Brown Bears at Lehigh Mountain Hawks
FOUNTAIN HILL (Interstat) — Brown will visit Lehigh on Sunday for a men’s NCAA Division I basketball game at Stabler Arena in Fountain Hill, Pa. The Bears enter with a 0-2 record, while the Mountain Hawks are 1-1.
Brown is seeking its first victory of the season after dropping a 59-55 home decision to New Hampshire and then falling 72-67 to Boston University at home. N’famara Dabo has been a bright spot for the Bears, posting 13 points and six rebounds in the Boston University loss after contributing eight points and nine rebounds against New Hampshire. Brady Loughlin added 12 points and four rebounds in the most recent game, and Timothy Bollin chipped in four points and seven rebounds. Brown will need more production around Dabo to keep pace.
Lehigh has split its first two games, falling 92-67 at Saint Louis before beating Cornell 71-64 at home. Joshua Ingram is the Mountain Hawks’ player to watch. He scored 16 points with six rebounds and four assists against Cornell after finishing with 11 points, five rebounds and one assist at Saint Louis. Edouard Benoit added 18 points and six rebounds in the Cornell victory, and Hank Alvey contributed 14 points, four rebounds and two blocks. The Mountain Hawks showed balance in the win, with Ingram and Benoit leading the scoring.
Brown will lean on Dabo inside while Lehigh will look to Ingram for scoring and all-around production. The Bears are in an early-season stretch that will continue with a home game against Canisius before road games at Siena, Holy Cross, Vermont and Air Force. Lehigh will host Marist next before a road game at Mount Saint Mary’s and home contests against Neumann and Binghamton. Lehigh will also host Penn St.-Scranton and Monmouth before road games at Florida International and Auburn.
Brown and Lehigh are meeting in an early-season nonconference game. Brown received double-figure scoring from Dabo and Loughlin in its latest game, while Lehigh got double-figure efforts from Ingram, Benoit and Alvey against Cornell. Stabler Arena will host the matchup, and both teams will continue nonconference play after Sunday. Brown’s upcoming schedule also includes a trip to Rhode Island and a home game against JWU (Providence). Lehigh will also travel to Florida International and Auburn later in its nonconference schedule.
Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Lehigh 71, Brown 70. Interstat’s ELO system gives Lehigh a 71.1 percent probability to win. Lehigh has been installed as a 3.5-point pregame favorite, and the over/under is 138.5.