Patriot League Notebook
Colgate, Lafayette Attempt To Hang With The Big Boys
While it’s still very early in the 2004-2005 season, some members of the Patriot League are already showing that they do not hesitate to match up against some of the top teams in the country. Both Lafayette and Colgate played games against teams ranked in the top-15 in the country, and while Louisville didn’t have much trouble with the Leopards, the Syracuse Orange had a surprisingly difficult time putting away the Raiders.
Making their annual trip to the Carrier Dome, the Raiders stayed with the Orange for 30 minutes before Syracuse finally showed its strength. Colgate was tied with the home team with 10:14 left in the contest, thanks in large part to the Raiders’ ability to solve the Syracuse defense, but then Syracuse went on a 10-0 run to finally put away the pesky Raiders. With the win, Syracuse has now won 39 straight games versus Colgate dating back to the 1961-62 season. This one, however, didn’t come easy for Jim Boeheim and his men.
Lafayette didn’t have as much success against the Louisville Cardinals, as the home team sprinted out to a 30-4 lead and never looked back in running over the Leopards, 98-57. Lafayette was totally outmatched in this contest, as it fell behind early and then kept hoisting the three-pointers in a desperate attempt to get back into it. The Leopards ended the game with 10 three-pointers made on 39 attempts, while hitting only nine of 28 attempts from inside the arc.
Knight Time For Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks have so far received a huge boost on the offensive end from junior transfer Joe Knight, who came to Bethlehem by way of High Point University in North Carolina. He averaged over 16 points per game in his sophomore season at High Point, and he looks like he may be headed for another such season. Knight has averaged 13 points per contest in his first seven games for Lehigh, proving to Mountain Hawk fans that Knight may be the answer to the loss of last season’s Patriot League Player of the Year – and fellow guard transfer – Austen Rowland.
Battle of the Brains
The non-conference slate of the Patriot League is always populated with games against the Ivy League, and this year is no different. So far this season, the Ivies have taken seven out of 11 games against their Patriot League counterparts, including three wins from the league’s top team, Princeton. There are still 11 more games to be played between the two leagues, however, and so the unofficial winner has yet to be decided.
Player of the Week
Jason Thomas, American. The senior guard averaged 25 points and 9 rebounds in his team’s last three games, including back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his career. The 26 points scored against both Towson and Ohio are a next career high for the Herndon, Va., native.
Rookie of the Week
Kyle Roemer, Colgate. The first-year guard averaged 12 points in Colgate’s last three games, all losses. He set a career-high in points in his last outing against Harvard, a 19-point performance that included five three-pointers.
Team Recaps
American Eagles (5-2 overall)
The Eagles have kept themselves perched atop the Patriot League in the early going thanks to a five-game winning streak that followed two season-opening losses.
The team’s most impressive win to date was its 67-64 triumph over Vermont last Saturday. Jason Thomas had his first career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds in a full 40 minutes of action, hitting one-of-two free throws in the waning seconds to account for the final score and then stealing the subsequent full-court pass attempt. The Eagles did a decent job of containing Taylor Coppenwrath and his Vermont teammates, keeping him to seven points and his team to 30 percent shooting in the first half. American shot 48 percent for the game, yet almost allowed the Catamounts to come back by missing eight free throws, including four misses in the final minute.
Following the victory, the team did not let up on Wednesday, defeating Towson 75-64. Thomas recorded his second double-double in as many games for American, scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The two teams struggled to break from one another for the first five minutes, but the Eagles finally shook the Tigers and rolled from there, never allowing the Tigers within five points in the second half. Patrick Okpwae was the only other Eagle in double figures, scoring a career-high 16 points.
American then made it five in a row on Saturday with a 64-55 win over Ohio. Yet again, it was Thomas leading the way for the Eagles, scoring 26 points for the second straight game. The Eagles used a 16-0 run late in the first half to break open the game, but the Bobcats battled back to get within two points. Two free throws each from Thomas and Andre Ingram bumped the lead back up to six, however, and the Eagles held on for the victory.
