NCAA News Wire
Lehigh 78, Rider 74
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
When Lehigh needed baskets down the stretch, Teddy Okereafor provided them.
Okereafor scored a game-high 29 points and corralled six rebounds as Rider (2-1) held off Lehigh (0-3) 78-74 on Friday night in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Leading by just four with 3:55 to play, Lehigh’s Okereafor converted eight free throws and added a layup to seal the deal.
The Broncos led 38-32 at halftime courtesy of four Okereafor 3-pointers.
The 6-foot-4 junior guard was not alone, however. Sophomores Khalil Thomas and Jimmie Taylor each added 11 points.
Both teams were buoyed by strong performances at the free-throw line. Lehigh converted on all 13 attempts from the charity stripe, while Rider was 18-for-25 from the line. Okereafor scored eight of them for the Broncos.
Lehigh was led by 6-foot-10 sophomore center Tim Kempton, who tallied up the lone double-double of the evening, scoring 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against the Broncos. Sophomore guard Austin Price also scored 19 points in the losing effort.
Rider, riding back-to-back wins following a 73-57 victory at Penn on Tuesday night, will look to carry their momentum on the road against No. 5 Kansas on Monday night before traveling to East Lansing to face the No. 19 Spartans of Michigan State,
Lehigh will try for their first win of the season against Columbia at home on Sunday.
