Dec. 27, 1997

Men's Basketball Defeats Lehigh University

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - The victory was so complete, Stanford coach Mike Montgomery wasn't sure what to make of it.

Getting a team-high 18 points from Peter Sauer and pulling out to a 30-point lead by halftime, No. 8 Stanford routed Lehigh 95-42 Saturday night.

"It's hard to tell what this means," Montgomery said. "We shot well but we weren't threatened. For us, it was a good opportunity to get into the bench deep. From now on though, it's going to get much tougher and our substitution pattern will change quite a bit.

Ryan Mendez had 13 points and Kris Weems and Tim Young each had 12 as Stanford (9-0) won its 17th straight at Maples Pavilion.

All 14 players on Stanford's roster saw playing time against overmatched Lehigh (5-5). The Cardinal's 53-point margin of victory was the third-biggest in school history.

"To tell the truth, we expected this," Lehigh coach Sal Mentesana said. "Their size and strength are impressive but the biggest thing about them is they don't give up anything in quickness. They guarded us as intensely as I've seen any team. They also shoot very well from the outside. They don't have too many weaknesses that I can see."

Brett Eppehimer, who entered as the nation's third-leading scorer averaging 27 points per game, had just three points at halftime and finished with 13 for Lehigh. Jared Hess also had 13.

Stanford overwhelmed Lehigh with a 24-1 run over the last nine minutes of the first half, jumping out to a 42-12 lead. It was the fewest points scored in the first half by a Stanford opponent at Maples since Cornell had 10 in a 90-45 loss during the 1988-89 season.

Mendez and Weems each had five points in the flurry, which was fueled by Stanford's fastbreak, perimeter shooting and domination under the boards. Lehigh's only point in that span came with 3:54 left in the half, when Peter DeLea made one of two free throws.

After a basket by Hess with 9:17 left in the first period, Lehigh didn't make another until DeLea's 17-foot jumper 1:10 into the second half.

Even playing with its reserves throughout much of the game, Stanford scored at will against Lehigh, which managed to hit just 22 percent of its shots from the field in the first half and 43 percent overall.

Despite shuffling players in and out of the game, Stanford hit 61 percent of its shots from the field. The Cardinal also outrebounded Lehigh 43-20.

Stanford University Men's Basketball