Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

Seeing that this is the Patriot League, I would first like to congratulate the New England Patriots on their second Super Bowl victory in three years Sunday night over the Carolina Panthers. And even though no member of the Patriots (or Panthers, for that matter) attended a Patriot League school, I still felt it was necessary to mention the Patriots in my Patriot League notebook, if only because I’m from Massachusetts.

Now onto the important stuff…

Navy Coach To Retire At Season’s End

Maybe the losing finally got to him, but Navy’s Don DeVoe has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. DeVoe, in his twelfth season as the Midshipmen head coach, has a record of 182-155 at the Naval Academy heading into this weekend’s games. He has led the team to at least a share of five league regular season titles and three Patriot League Tournament titles, while being named the League’s Coach of the Year on three separate occasions, with the last coming in 2000. In his 31 years behind the bench, DeVoe has put together a career mark of 510-383, and his 510 wins put him 57th all-time among coaches and eighteenth among active coaches. As a regular behind the bench of Navy, he will be missed come season’s end.

Player of the Week

Kevin Bettencourt, Bucknell

Bettencourt takes home his third Player of the Week award this season after averaging 22.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the team’s two wins last weekend. The sophomore guard also went 21-of-22 from the free throw line for the weekend, as he led his team to its current fourth place perch in the Patriot League standings.

Freshman of the Week

Kendall Chones, Colgate

I picked him last week, and the League decided to do likewise this week. His first official Freshman of the Week honors comes after a career-high 19-point and six board effort against Bucknell, which he followed up with a 10-point, 11-rebound game against Lehigh.

Lafayette Leaves American Seeing 3D’s

After taking advantage of having four of the team’s first five league games of the season at home, Lafayette (16-4 overall, 7-0 PL) ventured outside Easton for its first road series of the season, facing off with second-place American (good) and last-place Navy (bad). Despite the very different levels of competition, the Leopards came away from their first road test with the undefeated record still intact.

As has become a pattern for the Leopards, 40 minutes of fun just wasn’t enough to decide the victor between Lafayette and American on Friday night. American came out of the gate and played exceptionally well in the first half, as Lafayette scored the first bucket of the game and then didn’t lead for the rest of the half. The Leopards were held under 40 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, as the visitors were dominated by a determined Eagle squad. Down by as many as 13, Lafayette slowly rebounded in the second half to cut the lead to just two points with 12 ticks left. With five seconds remaining, Justin DeBerry drove the lane and dished off to Rob Dill, who slammed home the game’s tying points with 1.8 seconds left. Winston Davis scored eight of his 15 points in the extra session, allowing the Leopards to escape with an 86-83 win. Dill scored all 15 of his points and swatted away four of his five blocks after halftime, while DeBerry also added 15 points and 10 assists, including the crucial dish to Dill with the game on the line. The Three Killer D’s helped Lafayette shoot 59 percent in the second half and just under 49 percent for the game, spoiling a valiant upset effort by the Eagles.

The Leopards then moved to 7-0 in the Patriot League for the first time in school history after a 65-50 win over another team looking for an upset, this time Navy. This time the scoring came from forward Sean Knitter, who scored 11 of his game-high 15 points in the second half. The points were needed as Navy jumped out to a surprising 27-22 lead by halftime, thanks in large part to the Leopards’ 7-of-21 first half shooting. The first place Leopards, as in the win over American, only led in the first half after scoring the opening two points. Lafayette, however, turned the tables on the last place Midshipmen in the second half, limiting Navy to an almost identical 7-of-22 shooting. The team then took its first lead of the second half five minutes in, and put away the pesky Navy squad with a 11-2 run late in the final stanza to make the final score not indicative of the intensity and closeness of the contest.

After finishing the first run through the Patriot League without a blemish, the ride begins again for Lafayette, beginning on Friday night when they travel to Cotterell Court to take on Colgate. (Shameless Plug Alert!) The game will be broadcast live over the internet by Sportsjuice.com at 7:45 p.m., with yours truly providing color commentary along side play-by-play man Ted Rossman, if you just have to hear it live. The team then finishes up its four-game road string against Army on Tuesday night.

Lehigh Crosses Off Holy Cross, Brushes Away Colgate

The resilient Mountain Hawks (13-7 overall, 6-1 PL) bounced back from last weekend’s tough loss to Lafayette by taking down Holy Cross and Colgate to take over second place by themselves. And yes, being a Colgate student, I have heard the “brush” joke and its many variants over 5,000 times, so I’m certainly not trying to be original.

There are not many games in which a team can shoot 32 percent from the field and expect to win, but that is just what the Mountain Hawks did on Friday night, beating Holy Cross, 63-53 at Stabler Arena. Lehigh defeated the Crusaders for the first time since 2000 thanks in large part to the play of Jose Olivero, who scored a game-high 21 points for the home team, 10 coming from the free throw line. The Mountain Hawks had a dismal first half, only hitting 4-of-21 shots (19 percent), and yet managed to get to the half only down one point. A big part of Lehigh’s success was on the defensive end, where they compiled 11 steals and forced 17 Crusader turnovers, allowing the offense, which shot 50 percent in the second half, to get the team back in the game. Austen Rowland, coming off his excellent weekend, scored just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting, but contributed five steals along with four boards and helpers.

Rowland came back strong on Sunday, however, helping the Mountain Hawks overcome a late run by Colgate in a 61-56 victory. Rowland scored a game-high 25 while Jason Mgebroff also reached double figures with 13 for Lehigh as they came back after the Raiders had erased an 11-point lead with less than two minutes remaining. The Hawks were able to pull ahead for good after Rowland hit a big three-pointer after Colgate mustered a one-point lead, then lead held up thanks to perfect free throw shooting from the home squad. Nick Monserez and Ra Tiah hit a combined six-of-six free throws in the game’s final minute, capping off a perfect night from the free throw line for Lehigh. Monserez also grabbed a season-high 10 boards on the afternoon for the Mountain Hawks, as the team kept themselves just one game back of Lafayette.

