West Virginia takes care of business against Lehigh 69-47
West Virginia took care of business at home beating Lehigh 69-47 inside the Hope Coliseum to move to 3-0 on the season.
The Mountaineers used their same starting five from the first two contests with guard Jasper Floyd, guard Honor Huff, guard Treysen Eaglestaff, forward Brenen Lorient and center Harlan Obioha.
Lorient led the scoring with a career high 26 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals while Obioha also had 12 points and 8 boards and Huff finished with 8 points.
It was a tale of two halves for the Mountaineers as they raced out to a 42-20 edge and then kept the Mountain Hawks at a comfortable distance in the second frame.
Obioha got the scoring started on a layup but Lehigh would quickly answer back. Lorient would score the next seven points to push the Mountaineers ahead 9-2 in the first three minutes of the game.
West Virginia would use a 14-0 run to seize early control of the game at 16-2 before Lehigh ended the drought with a three-pointer. A Floyd jumper would push the early lead to 22-5 with the Mountaineers shooting 60-percent from the floor at the 11-minute mark of the game.
The Mountaineers led 30-7 with 7:22 remaining in the first half as Lehigh was held to just 25-percent from the floor and West Virginia had 7 assists on 12 made baskets. The Mountain Hawks would double their score but the lead would sit at 40-14 with 2:45 until halftime.
And the Mountaineers would take a 42-20 lead into the break.
Lehigh would open the second half with a three-pointer but the Mountaineers continued to remain in control through the early portions of the frame with a 46-27 lead. West Virginia would start a little slow out of the gate forcing head coach Ross Hodge to use an early timeout but still held a 20-point edge.
After the Mountain Hawks trimmed the lead to 16-points, the Mountaineers were able to extend the edge back out to a comfortable 54-33 with just under 12-minutes left in the game.
Lehigh would again make a push to trim the lead to 58-44 with 6:31 left in the game as West Virginia struggled to find consistency in the second half with just 16 points to that point.
However, the Mountaineers would again seize control and push the advantage back out to 64-44 after a Lorient three with under four minutes left in the game. And from there West Virginia would be able to close out the basketball game for their third win in as many games.
The Mountaineers will next take on Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl 6 p.m. Thursday inside the Hope Coliseum.
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