After the win, the Eagles get 12 days off in order to prepare for one of its stiffest tests of the season, a contest against nationally ranked Maryland next Thursday. If American can stay with the Terrapins in that game, then the Eagles will know that they have a clear shot of taking home the Patriot League crown.
Holy Cross Crusaders (4-3)
Last year, Holy Cross entered the season with many fresh faces and a young, inexperienced squad. This season, the team has returned almost all of the key parts from last year, and it had shown vast improvement already in this young season.
The team sits in second place in the league after a 1-2 week, including two losses to very tough schools. Last Saturday, the team faced off with the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, falling to the home team by a score of 72-56. Other than junior guard Kevin Hamilton, who scored a career-high 22 points, the Crusaders were unable to get anything going on either end of the floor. On offense, Holy Cross shot 36 percent from the floor, while defensively it allowed the Gophers to shoot at a blistering 63 percent clip. Minnesota was also able to dominate in the paint, outscoring the Crusaders by 20 points in that area.
The team came back on Monday to defeat Fordham before dropping a heartbreaker to Boston College on Friday evening. Against the Rams, it was Hamilton once again leading the attack with 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half, in which Holy Cross outscored Fordham by 15 after a low-scoring first 20 minutes. The team then made the short trip to Chestnut Hill and almost upset the undefeated Eagles, falling 63-60 in overtime. With Hamilton having an off night (2-for-16 shooting, 5 points), four Crusaders scored in double figures, but it was still not enough to topple BC. Nate Lufkin led the team with 12 points and nine boards, while blossoming sophomore Torey Thomas added 10 points in a game-high 43 minutes of action. Fouls may have done in the Crusaders in this game, as they allowed BC to take 30 free throws, accounting for 22 of the Eagles’ points.
Holy Cross is now in the midst of an 11-day layoff, thanks to final exams. The team’s next game is on December 21, when they travel to Providence to take on Ivy League foe Brown.
Bucknell Bison (5-4)
Bucknell is another team that has put together a tough non-league schedule, matching up with some quality teams in preparation for the Patriot League season. In the early going, the team has already participated in two tournaments, losing in the opening round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic against Princeton and taking falling to Iowa State in the championship game of the Cyclone Classic.
In the last two weeks, the team won two of its three games, with its lone loss coming against Ivy League power Pennsylvania. Against the Quakers, Bucknell came out slow in the first half and the home team took advantage, taking an initial 14-2 lead and heading into halftime with a 38-20 edge. In the opening half, Bucknell had twice as many turnovers (12) as field goals (six), allowing Penn to build up a comfortable lead in cruising to victory. Kevin Bettencourt led all scorers with 16 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome his team’s slow start. Bettencourt was held scoreless for 37 minutes in the Bison’s next game against Yale, but Charles Lee had a career day in Bucknell’s 73-65 overtime victory over the Bulldogs. Lee posted 22 points and 18 rebounds, including a three-pointer with 15 seconds left that sent the game into overtime. In the extra frame, Bettencourt scored five of his eight points, helping the team to escape New Haven with a victory.
Against Robert Morris, Bucknell survived another slow start to defeat the Colonials, 60-45. Despite shooting 28 percent in the first half, the team went into halftime with a one-point lead thanks to an excellent defensive effort, holding Robert Morris to 29 percent shooting in the first half and 32 percent for the game. Bucknell, and specifically Chris McNaughton, heated up in the second half, as the sophomore center scored 11 points in a row on his way to a 19-point effort. Bettencourt also got back on the right track, adding 10 points in the win.
The Bison are also in the middle of an 11-day finals layoff, with the team next in action on December 18 against the Cornell Big Red.