This weird schedule week has the Lehigh team traveling to take on two teams heading in opposite directions, first traveling to West Point to take on Army before jaunting over to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell on Saturday in a very important game against the surging Bison. If the team wants a shot at the top spot in the league, they’ll simply have to bide their time and keep winning until the team’s final shot at Lafayette arrives in late February.

Eagles Kill Themselves From The Free Throw Line Versus Lafayette

1.8 seconds. American (11-10 overall, 5-2 PL) was that close to pulling into a first-place tie with visiting Lafayette. Which is a shame, considering that the Eagles had their way with the Leopards for most of the game, trailing for just 39 seconds in the game’s first 40 minutes. But after letting Lafayette get back in the game, American had many chances to put the game away during the final minutes. American went the final 4:22 without a field goal, scoring only two free throws in that span. But once again, free throw shooting killed the Eagles. The team shot 59 percent from the charity stripe on the evening, highlighted by Andres Rodriguez missing the front end of two one-and-ones in the span of two seconds that could have sealed the game for the Eagles in regulation. The team then hit just 2-of-9 shots in the extra five minutes, while also (surprise, surprise) missing 4-of-8 free throw attempts. Raimondas Petrauskas led the team in scoring with 16, while Jernavis Draughn scored 15 points and collected 11 boards, but in the end the team was simply unable to hit their shots when they counted. At the end of the season, this could be a game that head coach Jeff Jones looks at and wishes he had back, depending on how the final standings play out.

The team seemed to shake off any ill affects of the loss when they faced off against Army, a team that seems to cure most any team’s ills. Petrauskas again led the way for the Eagles, coming off the bench to score more points (24) than the team’s five starters combined (21, 12 of those by Andre Ingram). American used a big surge at the midway point of the first half to take control of the game, outscoring Army 16-0 at one point to build up a 19-point lead with 3:16 left in the first half. The Eagles didn’t score for the rest of the first half and the first four minutes of the second; however, Army couldn’t get the lead below double-figures, and the lead never dropped below 12 after the Army run concluded. The team also shot 74 percent from the free throw line, including Petrauskas’ 10-of-13 night at the line; of course the free throws didn’t matter too much in this one.

American begins the second half of its Patriot League season with a tough game on the road against Bucknell on Saturday, then attempts to swat away the upset bug when they travel to Annapolis to take on the Midshipmen.

The Bison Begin To Make A Charge

The Bucknell Bison basketball squad (8-12 overall, 4-3 PL) has finally risen above the .500 mark for the first time in the Patriot League campaign after defending the home court against visiting Colgate and Holy Cross.

The Bison came out hot against the Raiders on Friday night, sprinting to an early 21-8 lead. Colgate battled back, taking a brief lead early in the second half, but the Bison defense provided just enough resistance, as Colgate never got within a basket during the game’s final nine minutes. Charles Lee provided a spark for Bucknell, scoring a team-high 16 points and snatching a game-high 11 rebounds, while Kevin Bettencourt got his customary double digits, adding another 16 to match Lee. Donald Brown and Chris McNaughton both contributed 10 points for the Bison, as Brown was the only Bison reserve to break the two-point barrier on the evening. One point of concern on this night for Bucknell was the team’s terrible three-point shooting, making only 2-of-15 from beyond the arc, with Bettencourt leading the way with a 1-for-7 performance from three-point land.

The team rectified its three-point shooting on Sunday afternoon against the Crusaders, as the team shot 63 percent from three-point land in a 77-67 victory over Holy Cross at Sojka Pavilion, beating the Crusaders for the first time in its last five tries. Bettencourt led the charge for the Bison with a game-high 29 points, with 14 of those coming from the charity stripe. The good free throw shooting translated into good shooting overall for the Bison, as the team’s 58 percent shooting from the floor would indicate. Despite the good shooting, Bucknell found itself down by one at the half, but managed to come away with its first win of the year when the team trailed at the half. And has been the case in many a league game this season, the game was capped off by some excellent free throw shooting, as the Bison connected on 9-of-10 free throws in the final 1:30 of the game.

Bucknell has the toughest next few games on the schedule, as it faces off with third place American on Saturday at home and then hosts second place Lehigh on Tuesday night. A win versus the Eagles would vault the team into a third place tie with American, while a sweep would most likely leave them in third as well, but would serve some definitive notice that the Bison do not intend to go away any time soon.

And not that we’ve recapped the good teams in the Patriot League, let’s get to the bottom four…

Colgate Seems Clueless While Blue-less

While most of the campus was celebrating the men’s hockey team’s weekend sweep of archrival Cornell, nobody seemed to notice that the men’s basketball team that shares the Reid Athletic Center was falling further and further out of contention in the Patriot League race after being swept this past weekend.

Once again without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Howard Blue, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury, Colgate (10-10 overall, 2-5 PL) dropped a 61-53 decision to Bucknell on Friday night. Kendall Chones continued his strong play starting in the place of Blue, scoring a game and career-high 19 points and adding 6 rebounds, but his effort was unable to counteract the balanced Bison attack. Andrew Zidar, the main inside presence for Colgate without Blue, got into early foul trouble and only scored two points before fouling out, his lowest point output of the season. Colgate was victimized by uncharacteristically poor foul shooting, especially in the second half, when the team hit only 38 percent of its free throws. Coming into the game shooting a league-best 74 percent from the charity stripe, the Raiders hit just over 50 percent of their attempts on Friday night. If the Raiders had only hit a few more of their free throws, the result of the game very well could have been different.

For the first time all season, Colgate lost back-to-back games after falling to Lehigh on Super Bowl Sunday, 61-56. The team continued their road woes, as the team has not won a road contest yet in 2004, thanks in part to that free throw shooting thing again. The team was under 60 percent again from the free throw line, and if they had just hit six of those eight missed shots, the game might have again gone the other way. Andrew Zidar managed to come back from his season-low outing by leading the team with 18 points, while Kendall Chones got his first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. However, the efforts were wasted due to the lack of bench scoring, as the Raider reserves mustered only 10 points, with Jon Foss collecting seven and fellow Chones brother Kyle getting the other three. Keith Williams made his first start of the year for Colgate in place of an ill Josh Humphrey, but didn’t register a point in 16 minutes of play; not that Humphrey does much more than that on a nightly basis, anyways.

