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Some final observations and memories from last night.
> Funny how fast the time flies when two sports fanatics get together to talk “Lehigh.” Thanks for joining, TMH, for the last 100 miles of my drive west last night. Together, TMH and I stopped at Damon’s (sports bar/burger joint) on the outskirts of Lewisburg for our pre-game meal. There we were served by – of all people – a Bucknell grad?! This, after talking about admission requirement on our way to the game. Ummm.
> Sitting courtside only 3 to 5 feet away from both the Knutson and Bailey clans, you live and die on their sons’ every play. You could feel both their pains and pleasures – and there many of each last night. Truly an odd experience. It was like I was watching my son all over again play high school ball. When Gabe, who couldn’t buy a basket for most of the night, drove to the basket from the right foul-line extended and hit the reverse layup to put us up by 3 with less than 3 minutes to play, I swear you could hear Mr. and Mrs. K – who had been holding their breath – exhale at the same time. A combination of both relief and joy. Errick Sr., CJ’s Dad, was sitting besides the Knutson’s and at one time during the night – when we had a substantial lead – the dad held-up a cardboard cutout sign of his son’s face – and started chanting, “We don’t need you.” I thought I caught a glimpse of CJ nodding his approval and a brief back-handed waive from just 10 feet away. I can only assume he was smiling to himself. The players’ family members, school officials, and boosters who travel to the games are a close-knit bunch. Like the players, they support one another and seem to be having the time of their lives. Neat….cool…awesome. You choose the word. Just fun to sit among them last night.
> Yes, BJ was 4 for 4 from long range, but how about the unselfish assists to JG and MM with less than 5 minutes to play.
> 4 turnovers! None by MM with 37 minutes of playing time. Best pg in the league.
> CS game into the game with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half when we were up by 12. Ten minutes later we led by just one at the half. Corey drained 2 threes and ended up scoring 6 of our final 10 points in the first half to keep our head above water when BU was making their push. Where would we be without him last night when things began to slip away. The kid has a knack of finding open space to operate. When not rushed – as he wasn’t last night – he’s got a deadly shot.
> Business-like, ‘been there – done that’ approach to the game. You can tell this is a Bret Reed coached team.
> 10 for 18 threes! Not too shabby. Actually, last night’s performance puts us atop the national leader-board as the finest 3-point shooting team in the nation. Then again, maybe it’s an anomaly. Check it out:
#1 LU 44.2%
#2 Creighton 44.1%
#3 Indiana 42.2%
While that’s good, being the 5th best in country defending the 3 @ 27.5% is pretty d— good, as well.