Patriot League Notebook
Out With The Old Year, In With The New
2004 is in the books and 2005 is now upon us. Some teams, such as Bucknell, didn’t want to see the calendar turn, while some other squads, such as Navy and Lafayette, will be making some New Year’s resolutions to improve their play for the new year. With the turn of the calendar comes the last week of non-league play before the ever-important Patriot League season begins on January 8. Next week’s notebook will have a complete round-up of non-league play and a look ahead to another exciting season of Patriot League action.
Eagle Leaves The American Nest
According to head coach Jeff Jones, freshman forward Coleman LeClair has decided to leave the American basketball team. LeClair, who had not entered a game for American this season, returned to his home in Chicago following the decision. LeClair is not the first men’s hoops player in the Patriot League to leave his team this season, following the departures of Colgate twins Kendall and Kyle Chones from Hamilton at the beginning of the fall semester and Holy Cross sophomore Joe Young. LeClair’s absence, however, is not expected to have nearly as strong an impact as the Chones brothers’ departure.
Bucknell Continues To Stampede Through Schedule
The Bison are certainly sad to see 2004 go, as they have put together one of the school’s best non-league records in over a decade. The team ended 2004 with a five-game winning streak, winning its last two games against Niagara and Saint Joseph’s and earning the team its best start to the season since a 9-4 start in 1992-1993. The five-game streak also matches Bucknell’s longest non-league winning streak in 46 years.
Player of the Week
Keith Simmons, Holy Cross
In his last three games, the sophomore from Kingston, N.Y., averaged 19 points, including a career-high 30-point effort in the Crusaders’ victory over Brown. Simmons currently ranks second on the Holy Cross team with 11.5 points per game despite not starting any of his team’s 10 games. Simmons also leads his team in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 49 percent of his three-point shots.
Rookie of the Week
Matt Sprink, Navy
The Navy freshman made his first collegiate start a productive one, setting career highs in points (14) and rebounds (10) in the team’s win over Mount Saint Mary’s. In the team’s two games against MSM and The Citadel, Sprink averaged 10 points and seven rebounds, receiving a starting nod in both games. For the season, Sprink is averaging 4.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
First Team Recaps of 2005
Bucknell Bison (8-4 overall)
The Bison only played two games in the last 11 days, but they still managed to pack a lot of excitement into 80 minutes of play. In the team’s first game, a December 23 contest with Niagara, Bucknell faced off with the nation’s highest scoring team and yet found a way to win. Both teams stayed within reach in the first half, with neither taking a lead of more than seven points. In the second half, Niagara began to assert itself, staying ahead or tied for 13:09.1 of the final 13:10 of the game, but that crucial nine-tenths of a second was the final moments of the game. Charles Lee hit a 17-footer within the final second of the game to break a 74-all tie and give the Bison a thrilling 76-74 victory. Lee finished with 13 points, while Kevin Bettencourt and Chris McNaughton led the home team with 21 points a piece.
Coming off that win, Bucknell traveled to Philadelphia and used some sharp shooting to defeat Saint Joseph’s, 69-62. The Bison handed the defending Atlantic-10 champs their first loss at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse in two years thanks to 64 percent shooting, including 10-of-15 shots from beyond the arc. Bucknell shot 59 percent from the floor in the first half and yet was down by one point headed into the half, but the team began the second half with a 17-6 run that gave it a lead it would never relinquish. The lead stood up in part thanks to some solid Bison defense, which held Saint Joe’s to 37 percent shooting for the game. Bettencourt once again led his team with 21 points, including 5-of-6 shooting from three-point land, while Lee added 17 points and eight rebounds.
Bucknell has one more non-league game before the beginning of league play, and that game is a heck of a tune-up. The Bison will travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday to take on the nationally ranked and undefeated Panthers, as Bucknell attempts to knock off the defending Atlantic-10 and Big East champions in consecutive games.