As the weeks wane, each game becomes more and more important for the fading Raiders, and this weekend is no exception. The Colgate squad hosts league-leading Lafayette on Friday night at 8 p.m. (see link above to get the internet broadcast), looking for a huge upset, then battles fellow 2-5 Holy Cross on Wednesday night at the Hart Center, a place in which the team had their score doubled in an 86-43 humiliation that I was unfortunate enough to witness personally last January. The team hopes to do a little better this time around, but with Howard Blue still out, we’ll see what transpires.

Holy Cross Continues Through Uncharacteristic Season

This season has been unfamiliar to the Worcester fandom, as Holy Cross (8-12 overall, 2-5 PL) is continuing to weather a down year. Last weekend, the Crusaders lost two in a row at the Hart Center, a place in which fans are accustomed to seeing Crusader victories and lots of them. This year, however, is different.

Holy Cross began the weekend on Friday night, falling to Lehigh, 63-53. The Crusaders were able to stay with the Mountain Hawks for the first 20 minutes, holding a tenuous 23-22 halftime lead. The Holy Cross defense played very well in the first stanza, holding Lehigh to 19 percent shooting overall, including 14 percent from beyond the arc. Jave Meade scored eight of his 12 points in the first half while Kevin Hamilton added seven of his 12 before intermission, helping keep the Crusaders in the game. After a Lehigh run gave the Mountain Hawks a lead as big as 13, Holy Cross was able to cut the lead down to five with under five minutes remaining. But the fouls began to catch up with The Cross by the game’s end, as Lehigh’s free throw attempts rose into the 40′s, compared to only 24 for the Crusaders. The Holy Cross bench was only to contribute eight points to the team’s cause, with Keith Simmons the better of only two bench scorers with six points.

On Sunday afternoon, the team ran into a streaking Bucknell Bison squad, losing again by 10 points, this time by a score of 77-67. The Crusaders once again were able to stay with their opponent in the first half, taking a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime as they did against Lehigh. The Crusaders came out and scored the first two baskets of the second half, but then watched Bucknell score 11 unanswered points to take the lead. The Crusaders, as would be expected of a Ralph Willard-coached team, didn’t quit, managing to tie the game with 4:46 remaining before finally succumbing to a game-clinching 9-0 run by the Bison over the next 2:36. Nate Lufkin led the team in scoring, with 12 points, and was one of three Crusaders with four rebounds. Jave Meade added 11 and Kevin Hamilton put in 10 of his own, but the team was unable to overcome the hot shooting of its opposition.

The Cross will look to put some separation between themselves and the other two teams that currently stand at 2-5 in the league alongside them, as the Crusaders host Army on Saturday and welcome the Raiders of Colgate to the Hart Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Service Academies Still In Need Of Major Tune Ups

Army (5-14 overall, 2-5 PL) and Navy (3-17 overall, 0-7 PL) are being grouped together because the two teams only managed to win one of their combined four games this weekend…and that game was between the two teams. There’s not too much to write about them, but I’ll do my best.

Friday night’s contest between the Black Knights and the Midshipmen was certainly close, which must count for something. Army’s 52-50 win was the team’s first in Alumni Hall in its last 15 games, and the win was also just the third win in its last 28 games against their archrivals. Down by one early, Navy reeled off a 13-1 run while holding the Black Knights without a field goal for over seven minutes. Rather than retreat to its terrible shooting habits, however, Army responded with a 20-2 run spanning the final 1:24 of the first half and the first seven minutes of the second. The game was not over, however, as Navy came back to tie the game on two occasions and was in position to steal a win in the game’s waning moments. Kwame Ofori, who led the Midshipmen with 15 points, had a three pointer that would have given Navy a one-point lead rim out, and two Bill Mohr free throws clinched the game for the Black Knights. Along with Ofori, David Hooper was the only other Middie in double figures with 10, while Matt Bell and Sean O’Keefe scored 17 and 12, respectively, to lead the victorious Black Knights to victory. Navy struggled mightily from the floor the entire evening, shooting 25 percent from the field by game’s end, while Army had a very good shooting night, hitting 47 percent of its shots.

The Black Knights couldn’t make anything of its one-game winning streak, traveling to D.C. and falling prey to American, 60-46. First-year player Travis Owsley stepped up his play for the visitors, as the guard was the only Army player over seven points with his lucky 13. An 18-0 Eagle run midway through the first half put away any chances of a Black Knight upset, as the Army offense took an unscheduled break. Army never got within single-digits after the big run, allowing American to cruise to the victory. Coming off his 12-point performance in the team’s win over Navy, Sean O’Keefe was held scoreless, as the senior took only three three-pointers and missed them all. If the Black Knights are going to hang with the upper echelon of the patriot League, the team is going to have to find a way to put together a solid game of basketball, not just one half of it.

The Navy team had dreams of taking down the top dog in the Patriot League on Sunday, putting a scare into the Lafayette Leopards before succumbing to a second-half onslaught, losing 65-50. Coach Don DeVoe purposely attempted to slow down the pace of the game in the first half, and his strategy seemed to work perfectly as the Middies limited the Leopards to just 22 first-half points and took a shocking five-point lead into the half. Navy’s lack of size inside and its sudden inability to shoot the ball from the outside led to a second half in which they were outscored by 20 points. Lafayette’s big men camped inside for easy baskets on their end of the court, while Navy shot just 32 percent in the second half. Taj Mathews led the Midshipmen with a career-best 11 points as the team fell one half short of an incredible upset.

