The Lehigh Mountain Hawks led by 15 points in the first half, and appeared poised to continue their run as bracket busters in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The Xavier Musketeers rallied to pull within four points at intermission, however, and continued to distance themselves to open the second half. The Mountain Hawks fought back, but ultimately fell, 70-58, to end their improbable run.
The Musketeers led by as many as seven points in the second half. The Mountain Hawks were able to tie the game at 52 apiece as Xavier went 5:30 without a field goal. Terrell Holloway made a 3-pointer to end the Musketeers' drought, however, and his team never looked back. Lehigh did not score a point over the next seven-plus minutes until a Mackey McKnight 3-pointer pulled them within five with 1:08 left in the game. Unfortunately, it was too little too late.
C.J. McCollum was limited in the first half due to foul trouble, but he turned it on in the second, scoring 10 of his 14 total points after intermission. Still, he didn't rise to the heroic levels he reached against the Duke Blue Devils on Friday. The Mountain Hawks shot just 32.8 percent for the night, including 13.6 percent (3-of-22) from beyond the 3-point arc. McKnight led the team with 20 points, and hit all three of the team's 3-pointers.
Kenny Frease and Holloway combined to score all but nine of Xavier's 37 second half points. Frease finished with a career high 25 playing in the post, adding 13 rebounds. Holloway, meanwhile, consistently came up with big shots, hitting four 3-pointers on his way to 21 points for the night.
The Musketeers advance to the Sweet 16, where they will face the 3-seed Baylor Bears on Thursday.
For more NCAA Tournament coverage, be sure to check out our tournament stream, SB Nation's tournament hub and SB Nation Philly. Also make sure to check out our NCAA Tournament Printable Bracket stream. Enjoy the road to New Orleans!