Holy Cross Crusaders (6-4)
Holy Cross upped its record to 6-4 after two wins and one loss in its last three games. On December 21, the Crusaders defeated Brown behind a career night from Keith Simmons. The sophomore guard scored a career-best 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting, including hitting all six of his shots from beyond the arc. Holy Cross came out firing in the first half, hitting 22 shots and shooting 69 percent from the floor, but the team’s defense gave the squad the win in the second half. The Crusaders held the Bears to two field goals over the final 10:30, including a stretch of 9:06 in which Brown managed only six free throws. Kevin Hyland also added 14 points for the Crusaders after hitting all seven of his shots, while Kevin Hamilton had a solid all around game with 10 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
The team made it two in a row with an 82-76 victory over Northeastern on Monday night. John Hurley (18 points) led five Crusaders in double figures as Hurley, Nate Lufkin and the rest of the Holy Cross squad made a living in the paint against a smaller Husky team. Ralph Willard’s crew outscored Northeastern 50-26 in the paint and out-rebounded the visitors by nine, as Northeastern’s starting frontcourt was held to a total of 11 points. NU scored the first four points of the contest, but Holy Cross responded quickly with a 14-2 run that gave it the lead for good only two minutes into the contest, once again using solid first-half shooting to jump out early and never look back.
HC ended 2004 on a down note, however, losing a tough 65-59 game to Vermont at the Hart Center. The dominance Holy Cross enjoyed in the paint over Northeastern was immediately counteracted by the nation’s second-leading scorer entering the game, Vermont’s Taylor Coppenrath. He outscored the Crusader starting frontcourt by himself, but the Holy Cross backcourt almost was able to overcome that. Simmons led the team with 15 points, while Torey Thomas added 14 and Hamilton scored 12 of his own in the loss. The game was very even throughout, with Holy Cross coming to within two points on a few occasions down the stretch, but the eventual scoring difference came from the free throw line. Vermont shot 16-of-21 from the charity stripe, while Holy Cross only attempted 11 free throws, making eight.
The Crusaders still have two more non-league games on the slate before the beginning of league play, with contests against Rhode Island on Sunday and Dartmouth on Wednesday.
American Eagles (5-4)
On the heels of a five-game winning streak, the Eagles ran into a rough patch with losses to both Maryland and La Salle. Against Maryland, ranked in the top 25 in the country, American led for the first 7:43 of the game and for a total of over 14 minutes in the opening half, keeping with the Terrapins for 30 minutes of play. The Eagles were down by just two points with 11:16 left in the second half, but Maryland responded with a 16-0 run that put the game well out of reach for the visitors. Jason Thomas led the Eagles with 14 points on 50 percent shooting, helping his team match the Terrapins in shooting percentage. The key to the Maryland win was its 44-28 rebounding edge, allowing the Terrapins to launch 66 shots – 13 more than the Eagles.
The Eagles officially ended the year on a losing streak after falling in their next game, 66-53 to La Salle on Tuesday. American struggled with its shooting all game long. Relying very heavily on its starting five, the team went into halftime down by just two thanks to taking 11 more shots than the Explorers. The second half began much more auspiciously for the Eagles, who started out with a 16-2 run to take a seemingly commanding lead. But the American offense disappeared down the stretch, hitting only two field goals and five free throws in the final 9:28. Andre Ingram scored a team-high 16 points for the Eagles, but the five bench players contributed only nine points. Thomas and Linas Lekavicius combined to shoot 1-for-20 from the field for three points, giving no support for Ingram and the rest of the Eagle offense.
American still has two tough road games left before league play begins, traveling to Delaware on Sunday and then moving on to match up with Missouri on Tuesday evening.
