Brown and White Vol. 122 no. 14

              Vol. 122 No. 14
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Hawks fall to Xavier
Page 16
ONLINE
Follow us on Twitter
Twitter.com/LUbrownwhite
Alumna follows
her passion
Page 7
LIFESTYLE
‘We still beat Duke’
B&W photo by DAVE DIFRANCESCO
Junior guard CJ McCollum led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 30 points versus Duke on Friday, a game which Lehigh won 75-70. Sophomore Mackey McKnight took on that role against Xavier, earning 20 of the Hawks 58 points that game. Lehigh fell to the Musketeers 70-58 Sunday.
By CONNOR TAIT
The men’s basketball team fought with heart down to the last seconds in their 70-58 loss to Xavier University in the third round of the NCAA tournament, on Sun­day, March 18, after a staggering 75-70 victory over Duke University on Friday.
The Mountain Hawks run in the tour­nament shocked many, but most of all it inspired Lehigh fans, students and alums across the country, who rallied around the dynamic squad.
The victory against Duke marked the sixth time in NCAA tournament history that a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2 seed. Lehigh also became only the third Patriot League team to win a tournament game.
After dropping 30 points against Duke and gaining national media attention, ju­nior guard CJ McCollum racked up 14 in the match against Xavier. But, the Hawks strength against Xavier came from team defense in the first half and steady offense from sophomore guard Mackey McKnight and junior forward Gabe Knutson.
Knutson scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds against Xavier. In the win over Duke, Knutson had 17 points and played phenomenal defense against Duke’s star center Mason Plumlee.
McKnight led Lehigh on offense against Xavier with 20 points, but he also grabbed four boards and two steals.
“It’s just basketball; we love it,” said McKnight after Sunday’s game. “It’s a dream come true to be here […] So I think we enjoyed it, the highs and the lows, and we’ll always remember this. We’ll never forget it.”
Head Coach Brett Reed stressed the importance of Mountain Hawk unity in the victory over Duke.
“I sit here humbled today by these wonderful student-athletes who have in­vested so much time into their academic pursuits, building character, being unified as a team and ultimately fighting through a great deal of adversity through an entire season to grow and learn together,” Reed said.
Following the game on Friday, March 17, Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski praised Lehigh’s performance.
“I want to congratulate Lehigh, their kids played a great game,” Krzyzewski said. “They had the best player on the court tonight in McCollum. He’s been their Player of the Year, and he’s really one of the outstanding players in the coun­try. You could see why tonight.”
Numerous University of North Caro­lina fans came to the Lehigh-Duke game, holding “Go Lehigh” signs, helping Le­high fans cheer the Hawks to victory. The Lehigh players appreciated the support.
“Being a smaller school, we really ap­preciated the North Carolina fans and all the support we got from them,” senior forward Jordan Hamilton said. “And we don’t often play in these type of environ­ments, so when there’s a lot of energy and crowd behind us, I think we really feed off of that. I really got to give credit to our fans and also the North Carolina fans who joined in to support us.”
After their team shocked Duke, social media and the Lehigh campus went into frenzy. Lehigh and CJ McCollum were top trends on Twitter and numerous on-campus celebration videos were uploaded to YouTube. The celebration went long into the night, with jubilant cheers echoing throughout the University Center front lawn and the Hill. In a tweet, Bethlehem Police thanked Lehigh students for cel­ebrating in style—instead of starting a riot.
Many celebrities also hopped onto Twitter, sharing their thoughts about Lehigh’s upset over Duke.
See WIN Page 4