Army faces off with Holy Cross, a fellow 2-5 squad, on Saturday afternoon and then attempts to do what no Patriot League team has done so far this season, defeat Lafayette on Wednesday. Navy, meanwhile, has two tough tasks in Lehigh and American, on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

This past weekend was a very entertaining weekend of basketball in the Patriot League, with a large share of very good basketball games. Conversely, there were also a few games that were decided before the first 20 minutes had concluded. But most importantly, the eight games played this weekend went a long way in determining who are the haves and the have-nots in the league this season.

At this point in the league season, nobody has yet to stop the Lafayette Leopards, who continue to stay atop the Patriot League as the lone undefeated squad. Also, it looks like Navy is keeping a firm grasp on the cellar keys to the Patriot League, having yet to win a league game this season, although Army might wrestle those keys away if they continue their terrible play (see below).

And in the middle of the pack, there is a trio of two-win teams that find themselves looking up in the standings, wrestling each other for the all-important statistical advantage for when tournament time comes.

Just as this weekend was a litmus test for many teams to see where they stand in the Patriot League, another important league weekend looms in the near future, as teams strive to prove they belong near the top of the standings.

Patriot League Player of the Week

Austen Rowland, Lehigh; The senior guard single-handedly took the Lehigh team under his wing this weekend, averaging 29 points in two games against Lafayette and Army. His best game of his short Patriot League career took place in the team’s OT loss to Lafayette, in which he dropped 35 points on the Leopards. The Hyattsville, MD native also averaged five assists, four rebounds and three steals this weekend.

Patriot League Rookies of the Week

The League’s Pick: Marcus Harley, Lafayette; The first-year guard averaged 15.5 points per game in the Leopards’ two wins this weekend, including 17 points in the win versus Lehigh.

My Pick: Kendall Chones, Colgate; The forward stepped up his play in the absence of leading scorer Howard Blue, scoring 16 points and grabbing five rebounds in both the team’s loss to American and its victory over Navy. His emergence was a pleasant surprise in a weekend of uncertainty for the Raiders.

Lafayette Works Overtime to Keep Unbeaten Record Intact

The Leopards (14-4 overall, 5-0 PL) must really like the game of basketball, because 80 minutes just wasn’t enough for Lafayette this weekend. In one of the best basketball games of the season, the Leopards outlasted Lehigh in a first place showdown on Friday night, 111-104, to take sole possession of the top spot. Justin DeBerry carried the Leopards past the archrival Mountain Hawks, scoring 26 points and dishing out seven assists to lead five Leopards in double figures. Lafayette excelled from the free-throw line on the evening, hitting 35-of-43 free-throw attempts, including 14 alone from the charity stripe in the extra session. Lafayette’s sizzling offense managed to carry them through this one, at the team shot 56 percent from the field and nearly matched that with a 53 percent outing from three-point range. Along with shooting at an 82 percent clip from the free-throw line, the Leopards managed to put together a very impressive offensive night at the right time. And let it be noted that Lafayette scored 21 points in the five-minute overtime alone; that stat will come in handy during another team’s review.

Not content to sit on their laurels, the Lafayette team came back on Sunday and put away a pesky Bucknell team, 81-72. Freshman Marcus Harley stepped up for coach Fran O’Hanlon, scoring a team-high 14 points in 25 minutes off the bench for the Leopards. Rob Dill added 13 points and 4 blocks, while Mike Farrell became the 20th Leopard to snatch up 500 rebounds for his career. Lafayette never trailed in the second half, utilizing just enough defensive pressure to repel a couple of Bison late-game charges. As in the Lehigh game, Lafayette was able to out-score its opponents’ reserves, as the Leopard subs registered 17 more points than their Bucknell counterparts.

Now with a big bull’s eye squarely on their backs, the Lafayette men face an upcoming four-game road trip, leaving the Kirby Sports Center where the squad has won its last 11 games and 15 of 16 contests. The team will face off with a surging American team on Friday night and a sinking Navy team Sunday afternoon.

A Pair of Battling Birds Perched Near Standings Summit

Lehigh and American sit tied for second place in the Patriot League this weekend, after the Mountain Hawks’ weekend split and the Eagles’ two-game sweep.

The Mountain Hawks (11-7 overall, 4-1 PL) fell out of first place with Friday’s tough loss to Lafayette, despite the efforts of Austen Rowland. The senior guard dropped 35 points on the Leopards in a long 42 minutes of action, vaulting over the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career. Another bright spot for Lehigh was the play of its freshmen, who each recorded double-digits in scoring. Jose Olivero continued his stellar rookie campaign with 17 points, while Jason Mgebroff and Kyle Neptune both recorded career-highs with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Lehigh led for most of the first three quarters, but a Lafayette rally faced the Mountain Hawks with a 1-point deficit with 3 minutes remaining. Lehigh wouldn’t quit, however, with Olivero tying the game with 11 seconds left with a pair of free-throws to send it to overtime.

The team bounced back on Sunday afternoon, when the team was fortunate enough to play Army. In the team’s 60-45 victory, Austen Rowland once against led the team with a game-high 23 points as the team led throughout the entire contest. The Mountain Hawks held the Black Knights to just 10 points on 12 percent shooting in the first half, before the Army team boosted its percentage up into the thirties by the end of the evening. Junior Nick Monserez was the only other Mountain Hawk in double digits for the Bethlehem ballers, who made sure no Army comeback would occur by shooting an excellent 57 percent from the floor in the second half and an even 50 percent for the game. Freshman Jason Mgebroff had another encouraging outing for Coach Billy Taylor, as he contributed seven points and eight rebounds off the bench.

The American Eagles (10-9 overall, 4-1 PL) swept through this past weekend to grab hold of second place, beginning Friday night with a hard-fought 74-71 road win against Colgate. This game matched up two teams in gear offensively, as both teams ended up with identical 53 percent shooting percentages from the field. Matej Cresnik and Linas Lekavicius were the only two Eagles to score more than ten points, but the duo was helped greatly by five other players scoring at least seven points. Lekavicius, along with Jamaal Caterina (7 points) provided a spark for American off the bench, helping the team overcome 44 percent shooting from the free throw line. Andres Rodriguez had a particularly tough time from the charity stripe, going 1-for-7 and keeping Colgate in the game as the team continued to foul the Patriot League assist leader. While missing 10 free throws may not have hurt them against Colgate, you can be sure that type of shooting performance would not stand up against Lehigh or Lafayette.

