Lehigh

GABE KNUTSON blocked Cameron Ayers' baseline layup attempt with 7 seconds left and C.J. McCollum scored 29 points to help visiting Lehigh hold off Bucknell, 82-77, last night to win the Patriot League tournament. After Mackey McKnight missed two foul shots, the Bison trailed, 78-77, and had a chance to take the lead, but couldn't get the ball into leading scorer Mike Muscala. McCollum and Jordan Hamilton each hit two foul shots in the final 4 seconds, and Lehigh (26-7) began celebrating after clinching its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in three seasons.

John Chaney won't talk about Georgetown. Or LSU. Or Indiana or Georgia Tech or Duke or any other team his top-ranked Temple Owls might meet in the NCAA East Regional. He'll talk only about Lehigh - the team the Owls will meet. "I see this tournament as a great, big ladder, and right now, Lehigh is on the next rung, and we're climbing up to knock them off," said Chaney, whose team will face the Brown and White tonight (Channel 10, 7 o'clock) in the first round at the Hartford Civic Center.

The biggest gripe among East Coast Conference coaches is the lack of respect the league receives from outside observers. The ECC does, however, boast three outstanding players - Drexel guard Michael Anderson, Lehigh forward Daren Queenan and Lafayette forward Otis Ellis - who could do much this season to boost the league's prestige. Lehigh, which has all five starters back from a 15-14 team, is the consensus pick to win the ECC title, but the Engineers' bench is weak. Lehigh, however, should enjoy plenty of success behind Queenan, a 6-foot-5 senior from Norristown who averaged 24.8 points and 9.1 rebounds last season, and 6-2 senior guard Mike Polaha (19.7 points, 3.2 assists)

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Mike Krzyzewski knew this year's Duke team had its flaws. Several of them hurt the Blue Devils in a big way on Friday night. Austin Rivers and Mason Plumlee had 19 points apiece, but Duke struggled from three-point range and lost 75-70 to Lehigh to become the second No. 2 seed to lose to a 15 during a wild day in the NCAA tournament. Norfolk State, another 15th seed, upset Missouri earlier in a West region game in Omaha, Neb. The Blue Devils, who relied on the three-point shot this season, went 6 for 26 from behind the arc and another speedy guard sliced through their defense.

To look at Lehigh guard Mike Polaha, you'd think his basketball ability would be somewhat limited. "You see him with that (full knee brace) on his leg and you feel sorry for him," said Drexel coach Eddie Burke. "But I guess I shouldn't. " Polaha slew the Dragons with a record 42 points yesterday as Lehigh won in two overtimes, 109-98, in the opening round of the East Coast Conference tournament at Towson Center. The Engineers (15-13), seeded fourth, will take on top-seeded Bucknell today in the semifinals.

The anticipated NCAA Tournament version of "Godzilla vs. the Mole Men" never materialized. A Temple nightmare did. It began at 7:07 last night and almost refused to go away. Coach John Chaney tried everything but cold slaps to the face. Nothing worked. The defense remained passive. The intensity was below sea level. Rims kept intercepting Temple shots on goal. And scrappy kids with "Lehigh" emblazoned across their chests kept stepping between Temple rebounders and loose basketballs.

When the Lehigh women's swim team goes into the Patriot League championships today at Colgate, the Engineers will be looking to their "Tornado" for a big effort. The "Tornado" in this case is junior Cheryl Dede, a graduate of West Chester Henderson, whose versatility has been invaluable to the Engineers. "She earned the nickname Tornado because she's always moving at 100 miles per hour," Lehigh coach Chris Marshall said. "She's already one of the best swimmers in Lehigh history.

Michael Anderson scored 43 points, a career high and a Stabler Center record, to lead Drexel to a 91-85 victory over Lehigh last night, snapping the Engineers' eight-game winning streak. The 5-foot-11 Anderson was at his best down the stretch, collecting 16 points in the final eight minutes. Drexel improved to 11-5 and 3-2 in the East Coast Conference, while Lehigh fell to 13-5 and 3-2. After Lehigh's Tim Russell hit a bucket to tie the score at 63-63, John Rankin scored on a layup with 6 minutes, 15 seconds left to give Drexel a lead it never relinquished.

Led by 21 points from senior guard Todd Lehmann, Drexel overcame a nine- point second-half deficit last night to defeat Lehigh, 85-73, in an East Coast Conference game at the Drexel Physical Education Athletic Center. Lehmann, who also had 10 assists, moved into fourth place on Drexel's all- time scoring list with 1,383 career points. Drexel (8-10 overall, 3-3 conference) trailed by 40-36 at halftime, but came back to take a 72-58 lead with 5 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the game.

