Schools
Underdog Lehigh Shocks Duke, Campus Erupts
Mountain Hawks' 75-70 win over Duke makes Lehigh faithful joyous; party spills into the streets. Post your videos/photos of the celebrations.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks turned the world of college basketball on its ear tonight with a stunning 75-70 upset of perennial powerhouse Duke in an NCAA opening round game.
The victory is Lehigh’s first ever in the NCAA tournament in five appearances as well as its first win in five tries against the four-time national champion Blue Devils, one of the most vaunted college basketball programs in the country.
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It was also only the sixth time in the history of the tournament that a team seeded 15th in its region defeated a second-seeded team.
Earlier in the day, Norfolk State won a two-point thriller over Missouri. Before today’s two upsets, a “15” had not beaten a “2” in 11 years.
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At Lehigh’s campus, students spilled out into the streets of South Bethlehem. The Morning Call is reporting that the celebratory noises could be heard across the Lehigh River in the North Side.
Car-horns honked and students and adults marched along Fourth Street chanting “Lehigh” and “Duke Sucks,” the newspaper reported.
Bethlehem and Lehigh University Police Officers cautioned the revelers to keep their joy to a reasonable level, according to a statement from Bethlehem Police. Officers were directed to allow the students to celebrate, and to intervene only if there was a potential for injury or property damage.
The celebrations lasted until 3 a.m. Bethlehem Police officers made a total of six arrests on the South Side for incidents relating to Lehigh students. All of the offenses were minor, police say, including underage drinking and public intoxication.
During the game Friday and after, Twitter was abuzz with Lehigh fans discussing the game in real time, making #Lehigh one of the Website’s top trending topics.
One of the Tweets was a picture of a Lehigh flag on display in the lobby of the Hotel Bethlehem in honor of the victory.
The to the round of 32 to play the winner of the game between Notre Dame and Xavier.
Post your videos/pictures of the celebrations here, and leave a comment about what you think of this victory.
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