Lehigh brings the madness with half-court buzzer-beater

Lehigh Mountain Hawks guard Nasir Whitlock. Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Lehigh brings the madness to the Patriot League quarterfinals with half-court buzzer-beater against Holy Cross

By Colby Colwell | Last updated Mar 5, 2026 11:47 PM ET

If you needed a reminder that the best month of the season in college basketball is upon us, all you had to do was be tuned in to Thursday night's Patriot League quarterfinal action.

The highlight of the night was a thriller between the 10-seed Holy Cross Crusaders (11-22, 5-13 PAT) and two-seed Lehigh Mountain Hawks (16-16, 11-7 PAT), a game Lehigh won, 69-66.

The Mountain Hawks trailed 64-58 with 2:43 remaining before going on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 64. After a short jumper from Holy Cross junior guard Gabe Warren regained the lead for the Crusaders, Lehigh's Nasir Whitlock tied the game back up before capping it off with some heroics moments later.

Lehigh stuns Holy Cross in thrilling Patriot League quarterfinal

After Holy Cross turned the ball over on the next possession, Lehigh had one final chance with 2.1 seconds left. Whitlock received the inbounds pass, took one dribble and launched from just beyond half court to stun Holy Cross in dramatic fashion.

LEHIGH FROM HALF-COURT FOR THE WIN IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL pic.twitter.com/TTazeWJoHa
— ESPN (@espn) March 6, 2026

The junior guard Whitlock, who leads the team in scoring this season (20.8 PPG), had 29 points (11-of-24 FG). Sophomore forward Hank Alvey added 14 points (6-of-9 FG), while junior guard Joshua Ingram had 12 points (4-of-9 FG), six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

With the dramatics behind them, the Mountain Hawks advance to Sunday's semifinals where they will face the three-seed Colgate (18-14, 11-7 PAT), which ousted six-seed Loyola Maryland (12-20, 8-10 PAT), 90-77, on Thursday. The other semifinal will see four-seed Boston University (16-16, 10-8 PAT) take on the top-seed Navy (26-6, 17-1 PAT) with the lowest remaining seed from those two games facing the highest remaining seed in Wednesday's conference title game.

As a one-bid league, one of those four teams will be going dancing next week as the Patriot League champion. The other three will be sent packing after coming agonizingly close.

With zero notable wins to its resume, it will likely be an uphill climb for Lehigh to win an NCAA Tournament game even if it wins the Patriot League. However, if Whitlock's half-court buzzer-beater proved anything, it is that the Mountain Hawks are ready for the madness and are not going to back down with only one more game between them and a shot to play for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Colby Colwell

Colby Colwell is a freelance contributor with a bachelor’s in Computer & Information Technology and a minor in Psychology from Western Kentucky University. With a deep passion for sports, especially NASCAR, he offers his substantial knowledge along with his adept writing skills. When he’s not writing, Colby enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with his family

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