Bucknell men fall, 78-62, to Lehigh

Lehigh (16-12, 11-6 PL) had five players score in double figures, led by Tyler Whitney-Sidney with 20 points. Keith Higgins Jr. tallied 15 points, Evan Taylor had 10, and the post duo of JT Tan and Dominic Parolin tallied 11 each.

Lehigh led wire-to-wire, as the Bison could not overcome a 1-for-13 shooting start. The Mountain Hawks ran out to an early 12-2 advantage and led 36-23 at halftime, despite 10 points and seven rebounds from Timmerman.

The Bison got hot from downtown in the second half, hitting six of their first nine 3-point attempts, including three in a row from Forrest. The last of those made it an eight-point game at 48-40 with 12:28 to play.

It was still just a 10-point game after Forrest’s fadeaway in the lane with 8:50 left, but back-to-back 3-point plays from Tyler Whitney-Sidney and Jalin Sinclair shove Lehigh’s cushion all the way to 16 at 63-47. The Mountain Hawks led by at least 13 the rest of the way.

Bucknell shot 37.5 percent on the night, including a 7-for-20 mark from the 3-point arc. Lehigh finished at 54.4 percent, despite a 2-for-11 showing from deep. Both teams were good at the foul line, as Bucknell finished 7-for-8 and Lehigh 14-for-16.

Timmerman recorded his third straight double-digit rebounding performance and his sixth double-double of the season. He had 27 points and 10 rebounds in the first meeting with Lehigh this season.

Bucknell returns home on Saturday to face Lafayette in the regular-season finale. The 2 p.m. tip will be preceded by Senior Day ceremonies for Rice, Timmerman, and Jake van der Heijden.

Lehigh 78, Bucknell 62

at Lehigh

BUCKNELL (11-19)

Bijiek 2-2 0-0 5, Motta 0-4 0-0 0, Timmerman 8-17 3-4 19, Forrest 6-15 3-3 18, Rice 6-14 1-1 16, Edmonds 1-3 0-0 2, van der Heijden 0-1 0-0 0, Adoh 0-4 0-0 0, Fulton 0-2 0-0 0, Williamson 1-1 0-0 2, Bascoe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-64 7-8 62.

LEHIGH (16-12)

Tan 4-5 3-4 11, Higgins 7-13 0-0 15, Knostman 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor 5-11 0-0 10, Whitney-Sidney 7-11 5-5 20, Parolin 3-5 5-6 11, Sinclair 2-6 1-1 5, Fenton 1-2 0-0 2, Betlow 0-0 0-0 0, Momah 0-0 0-0 0, Saigal 0-0 0-0 0, Adiassa 0-1 0-0 0, Alamudun 0-0 0-0 0, Chebuhar 0-0 0-0 0, Conniff 1-1 0-0 2, Reed 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 31-57 14-16 78.

Halftime: Lehigh 36-23. 3-point goals: Bucknell 7-20 (Forrest 3-8, Rice 3-8, Bijiek 1-1, Adoh 0-1, Edmonds 0-1, Motta 0-1), Lehigh 2-11 (Higgins 1-3, Whitney-Sidney 1-3, Fenton 0-1, Knostman 0-1, Sinclair 0-1, Taylor 0-2). Rebounds: Bucknell 32 (Timmerman 12), Lehigh 29 (Tan 6). Assists: Bucknell 9 (Edmonds 4), Lehigh 10 (Whitney-Sidney 4). Total fouls: Bucknell 14, Lehigh 10. A: 908.