The Eagles continued playing well and left Worcester on Sunday with the team’s first ever road victory against the Crusaders, leaving the Hart Center with a 62-59 decision. This time, Andres Rodriguez clinched the game for the Eagles with his free-throw shooting, as he scored the team’s last six points and 10 of his 14 on the afternoon from the free-throw line. Once again, Matej Cresnik led the team with 15 points, followed by Rodriguez’ 14 tallies, while seven other Eagles got their names on the score sheet as well. American dominated the Crusaders in the paint, scoring 28 points to the Cross’ 12, in storming back from a six-point halftime deficit. Freshman Andre Ingram was held to only five points on 2-of-10 shooting for the Eagles, being held under double digits in consecutive games for the first time since the second and third games of the year.

Lehigh will attempt to replicate the success of American this weekend when it faces off with both Colgate and Holy Cross, with both games being played at Stabler Arena. American, meanwhile, gets the daunting task of attempting to knock off unbeaten Lafayette in front of the Eagles’ home crowd, but for their efforts they also get to play Army on Sunday. It will be an interesting weekend for these two teams, as Lehigh will be going up against two very tough teams hungry to get back into the thick of things in the Patriot League, while American has the toughest test of them all in Lafayette.

Colgate Singing the “Blue”s

The Raiders (10-8 overall, 2-3 PL) split their two games this past weekend against American and Navy, which was a respectable result considering the team was without the services of senior Howard Blue, who leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the league in both scoring and rebounding. Mark Linebaugh scored 21 points to lead Colgate, but it was freshman Kendall Chones who picked up the slack for Blue in his absence. The forward scored 16 points and grabbed five boards in his first collegiate start, including hitting all seven of his shots from the field. The team shot 53 percent on the evening, but as mentioned above the Raiders also allowed American to shoot at the same clip. The Raider bench contributed very little to the loss, as they were outscored by their American counterparts by a score of 31-10. Jon Simon led the Colgate reserves with six points.

Against the Naval Academy, a pair of freshman stepped up for Colgate and rallied the team to victory. Kendall Chones had his second straight impressive outing, again collecting 16 points and five rebounds, while Jon Simon scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to keep the Raiders ahead of the Midshipmen. Simon’s 21 points, a career high, was aided by 9-of-9 shooting from the charity stripe. Besides Chones and Simon, three other Raiders reached double figures, while the team’s bench produced 36 points – thanks in large part to Simon – but nevertheless a huge improvement from two nights before. Colgate once again shot over 50 percent for the game (55 percent), but this time was able to keep Navy under 50 percent (49 percent). The Middies shot the ball well in the first half, opening up a six-point lead at one point, before Colgate went on a 15-4 run to close out the first-half and regain a lead they would now relinquish.

Colgate has a difficult weekend ahead of them, at the Raiders travel to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell before trekking to Bethlehem to take on the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh. And, while the team managed to pull off a split last weekend, if the team remains without the services of Howard Blue, Colgate will have to pull off a couple miracles in order to defeat these two strong teams.

Holy Cross and Bucknell Each Win One, Lose One

Holy Cross and Bucknell both kept pace with Colgate last weekend, as both teams were victorious on Friday before falling on Sunday.

The Crusaders (8-10 overall, 2-3 PL) got back on the winning track on Friday by cruising to an 88-54 win over the winless Midshipmen of Navy. Senior guard Jave Meade was all over the floor for Holy Cross, scoring a game-high 15 points, dishing out seven assists and adding six steals. A couple of big runs in the first half helped Holy Cross pull away from Navy, as an 11-0 run closed out by eight straight points by Keith Simmons pulled the Crusaders ahead, while a 20-5 run last in the first half helped put the Middies away for good. Holy Cross held a 23-point advantage at the half, as the team shot the lights out in the first half, connecting on two-thirds of their shots. Ralph Willard’s club was able to coast through the second half, as no starter played more than 27 minutes for Holy Cross on the evening.

Holy Cross against jumped out to an early lead against American on Sunday, but the team’s shooting failed them in the second half, allowing the Eagles to erase a ten-point deficit to win for the first time at the Hart Center. Once again, Jave Meade did all he could for his team, as he poured in 14 points while adding seven assists. His first assist of the evening was number 532 on his career, breaking the old Patriot League record set in 1997 by Navy’s Brian Walker. Greg Kinsey also added 14 points for the Crusaders, who shot just 28 percent from the field in the second half. Holy Cross was held to just one field goal in over 11 minutes during a 19-3 American run late in the second half, and a late Crusader surge was not enough to overcome the team’s dismal shooting stretch.

Speaking of dismal shooting performances, the Bucknell Bison (6-12 overall, 2-3 PL) might have been able to use some local high school players and still beat Army on Friday, as the team barely broke a sweat in a 56-23 embarrassment of the Black Knights. Abe Badmus and Charles Lee both scored 13 points to lead the Bison offense, but most of the attention was on the lowest-scoring performance against a Bucknell team since the pre-shot clock era of 1941, when the Bison defeated Susquehanna, 22-18. The Bison dominated on the glass against the overmatched Black Knights, rebounding all those Army misses to the tune of a 43-17 rebounding advantage. In a surprising statistic, Bucknell didn’t make a field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game, but by that point the game was so out of hand that it didn’t matter. Bucknell could have played with four, maybe even three players and still won.

