emphasis for the game."

A back-and-forth first half saw Lehigh go on a 13-4 run after Princeton took a 7-6 lead, and later in the half, Princeton answered with a 15-4 run to take a 26-22 lead with less than three minutes before the break. Lehigh scored the last six points of the half to enter the break up two, 28-26.

That half-ending run grew once the second half began, with the Mountain Hawks starting the final 20 minutes on a 16-3 run to go up 15 at 44-29 before four minutes were gone in the half. From there, Princeton got as close as nine with less than three minutes to go, and the Mountain Hawks lead peaked at 20 at 55-35 inside of nine minutes to go in the game.

Myles Stephens led Princeton with a game-high 18 points while Richmond Aririguzoh joined him in double figures with 11 points as the pair has put up 10-plus in back-to-back games to start the season.

"I thought Rich was terrific," Henderson said. "He was in there every single time, got his hands in, made his free throws down the stretch, so we're going to really count on him as the season goes along."

Aririguzoh had a game-high three blocked shots and had five boards, going 3 of 5 from the field and 5 of 6 from the stripe.

"All the coaches, they've put a big emphasis on me dominating that space, with the ball, without the ball. With these post moves, it's something we've been working on for quite some time now," Aririguzoh said. "Even now that I have a larger role, it still starts with my defense. That's how I help the team, that's what the team expects from me, and that's what I have to bring to the team."

Stephens added a game-high 12 rebounds for his fourth career double-double and first of the season.

The Tigers will return home to host Fairleigh Dickinson Wednesday night at 7 in Jadwin Gym.

Postgame Notes

• Senior Myles Stephens' 18 points moved him past Will Venable '05 (1,010) and into 34th place on Princeton's all-time scoring list, now with 1,018 points. Stephens' 12 rebounds tied his career high, most recently set last March at Brown.

• Princeton leads the all-time series with Lehigh 31-6. Lehigh has won the last three.

• Sophomore Ryan Schwieger scored nine points to set a career best, surpassing the eight he had last season against both Monmouth and Akron.

• Junior Richmond Aririguzoh surpassed his previous career best for the second straight game, scoring 11 points a game after scoring 10 against DeSales.