Patriot League Notebook
by Harry Adams
Lehigh drops two straight
The great physicist and mathematician Albert Einstein developed many
theories with which he based his scientific research. If Einstein were
a college basketball reporter he would be discussing his theory that
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. No
statement is more fitting for the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks.
After rolling off seven straight victories, the Mountain Hawks are
dealing with back to back losses at the hands of Holy Cross (63-39)
and Colgate (77-68).
Heading into this past weekend’s schedule the Mountain Hawks found
themselves atop the Patriot League, and off to one of the best starts
in school history. Just a few short days later, they are back to
chasing the coattails of two-time defending Patriot League Champion
Holy Cross (16-4, 6-1).
Friday against Holy Cross the Mountain Hawks scored a season low 39
points while shooting a dismal 29 percent from the floor. Being
accustomed to scoring 70+ points per game, Lehigh was out of sync for
almost the entire game.
After trailing at the half 31-16, Lehigh was only able to score two
points in the first seven minutes of play in the second half. Give
rightful credit to Holy Cross who extended their perimeter defense to
keep Lehigh from ever getting into any sort of offensive rhythm.
Coupled with the extended defense was solid interior defense by
Patrick Whearty and Tim Szatko.
Whearty finished with a game-high 21 points and eleven rebounds. Jave
Meade continued his fine season with sixteen points and six assists.
Zlatko Savovic, the Patriot League leading scorer, led the way for
Lehigh with seventeen points.
With 8:10 remaining Lehigh cut the Holy Cross lead to 13 points at
41-28. However, that was as close as they would get for the rest of
the contest. From that point on it was all Holy Cross.
Lehigh’s second loss came to Colgate in Hamilton, New York 77-68.
After being tied at 36 at halftime, Colgate started strong with a 6-0
run in the second half. However, Lehigh responded with a 13-2 run of
their own to take a 49-44 lead. Some coaches (perhaps even Confucius
himself) claim basketball is a game of runs, with the team putting
together the most runs being the victor. Perhaps there is some truth
to this because Colgate responded by scoring eleven straight points to
take the lead and more importantly the momentum.
In a very hard fought game the Mountain Hawks (13-7, 5-2) came out on
the losing end for the second straight contest.
Who said you would never use anything from your high school physics
class? Can you picture Einstein talking about his Diaper Dandies?
Elsewhere around the Patriot League
Holy Cross (16-4, 6-1) Two key victories for the Crusaders over
Lehigh and Bucknell this past weekend has placed them back on top the
Patriot League. Patrick Whearty scored a game-high 21 points and had
eleven rebounds in a blowout victory of Lehigh (63-39), while Jave
Mead scored sixteen and dished out six assists. Against Bucknell, the
Crusaders once again used their balanced attack to defeat the Bison
69-47 in Worcester, MA. Leading the way was Tim Szatko with eighteen
points, including ten in a decisive 26-7 second half run. Jave Mead
finished with eleven points and eight assists.
Bucknell (10-10, 4-3) The Bison faced a tough road trip this past
weekend when they traveled to Colgate on Friday, Jan. 31 and then to
Holy Cross on Sunday. The result was: Split. With a convincing 62-42
win at Colgate, the Bison went into Sunday’s match-up with Holy Cross
with confidence. However, Holy Cross’ balanced attack proved to be
too much for the Bison. Boakai Lalugba continued his run for Patriot
League player of the year by scoring eleven points and grabbing ten
rebounds. Dan Blankenship also added eleven points. The Bison, among
others, are log-jammed in the middle of the pack at 4-3.
Colgate (9-11,4-3) – Leading the way for the Raiders are Howard Blue
and Mark Linebaugh , both averaging double figures in scoring. With
two home games this past weekend the Raiders were looking to finish
the first half of league play strong. However, the best they could do
was a split. On Friday Jan. 31, the Raiders fell victim to the
Bucknell Bison 62-42. However, Sunday the Raiders turned around and
beat a good Lehigh team 77-68. Leading the way for the Raiders was
Mark Linebaugh with eighteen points and Howard Blue with seventeen.
They are yet another team in the log-jam at 4-3.
American (9-11,4-3) – Once again leading the way this past weekend for
American was Steven Miles and Glenn Stokes. Averaging over fifteen and
fourteen points per game respectively, Miles and Stokes came up on the
losing end of Mike Farrell’s lay-up versus Lafayette in the closing
seconds. Miles finished with 29 points and Stokes added fourteen. The
Eagles bounced back on Sunday with a victory over the Army Black
Knights 79-64. Again, they are another team at 4-3.
Lafayette (9-11, 3-4) – Needing a strong finish for the first half of
league play, Lafayette played host to American and Navy. Against
American Mike Farrell’s lay-up with 20.9 seconds remaining gave
Lafayette a 67-66 victory. Justin DeBerry assisted on the basket and
scored a career-high 29 points. Sunday versus Navy, the Leopards got
balanced scoring as four players finished in double figures. Winston
Davis scored sixteen points on four-of-five shooting from behind the
arc. DeBerry added fifteen points.
Player of the week
Justin DeBerry – Lafayette
DeBerry spearheaded two key victories to finish out the first half of
Patriot League play. First on Friday, DeBerry scored a career-high 29
points and assisted on the game-winning basket by Mike Farrell in the
closing seconds. Sunday, DeBerry was one of four players in double
figures for the Leopards with fifteen points. Without DeBerry’s play
this past weekend, the Leopards could have found themselves in a much
more difficult situation entering the second half of league play.
Game of the week
After choosing the Holy Cross versus Lehigh contest last week (which
turned out to be anything but), this week’s Patriot League game of the
week is Colgate (9-11, 4-3) at Lafayette (9-11, 3-4). Coming out of
the weekend with two victories has the Leopards with some momentum.