Things got a little bit tougher for the Bison on Sunday, when they were beaten by the still-undefeated Lafayette Leopards, 81-72. Bucknell actually came out of the game with a higher shooting percentage than the Leopards, but the team’s three-point shooting and free-throw shooting let the team down. Bucknell shot only 29 percent from beyond the arc, while hitting only 17 percent of its free throws, compared to 45 percent and 82 percent, respectively, for Lafayette. Chris McNaughton and Kevin Bettencourt both had 16 points to pace to Bison attack, however McNaughton fouled out late in the second half. After giving up the fewest points in League history, the 81 points scored by Lafayette were the most Bucknell has given up in a Patriot League contest since the 2001 season.

The Crusaders take to the road this weekend, in two crucial games against Lehigh and Bucknell. Bucknell stays home this weekend to take on the Crusaders while also welcoming Colgate to Sojka Pavilion, looking to defeat the two teams currently tied with them in the league.

Down Times For the Service Academies

It’s kind of getting repetitive, but it just has to be said once again. Army and Navy do not have very good basketball teams this season, and it is becoming readily apparent that these two squads will certainly be battling each other to stay out of the league basement for the remainder of the year.

The Black Knights (4-13 overall, 1-4 PL) put together one of the worst shooting weekends in the history of the Patriot League in falling to Bucknell and Lehigh. Against the Bison, Army was held to just 23 points, the lowest school total since 1941 and the second-lowest total for any school since the inception of the shot clock in 1986. Army hit as many free throws as field goals on the night, seven, in shooting under 20 percent for the game, including a ridiculous NINE percent in the second half. That’s 2-of 21 shooting in the game’s final 20 minutes. As noted above, Lafayette scored 21 points in five minutes of overtime against Lehigh, which really puts into perspective the offensive ineptitude put forth by Army against Bucknell. Josh Wilson, as the only Army player over three points, led the Black Knights with six.

The team didn’t do much better on Sunday afternoon against Lehigh, as a 10-point first half led to thoughts of a repeat performance but only ended up leading to another loss. The team shot 12 percent in the first half, hitting only three first-half shots, before getting its act together and shooting at a 50 percent clip in the game’s second stanza. Matt Bell managed to reach double figures for Army, scoring 11 points, while three other Black Knights actually scored over eight points. The team did hang with Lehigh in the second half, being outscored only 36-35, which does show that the team has the ability to put the ball in the basket, but that the team is just going through a very, very tough stretch at this point.

The Midshipmen (3-15 overall, 0-5 PL) continued their losing ways in the Patriot League as well, first losing by 34 points to Holy Cross on Friday night. Jeff Charles was the only Middie in double figures against The Cross, scoring 12 points, but the team was doomed by yet another slow start. Navy couldn’t get within 29 points for the final 16 minutes of the half, with Holy Cross’ largest lead being 38 points for the game. Yes, this recap is short, basically because there wasn’t too much to say about Navy on this day.

The team did come out on Sunday and play a much better game, but the result was the same as the team lost, 91-84 to Colgate. The team entered the contest having lost all eight road games of the season by an average of 28.8 points, but in this one the Midshipmen actually held a lead for the first 10 minutes of the game. Navy was down by as much as 14 in the second half, but the team clawed back to get within three, thanks to the efforts of Carlton Baldwin, who scored a team-high 19 points in just 19 minutes. Kwame Ofori and David Hooper scored 15 and 12, respectively, while Leonard Green had his best game of the year with 14 points and four boards. Another good sign of the Midshipmen is that, despite the loss, the team shot better than 50 percent from the three-point line, hitting 10-of-14.

One good thing about this weekend’s games is that, when Army faces off against Navy, one of the two teams has to win the game. Of course, when these two teams go at it, it might not be the prettiest of games. Army also has to play once-beaten American, while Navy will attempt to pull of a huge upset against Lafayette.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

Let the Patriot Games Begin

The first weekend of Patriot League action ended with the standings pretty much the same as they were during the majority of the non-league slate. Lafayette and Lehigh continued to keep hold of the first and second place slots, respectively, as both teams went 2-0 in their first two league games. American went 2-0 as well, to keep up with the Leopards and Mountain Hawks. Colgate and Holy Cross are in the middle of the pack early on, as both teams went 1-1 in their two games, with the Raiders defeating the Crusaders on Wednesday night. And as was the case during the non-league schedule, Bucknell, Army and Navy have started off slowly, each losing their first two league games. Of course, the season has just begun, and so there are many more games to be played before a champion can be crowned.

Patriot League Player of the Week

Howard Blue, Colgate

The Colgate senior was named the Player of the Week for the second time for his excellent efforts against Juniata and Lafayette. The center averaged 24 points over the two contests, including a season-high 28-point performance against Lafayette in a league-opening loss. He also averaged 10.5 rebounds in his two games as well, providing a spark under the glass for the Raiders.

Patriot League Freshman of the Week

Carlton Baldwin, Navy

The freshman from Lusby, MD was named the freshman of the week for the second time this season after leading his team in scoring in two games last week. The forward averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 boards per game for the Midshipmen, including an 18-point game against Lehigh in Navy’s league-opener.

Now that the Patriot League season has begun, let’s roll out the recaps…

Lafayette Leopards (11-4 overall, 2-0 PL)

As expected, the Leopards began conference play just as it ended non-conference play, with excellent play and some victories. The team began its league slate by welcoming Colgate to the Kirby Sports Center, posting its highest point total of the season in a 97-86 win. Six Lafayette players scored in double figures on the evening, helping the Leopards to their highest-ever point total against the Raiders in a Patriot League matchup. As usual Justin DeBerry led the team in scoring with 20 points, while Winston Davis scored 17 to lead a well-balanced Lafayette attack.

On Wednesday, the Black Knights of Army came to Easton and left as every team that has ventured to the Leopards home court has done this season – in defeat. Lafayette ran its record to 8-0 at home with a 76-40 beating of Army, as the team followed up its most prolific scoring night with its best defensive effort in 19 years. Davis led the team with 17 points as 15 different Leopards got to see action in this runaway victory. The team held the Blacks Knights to 19.2 percent shooting in the second half, contributing to the lowest point total allowed by a Leopard squad since 1985.

