For some reason the Lehigh men's basketball team has been a thorn in the Lions' side the last four years.

It was no different last night in Bethlehem.

Down 38-30 at halftime, the Lions (14-5) thwarted the Engineers' upset bid, 64-60. Good efforts by center Ed Fogell and forward James Barnes, who combined for 21 and 11 points respectively, were the key.

It was Barnes who made the big shot when the Lions needed it. After Engineers' forward Bob Krizanski scored on a layup to tie the score at 59, Barnes scored with 51 seconds left and was fouled on the play by Krizanski. Barnes stepped coolly up to the free-throw line and sank the shot for a three-point play.

Then, with 34 seconds left, Engineers' guard Mike O'Hara missed his second free throw after making his first. Barnes grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Freddie Barnes, who got fouled on the play by Lehigh guard Scott Layer with 29 seconds left.

Barnes then put the icing on the cake by canning both free throws. DeRon Hayes later missed a free throw, but the Engineers couldn't score as they tried in vain to knock in a 3-pointer.

Coach Bruce Parkhill said the Engineers, who were 7-1 on their home floor before last night, were "very scrappy."

"We kind of got away from going inside a little bit," Parkhill said during his post-game radio show. "But I think one of the reasons was that our guys got a little frustrated. We made the big foul shots down the stretch and the guys played pretty solid defense down the stretch."

The Lions largest lead of the game came when Hayes scored his only points of the game to make the score 10-5. But then the Engineers went on a 7-2 run to tie it at 12-12.

The Engineers went ahead, 17-16, on guard Neal Fenton's NBA-distance 3, but Michael Jennings did Fenton one better when he hit his own 3-point bomb.

Later, Fenton hit another 3-pointer to put the Engineers up, 26-22. Then Dave Degitz, who was shooting 16 percent (4-of-25) from the floor entering the game, canned a jumper. Fogell followed two free throws with a slam and Degitz scored again.

But the Engineers revved up their engine and ran off 12 unanswered points before the half and led 38-30. In the second half, however, the Lions made a defensive adjustment and made their comeback.

"I thought (Lehigh) really executed well in the first half and we had a couple of defensive breakdowns in the first half," Parkhill said. "But I think most of the credit belongs to Lehigh.

"I'm proud of our guys that they came back in the second half and played with a little more determination," he continued. "We dug deep a little bit on the defensive end, but Lehigh made it real tough for us."

The Lions opened the second half with eight unanswered points to tie the game at 38. Later the Lions went ahead 43-42 on Brown's 3-point bomb, only his fourth of the year.

Degitz converted a three-point play to extend the lead to 46-42. The Engineers tied it at 49 when center Tom Martin sank a basket. They tied it again, 53-53, with 6:00 left, but Freddie Barnes sank two free throws to go up by two again.

Engineers sophomore Dozie Mbonu, who was shooting 58 percent from the free throw line, then knocked in two to tie it at 55. It was tied at 57 before Fogell hit a jump shot from the free throw line. And then Krizanski scored on his layup.

The Lions shot only 45.3 percent from the floor, up from their first half percentage of 42 percent. The difference came, however, with the Engineers' percentage. They shot 64 percent in the first half, but only 30.7 in the second and finished at 45.8.

"We haven't shot the ball well all year and we're 14-5," Parkhill said. "So, if we can ever start knocking down some jumpshots we'll be really tough."