Lehigh Mountain Hawks (3-4)
One team whose slow start has been a little surprising is Lehigh, which currently sits under .500 after seven games. The team has begun the season 0-3 on the road, while also having its 16-game home winning streak snapped in the team’s last game against Columbia.
Last Saturday the team went on the road to face Stony Brook and came home with yet another road loss, 56-49. After the first half, it looked like Lehigh might pick up its first road win of the year, shooting 51 percent from floor and leading by two points. However, the team went ice cold in the second half, making only two field goals in 31 attempts (a wretched 6.5 percent). Despite the terrible shooting, the team somehow found itself within one point of Stony Brook with 1:51 remaining after a three-pointer by Jose Olivero, who led the team with 23 points. But the team still could not find the basket, and never was able to overcome the Seawolves.
The team returned to Stabler Arena on Monday and dropped its first home game of the season, 75-61 to Columbia. The team once again could not get it done in the second half, hitting just four field goals in the final 20 minutes; meanwhile Columbia shot over 53 percent for the game. Lehigh was able to stay in the game by converting at the free throw line, hitting 27-of-38 attempts from the charity stripe. Olivero, who did not make a field goal, scored all six of his points from the line, while Joe Knight and Erik Smith both reached double figures for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh has two games coming up this week, beginning with a home match up against Eastern on Wednesday night. The team then tries for the fourth time to get its first road win of the season on Saturday when the Hawks travel to Cambridge for a matinee with Harvard.
Navy Midshipmen (3-5)
Navy sits in fifth place in the Patriot League despite being in the midst of a three-game losing streak, including two games in which the Midshipmen were blown out of the water.
Last Saturday against Ohio, the Middies fell behind early and never had a chance, losing 90-55. The team was down 25-9 after only 11 minutes of play and headed into halftime down by 20 points. David Hooper was the lone Navy player in double figures with 15 points, but Ohio was in total control of the game, never letting the lead shrink to less than 21 points in the second half of play. The first half of Monday’s game with Belmont looked promising for the Midshipmen, as the team shot 41 percent in the first half and went into halftime down only four points. Navy actually upped that shooting percentage in the second half, but the team also forgot to play defense – Belmont shot a torrid 70 percent in the final 20 minutes of play. Navy was outscored, 52-31, in the second half, allowing the Bruins to cruise to victory and giving the Middies a second consecutive blowout loss. Laramie Mergerson led the Middies with 14 points and nine rebounds, despite missing 9-of-15 shots.
Coming off two blowouts, Navy faced off with Stony Brook and made the game much more interesting – but the result was still the same. Despite a strong performance from David Hooper and some end-of-regulation heroics by Corey Johnson, Navy fell to the Seawolves, 80-78 in overtime. Hooper scored a game-high 23 points and Johnson hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game into overtime, but the Middies could not close out the Seawolves. Navy was up by five points with 1:30 left in the extra session, but Stony Brook outscored Navy 7-0 in the final 90 seconds, allowing the visitors to escape Alumni Hall with a victory.
Now mired in a three-game slump, the team gets one week off before its next game, on Saturday against Gettysburg.
Colgate Raiders (2-5)
The Raiders are in the midst of a three-game losing streak as well, following losses to Buffalo, Syracuse and Harvard. But the three losses offered some glimpses of hope for the Raiders, both for this season and for the future; namely the play of sophomore guard Jon Simon.
Colgate fell to Buffalo, 74-62, despite Simon’s game-high 20 points. The team was able to hang with Buffalo in the opening 20 minutes, but was unable to break through in the second half, coming within three points of the home team on three occasions. This game was won at the free-throw line for the Bulls, as Buffalo made 23 of its 29 attempts; meanwhile, Colgate attempted only 11 free throws, making nine of them.
The team’s next game, against the nationally ranked Syracuse Orange, may have been the team’s best outing of the year despite a 68-55 loss. Syracuse, which consistently has been able to play man-to-man defense against its lesser non-conference foes, was forced to turn to its vaunted 2-3 zone in the second half as Colgate exploited the Orange defense. Simon led the team with 18 points, and his jumper with 11:07 remaining tied the game for the third and final time in the second half. Although the team never led in the game, the Raiders left the Carrier Dome with a good feeling, headed into their next game against Harvard.