Lehigh Mountain Hawks (5-6)
The Mountain Hawks split their last two games, which is not a bad thing considering that one game came against Xavier and both contests were on the road – where Lehigh had yet to win this season. Against the Musketeers, Lehigh may have played its best game of the season, despite losing 69-63. Poor first-half shooting dug the visitors into a hole that they could not get themselves out of, as the Hawks connected at a 30 percent rate in the opening 20 minutes. Nick Monserez, who led the team with 20 points in his homecoming, was the only Mountain Hawk player to hit more than one shot in the first half as Xavier built up a 15-point halftime lead. The second half saw Lehigh put a scare into the home team, closing the double-digit lead and giving the Musketeers all they could handle down the stretch. The Mountain Hawks went on an 11-0 run and came to within four points with 1:39 left, but ultimately the first-half hole was simply too much to overcome.
But the highlight of the week for Lehigh was its 64-61 win over Towson, which snapped the team’s season-long eight-game road losing streak. The team’s road fortunes were reversed in the first half, as Lehigh shot 54 percent from the field and held Towson to 29 percent. Jose Olivero scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the opening half as the Hawks raced out to a 15-point halftime lead and then held on for the victory. The roles changed in the second half as Lehigh couldn’t find the net and Towson couldn’t miss, but Lehigh still managed to avoid disaster. Up by 12 points with 1:47 left, the Tigers whittled the lead down to two but couldn’t overcome their poor first half, giving Lehigh its first road win since their February 7, 2004 win over Navy.
Lehigh has one more game left on its four-game road trip, a Sunday afternoon contest at Wagner. The team then prepares for league play with a home game against the Cornell Big Red on Tuesday.
Navy Midshipmen (4-7)
The Midshipmen finally ended their four-game losing streak on December 21, defeating Mount Saint Mary’s, 90-81. In one of the team’s most complete games of the season, three Midshipmen players recorded double-doubles: Laramie Mergerson (20 points, 10 boards), Matt Fannin (19 and 10) and Matt Sprink (14 and 10). Corey Johnson (14 points) and David Hooper (10) also reached double figures in points for the Middies. With 6:14 left in the first half, Navy went on a big 16-0 run in four minutes that gave the team a 12-point lead which it took into halftime. Navy, which shot 50 percent from the floor, also dominated the Mountaineers on the glass, out-rebounding its opponent 51-26. The win, which came after the team’s loss to Division III Gettysburg, looked to be a portent of things to come for Navy, but that was not the case.
Navy returned to the court on Thursday and lost for the fifth time in six games, falling 87-72 to The Citadel. The shooting touch that had helped the Middies to victory against Mount Saint Mary’s deserted Navy against the Bulldogs, as the team shot just 36 percent from the field for the game. More than shooting, however, Navy committed 23 turnovers that took away scoring opportunities and handed free points to the Bulldogs – The Citadel scored 20 points off of the 23 Navy turnovers. Hooper led Navy with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Mergerson (13 and 8) and Fannin (13 and 7) also had solid games for the Middies, but the team was unable to stop the Bulldogs on the offensive end, allowing The Citadel to shoot 49 percent for the game.
Navy has one more game in which to prepare for the upcoming Patriot League season, when the Middies face off with fellow service academy Air Force on Monday evening.
Colgate Raiders (4-8)
The Raiders were by far the busiest Patriot League team in the last 11 days, playing four games in that span. On December 21, Colgate hosted Loyola Marymount and wound up on the losing end of a 64-54 game. The Raiders shot the ball well in the first 20 minutes, especially guard Alvin Reed, who scored all 19 of his points in the first half of the game on 7-of-12 shooting. But Reed and the Raiders went cold in the second half, hitting only 6-of-24 shots from the field as the Lions outscored Colgate by 16 points after the half. Colgate’s Jon Simon, the team’s leading scorer, was held without a field goal and registered only two points in the loss.
