Men's Basketball

The men’s basketball team at Lehigh has had considerable success in both league championships and NCAA tournament appearances. 1985 was their first NCAA tournament appearance, and through this event the team finally gained national respect as a basketball program. The team joined the Patriot League in 1990 and won three league championships in its first twenty-five years in the league. The most famous and important victory in Lehigh men’s basketball history occurred on March 16, 2012, when Lehigh beat Duke in the NCAA tournament 75-70. It caused the campus community to become united, celebrating only the 6th time a number 15 seed defeated a number 2 seed in the tournament. The front lawn at Lehigh quickly grew into a celebration of people hugging each other and chanting “Lehigh beat Duke” for the rest of that evening. That famous team was led by C.J. McCollum ’13, who became in 2013 the first basketball player from Lehigh to be drafted into the NBA.