With the two victories, Lafayette has already proved that it is the team to beat in the Patriot League this season, as the team has shown it can win by outscoring the opponent (Colgate) or keeping them from scoring (Army). The team with the target on its back will face another test when it travels to Worcester to take on a young Crusader squad on Saturday.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks (9-6 overall, 2-0 PL)

Another year, another year of surprises for Billy Taylor’s club. The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 start after two home wins against Navy and Bucknell. Against the Midshipmen, Austen Rowland began the Patriot League season on the right foot, draining six three-points as part of a career-high 24-point outburst. The team shot a sizzling 57.1 percent from the floor in the first half, opening up an unbeatable 26-point lead at the half in cruising to an 80-61 win. Jose Olivero and Earl Nurse were also in double figures for the Mountain Hawks.

Olivero and Rowland stepped up once again for Lehigh against Bucknell on Wednesday night, as the duo combined for 38 points and 9 assists on the evening in a 75-70 victory. Lehigh continued its hot shooting, again jumping out to an early lead with a 52 percent shooting effort in the first half. Lehigh’s bench helped them to this victory, as the Mountain Hawk reserved out-scored their Bison counterparts by 10 points, aided in large part by Olivero’s 20. The obvious key to Lehigh’s success this season is scoring, as the team has shot right around the 50 percent mark in its first two league contests. The team’s first big test will come this weekend, when it travels to the nation’s capital to face off with fellow undefeated American.

American Eagles (8-8 overall, 2-0 PL)

American is also still a member of the undefeated, surviving a Bucknell stampede that almost dropped the Eagles in their first game. Jernavis Draughn had 10 points and 12 rebounds to help American hang on to defeat Bucknell, 58-55 in overtime. Andre Ingram was the only other Eagle in double figures with a team-high 13 points, but solid bench-work by American was a key in the team’s success. The tough American defense held Kevin Bettencourt, the Bison’s leading scorer, to only 6 points, all coming from the free-throw line.

Against Navy, the story for the Eagles was the play of Andres Rodriguez. The Puerto Rican Rodriguez scored 11 points, grabbed five boards and had five steals, but it was his school and Patriot League-record 19 assists that most led to the American victory. Ingram was the biggest recipient of Rodriguez’ generosity, as the freshman connected on eight three-pointers on his way to a career-high 27 points. Thanks in large part to Ingram, the Eagles shot an excellent 56 percent (14 for 25) from beyond the arc, a statistic that will give most any team the points needed for a W.

As has been the case with most teams so far, hot shooting has been the best weapon so far for American. The team will hope to keep up its momentum and prove to be the superior bird when the Eagles host the Mountain Hawks on Saturday.

Colgate Raiders (8-6 overall, 1-1 PL)

The Raiders escaped the first weekend of Patriot League action with a 1-1 record, after falling to Lafayette and taking down Holy Cross. Against the Leopards, Howard Blue paced the Raiders with a 28-point, 11-rebound effort, while Mark Linebaugh and Alvin Reed both added 19 points for Colgate. However, the Raider bench proved the team’s downfall, as Lafayette outscored the Colgate bench by a score of 24-10. A good sign for coach Emmett Davis was the team’s free-throw shooting, as the team drained 25 of 27 shots from the charity stripe in a losing effort.

The team rebounded to get into the Patriot League win column with a big win against visiting Holy Cross, 71-65 on Wednesday night. The team won for just the fourteenth time in 54 games against the Crusaders, largely on the shoulders of Alvin Reed, whose 19 points and seven assists helped give the Raiders an edge. Colgate’s 9-of-14 shooting from three-point land and 53 percent shooting overall propelled the team to victory, as the Colgate bench combined for 22 points in the win.

The two key areas for Colgate look to be bench production and three-point field goal percentage. If the team is unable to get good production in one or both of those areas (as with Lafayette), the team doesn’t stand much of a chance. The team hopes to continue heading in the right direction with a Saturday trip to Army before a final non-league match up with Dartmouth on Monday.

Holy Cross Crusaders (1-1 overall, 7-8 PL)

The Cross opened up its 2004 Patriot League schedule with an easy 60-32 victory over Army last Saturday. The Crusaders won their fifth straight league opener thanks to a stellar defensive effort, once with led to the fewest points allowed by a Crusader team since 1952. Greg Kinsey and Kevin Hamilton almost topped Army by themselves, as they combined for 29 points, led by Kinsey’s career-best 20. The defense was the big story in this contest, as the Crusaders held Army without a field goal for over 13 minutes after Army took an early 3-0 lead. The Black Knights were held to an anemic 16.7 percent in the first half, leading to the big loss.

The team couldn’t keep up the defensive excellence, however, in a 71-65 loss to Colgate. The Cross shot well on the evening, led by Nate Lufkin’s 17-point performance on 6-for-6 shooting from the field, but the team was unable to overcome the good shooting of the opposition. Holy Cross managed to find four players in double figures, led by Lufkin, but the team was only unable to muster 13 points from the other six players who saw action. The Crusaders did have a 36-22 edge in points in the paint, but in the end it was the Raiders’ three-point shooting that did in the visitors.

As evidenced by the team’s first two league games, Holy Cross is going to have to defend well if it is going to stay in games. The team faces a tough task in its next contest, when Lafayette invades the Hart Center on Saturday to take on the Crusaders.

Bucknell Bison (3-11 overall, 0-2 PL)

Despite an 0-2 record, Bucknell is the one winless team that nobody wants to play at the moment. The Bison lost two games to undefeated American and Lehigh by a combined eight points, never letting the opponents have an easy game. Against the Eagles, Charles Lee scored a career-high 18 points but the Bison couldn’t overcome Kevin Bettencourt’s 0-for-10 shooting night. Bettencourt ended up with six points, all from the free-throw line, which is where American was able to sneak away with the victory. Bucknell also helped by shooting only 31.6 percent from the field for the game.