Was La Salle's Kevin Long, still feeling the effects of a flu that had arrived over the weekend, hoping rain would arrive as predicted and push back a Catholic League baseball quarterfinal vs. St. Joseph's Prep? "No, I was ready to go," he said. "Breathing was difficult for me at times, but I knew I'd be able to tough it out. " Long, looking anything but worn down or sluggish, pitched a one-hitter with five strikeouts as the host Explorers silenced the Hawks, 6-0, Tuesday in a game that lasted 1 hour, 33 minutes.

Was La Salle's Kevin Long, still feeling the effects of a flu that had arrived over the weekend, hoping rain would arrive as predicted and push back a Catholic League baseball quarterfinal vs. St. Joseph's Prep? "No, I was ready to go," he said. "Breathing was difficult for me at times, but I knew I'd be able to tough it out. " Long, looking anything but worn down or sluggish, pitched a one-hitter with five strikeouts as the host Explorers silenced the Hawks, 6-0, Tuesday in a game that lasted 1 hour, 33 minutes.

TYLER CLOYD had another strong outing Thursday and improved to 3-0 at Triple A Lehigh Valley and 6-0 overall on the season. Cloyd went six innings, allowing one run on three hits with six strikeouts and one walk in the IronPigs' 5-1 win at Indianapolis. He was an emergency starter on Opening Day for Lehigh Valley and pitched six perfect innings. He then returned to Double A Reading. Thursday's outing was his second since being promoted. In the three starts overall for Lehigh Valley, he has a 0.90 ERA, allowing two runs in 20 innings.

ALMOST AS soon as horse trainer Tony Dutrow bought the filly for $95,000 in 2010, his wife Kim knew the name. She could only be Grace Hall. One of her owners was Mike Caruso, the three-time NCAA champion Lehigh wrestler from the mid-1960s, a man whose high school and college record was 141-1. Then as now, the Lehigh wrestling venue was intimidating Grace Hall, named after Eugene Grace, the president of Bethlehem Steel and a great Lehigh baseball player. "I've lived in Bethlehem the last 50 years since I came to Lehigh," said Caruso, who went to St. Benedict's in Newark, N. J. He was on the Lehigh Board of Trustees for 14 years.

READING - He is saying all the right things, not walking with his head down, intent on fulfilling the vast promise that once made him the most desired Phillies prospect and one of the best in baseball. If Domonic Brown is disappointed at starting the season at triple-A Lehigh Valley instead of being with the Phillies, he sure isn't showing it with his words or actions. "It's not really tough for me - it's part of the game," Brown said before Tuesday's exhibition game at Reading.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Xavier, a March Madness mainstay, defeated upstart Lehigh, 70-58, on Sunday night at the Greensboro Coliseum to reach the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five years. The 10th-seeded Musketeers (23-12) will face No. 3 Baylor (29-7) on Friday in Atlanta. Hulking Xavier center Kenny Frease scored a game-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Musketeers. Xavier senior all-American guard Tu Holloway scored 21 points.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Before the tip-off Sunday night, the students and alumni of Lehigh University already were floating and sweaty and hoarse and still high from a weekend they will never forget. Lehigh, seeded 15th in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, had knocked off a giant, No. 2 seed Duke, on Friday night. The Mountain Hawks were in the second round, taking on No. 10 seed Xavier in Greensboro, N.C. Lehigh lost, 70-58. But on this night, win or lose hardly mattered. Honest.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Mike Krzyzewski knew this year's Duke team had its flaws. Several of them hurt the Blue Devils in a big way on Friday night. Austin Rivers and Mason Plumlee had 19 points apiece, but Duke struggled from three-point range and lost 75-70 to Lehigh to become the second No. 2 seed to lose to a 15 during a wild day in the NCAA tournament. Norfolk State, another 15th seed, upset Missouri earlier in a West region game in Omaha, Neb. The Blue Devils, who relied on the three-point shot this season, went 6 for 26 from behind the arc and another speedy guard sliced through their defense.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Lehigh Mountain Hawks insist their work here isn't done. They're not ready to pack up and go home to Bethlehem, Pa., after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history by stunning national power and second-seeded Duke, 75-70, in its own backyard Friday night. The Mountain Hawks want to stick around a little longer. After his team's monumental upset, Lehigh coach Brett Reed asked his players in the locker room if they were satisfied and the collective response was no. The 15th-seeded Mountain Hawks, led by speedy guard C.J. McCollum, the nation's fifth-leading scorer, fully believed they could topple Duke - and they said so publicly before the game.

On one hand, it was agonizing for the daughter of 76ers coach Doug Collins to watch Duke go down to Lehigh in a major NCAA tournament upset, because her brother, Chris Collins, is an associate head coach with the Blue Devils. On the other hand, Kelly Romanczuk could be quietly happy because Lehigh is her alma mater; she starred in basketball with the Mountain Hawks from 1996 through 2000. But talk about a dilemma. "We have a rule in our family that we always stick with family first," Romanczuk said Saturday.