The Lehigh Mountain Hawks and the Army Black Knights meet Friday in college basketball action from Christl Arena. Lehigh is 5-6 this year so far. The Mountain Hawks lost to Cornell in their last game. As for Army, they’re sitting at 6-7 after a win over Central CT State last Tuesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Lehigh has managed wins this year over Misericordia, Marist, St. Francis PA, Monmouth and St. Elizabeth. The losses have come versus Syracuse, Virginia Tech, MD Eastern Shore, UMBC, Wisconsin and Cornell.
Matched up against Cornell last Tuesday, the Hawks were drilled 47-26 in the first half. Lehigh posted a 49-38 second-half deficit in a 96-64 defeat. Keith Higgins led the team on 21 points with three assists and two rebounds.
Over on the Army side, their wins have come over Keystone, Siena, Merchant Marine, NJIT, Wagner and Central CT State. The defeats were to Stonehill, William & Mary, Princeton, Radford, Manhattan, Rhode Island and Stony Brook.
Last Tuesday versus Central CT State, the Knights took an eight-point lead into the break. Army posted 28 more points from there in a 66-55 win. Jalen Rucker topped the team on 18 points with six boards.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with Army here. The Black Knights have certainly struggled this year, however they’re playing better lately. Army is 4-2 in their last six games and they’ve hit 66 or more points in four of those outings. As for Lehigh, they’ve struggled on the scoreboard lately with 64 or fewer points in four of their last five games. If the Mountain Hawks don’t get off to a good start here I don’t think they’ll come all that close to a cover.