But, as has been characteristic of Raider teams of years past, the team followed up the quality game with a home loss to the Crimson, 85-82 in overtime, on Friday night. Harvard’s height was compounded by the loss of Raider starting center Marc Daniels, who broke his right foot in practice and will be sidelined for six weeks. Simon again led the team with 21 points, including a three-pointer with seven seconds left that send the game into overtime. First-year Kyle Roemer also added a career-high 19 points.
As with most teams, Colgate is off for finals week, next taking the court on Saturday against Hobart before welcoming Loyola-Marymount to Cotterell Court next Tuesday.
Army Black Knights (2-6)
The Black Knights have had a difficult beginning to their season, losing six of their first seven games before pulling out a victory over New York Maritime on Thursday night.
After its first win of the season over Polytechnic University, the team dropped two in a row to St. Francis (NY) and Albany before taking down NYM. Against St. Francis, Army came out strong and held a 29-17 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half, but the Terriers bounced back to tie the game headed into the half and took the lead for good early in the second stanza. Sophomore guard Matt Bell led Army with 22 points and classmate Cory Sinning added 14, but no other Black Knight scored more than eight points.
In the team’s next game, a Monday tilt with Albany, the team was routed by the Great Danes 73-46. The visitors jumped out to a quick lead and never relinquished it, as Army allowed Albany to shoot over 50 percent for the game. Bell was once again the team leader in points with 14, the team’s only double-digit scorer, but it helped little as his team was down by as many as 29 points in the second half. On Thursday night, the Black Knights finally returned to the win column with a 75-59 victory over New York Maritime. Bell and Colin Harris each scored 18 points for the team’s second win of the year, while the Privateers continued their winless streak through its seventh game of the season. Army came out strong, shooting 48 percent from the floor and keeping Maritime to 33 percent, which enabled the team to survive a second-half charge from the Privateers.
The Black Knights have a week to prepare for their next game, when they travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame on Sunday. This game will pose a definite problem for the Black Knights, which have enough trouble stopping lesser opponents from scoring.
Lafayette Leopards (1-6)
The early going of the 2004-2005 season has not been kind to the Lafayette Leopards, as the team won its season-opener against Duquesne but has lost six straight after that. In the last week the team has faced three very tough challenges, and came out on the wrong end of two close contests and one blowout.
As mentioned above, the Leopards were blown out by the Louisville Cardinals last Saturday, 98-57. First-year Paul Cummins led Lafayette with 13 points and Marcus Harley added 12, but the team was done in by 28 percent shooting and 19 turnovers. The Leopards hit only six field goals in the first half on the way to 19 points, compared to 54 points for the Cardinals, meaning that the game was over very quickly for the awestruck visitors.
The team attempted to bounce back on Monday, but a last-second three-pointer bounced off the rim and Lafayette fell to Cornell, 75-72. The Big Red tried to put the game out of reach early in the second half, taking a 14-point lead with 17 minutes left, but the Leopards bounced back to make the game exciting right down to the final seconds. Jamaal Douglas led four Leopards in double figures with 16 points, but the Big Red countered with four double-digit scorers of their own.
Lafayette tried once again to play catch-up Friday night against Marist, but the team was unable to overcome a 17-point deficit with 5:24 to play in falling 83-79. Despite the deficit, the visitors fought back to get within two points with 52 seconds left, but Harley missed a short potential game-tying bucket with 10 seconds remaining, allowing the Red Foxes to send Lafayette home with yet another loss.
The Leopards’ next attempt at winning elusive game number two is this evening, when they welcome Cal-State Northridge to the Kirby Sports Center. The team is then off for nine days before taking on Moravian.