Following the loss, Colgate traveled to Florida for two games in the Florida International Holiday Classic. In the opening round, the Raiders were paired up with the host FIU squad and fell to the Golden Panthers, 72-56. Once again, the Raiders were done in by poor shooting, especially from beyond the arc. Colgate launched 28 three-pointers in the game but only made five of them, including missing all 13 attempts in the second half. Reed once again led the team with 13 points, but his 4-for-13 shooting game typified the Raider offensive attack. The five Colgate starters combined to shoot 16-of-51 for the contest. In the consolation game, Colgate lost its third consecutive game overall and its first-ever game to Binghamton, 65-61. The Bearcats scored the first four points and never looked back, as the Raiders fell behind by as many as 17 in the first half and could never regain the lead, despite paring the lead to two points on numerous occasions in the second half. Andrew Zidar led Colgate with 14 points, but Simon had his third consecutive quiet game, scoring only nine points. In the two games of the tournament Simon scored a combined 16 points.
Against Florida Atlantic, Simon returned to form and Colgate returned to the win column. Simon scored a game-high 21 points, including 13 in the second half, to help Colgate break its three-game losing streak and win its first road game of the year, 81-75. The game was full of firsts for Colgate, including the first game in which Colgate had rebounded from a halftime deficit to win the game. The second half spurt came due to the Raiders’ excellent shooting, as the team hit 67 percent of its second half shots and 71 percent of its three-point attempts. Forward Kyle Roemer added 16 points and center Andrew Zidar contributed 14 of his own to help Colgate snap its losing streak heading into League play.
With the win, Colgate will head into the League portion of the schedule on an up note. The Raiders begin their league slate on Saturday, when they face off with Army.
Lafayette Leopards (3-7)
Lafayette had two very different games with two very different outcomes in the last 11 days, with a relatively easy win over Moravian followed up with a blowout loss at the hands of Georgia Tech. Against Moravian, the Leopards survived an initial Greyhound attack and took control of the contest with a 17-0 run over 4:35 that erased a five-point deficit and gave the Leopards a 12-point advantage. With a double-digit lead for the majority of the game, Lafayette got all 13 of its players into the game, with all but two Leopards draining at least one field goal. Andrei Capusan led the Leopards in scoring with 15 points, but the Lafayette bench contributed 31 points, compared to four for Moravian.
Coming off that victory, the Leopards had a predictably tough time with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, falling to the top-10 team, 92-58. As Patriot League teams have proven they could do in the past, Lafayette stayed with Georgia Tech for the first half and part of the second, as the Leopards went into halftime down by eight and lowered the deficit to six on three occasions in the final 20 minutes. The Leopards last trailed by six at the 13:16 mark, before Tech went on a 33-7 run over the next 9:01 to seal the game. Lafayette held Georgia Tech to 39 percent shooting in the first half to keep the game close early, but the Leopards were unable to stay with the quicker and stronger Yellow Jackets for the entire 40 minutes. Bilal Abdullah led the Leopards with 12 points, while Capusan was the game’s leading rebounder with 10 boards.
Before League play begins, Lafayette has two non-league games left. Lafayette welcomes Columbia to Easton on Sunday and then travels to New York to take on Saint Francis on Tuesday evening.
Army Black Knights (2-8)
The struggles continue for the Black Knights, as the team came off an 11-day layoff against Fairleigh Dickinson and fell to the Knights, 69-53. The first half was an anomaly for the Black Knights, who had a higher shooting percentage than the Knights but trailed by 12 at the half because they attempted half as many shots as Fairleigh Dickinson (16 to 32). The second half saw the Knights maintain their double-digit lead and cruise to victory, as Army once again could not find the net. The Black Knights had one 6:09 stretch in which the team couldn’t manage a field goal, and Army made only two field goals in the final 6:28 of the game. Colin Harris led Army with both 15 points and five rebounds while Travis Owsley added 10 points, but the Black Knight bench only managed to score five points in the loss.
As the team most likely to enjoy the turning of the calendar, the Black Knights’ New Year’s resolution to start winning begins on Sunday when they host Cornell, followed by a Tuesday evening home match-up with Columbia.