The Bison fell to 0-2 despite 20-point games from Lee and Donald Brown, as Bucknell’s furious late-game rally fell just short. The Bison were down by as much as 16 in the second half to the Mountain Hawks, but the team couldn’t overtake the solid lead Lehigh has built up in the first half. Lee and Brown combined for 45 points, while Bettencourt and Chris McNaughton both added 10, but it wasn’t enough against the talented Mountain Hawk squad.

Despite the two losses, the Bison are playing pretty good ball at this time, and appear to be on the verge of finally breaking through into the win column. The team will finally get back to Sojka Pavilion after a six-game road trip on Saturday, when they welcome winless Navy.

Army Black Knights (3-11 overall, 0-2 PL)

Army just keeps falling and falling, and at the rate they are going there appears to be no end in sight. The team has now lost nine straight games after losses to Holy Cross and Lafayette to begin the Patriot League campaign. The big problem for the Black Knights continues to be shooting, as the team could only managed 32 points against the Crusaders. The team shot a mere 25.6 percent from the field and turned the ball over 24 times on the evening, contributing to the team’s worst point output since the days of FDR (that’s the 40′s, for all you non-history buffs). Colin Harris led the Black Knight “attack” with six, yes just six points.

Against Lafayette, the Army squad managed to break into the 40′s in scoring (barely), but still ended up losing by 36 points to a superior Leopard team. The Black Knights managed to stay with Lafayette for the first half, but a crushing 30-4 run to start the second half, along with the team’s 19 percent second-half shooting, ended all Army hopes of an upset. Josh Wilson and Sean O’Keefe combined for 29 of Army’s 40 points on the day, each in 27 minutes of action.

As has been painfully obvious to Jim Crews and his crew, Army is going to have to put some points on the board if it is going to have any chance at earning a victory. A chance to put the ball in the net and to end the team’s long losing skid will come on Saturday against Colgate.

Navy Midshipmen (3-12 overall, 0-2 PL)

The Navy ship is also beginning to take on more and more water, as the struggles continue for Don DeVoe and his Middies. Once again, it was a slow start that doomed the Midshipmen on this day, as Lehigh jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Carlton Baldwin led Navy with 18 points and 8 rebounds, helped out by Matt Fannin and Kwame Ofori, both in double digits. Navy actually outscored the Mountain Hawks in the second half, 37-30, but the first half woes prevented the Midshipmen from making a game of it.

The team then struggled against another hot team, falling to American, 80-58. The guard play of Andre Ingram and Andres Rodriguez baffled the Middies in the first half, contributing to a 14-point Navy deficit at the break. David Hooper helped keep Navy somewhat in the game, scoring 21 points as the only Midshipman in double figures. Navy’s main problem in this contest was its inability to keep American off the scoreboard, as it allowed the Eagles to shoot 54.4 percent for the game, including 60 percent in the second half.

This Navy squad has to figure out a way to come out from the starting gate and play well, as the team has had very little chance in many of its games due to slow starts. In a battle of teams starting slow, the winless Midshipmen travel to Lewisburg to take on fellow 0-2 Bucknell on Saturday.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

Gearing Up For League Action

The holiday season has come to a close and now the eight teams of the Patriot League are beginning to gear up for league action, which begins this coming Saturday. At this time, it looks as if some teams are peaking at the right time, while some others are falling deeper and deeper into holes. Momentum is a key factor for success in this league, and teams that are playing well at the right time have the ability to go all the way this season, especially with the seeming parity that has permeated the league as of late.

The Lafayette Leopards continue to pace the league heading into the final week of non-conference play, as the Leopards have compiled a 9-3 non-league record. The team, despite two recent losses, still looks to be the front-runner to take the league title from Holy Cross. Senior guard Justin DeBerry leads a balanced Leopard attack, averaging 16.3 points per game, while Winston Davis also adds almost 13 points per contest for Lafayette.

In the middle of the pack, there are four teams who cannot be overlooked as the non-league schedule winds down. Lehigh (7-5) has been a very streaky team so far this season, as two two-game losing strings have been sandwiched around a five-game winning streak earlier in the season. The Mountain Hawks, who are led in scoring by freshman Jose Olivero (13.1 ppg), will have to find some consistency in order to challenge for the league title again this year after a surprising effort last season. The Colgate Raiders (6-5) seem to be playing some good ball at the best time, as the team has run off victories in three of its last five and five of its last eight games. Senior forward Howard Blue leads the Raiders in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game, assisted by guards Mark Linebaugh (12.9 ppg) and Alvin Reed (11.6 ppg).

The defending champion Crusaders (5-7) have also had an up-and-down season to this point, with many younger players getting much-needed game experience. The Cross has had winning streaks of two and three games, while also enduring losing streaks of two and four games. The young nucleus of this team, held together by lone senior Jave Meade, should nevertheless be watched very carefully as the league season begins. With a 6-7 record, American is in a similar position as these other three teams. Senior forward Jernavis Draughn has been the biggest contributor for the Eagles so far this season, averaging over 12 points and seven rebounds per game. As has most teams, American has endured its share of tough times, having suffered through two separate three-game losing streaks in the young season. All four of these teams will be looking for some much-needed consistency if they are to contend for the Patriot League title this season.

Army seems to be going in the wrong direction at the wrong time, while the two teams that are attempting to leap frog Army out of the league cellar have both started out terribly and haven’t been able to get anything going. The Black Knights (3-7) started off the season with two wins, but have proceeded to lose seven of its next eight, including six straight, to settle into the sixth position. The main culprit for the team at this point is a lack of scoring, as the team has reached 60 points in only two of its seven losses. Bucknell (3-8) sits a half-game behind Army, having started off the season by losing five of its first six contests. Reigning Rookie of the Year Kevin Bettencourt has proved that last year was in no way a fluke, leading the league with 17.3 points per game, but he is going to need help from his teammates if Bucknell is going to make a run once league play begins. Navy (3-9) has taken up its position in last place, as it took the team nine chances before registering a defeat over a D-I school this season. The team lost its first five games, then beat two D-III teams, but fell into a four-game losing streak before finally beating its first D-I opponent on Sunday against Loyola (Md.). The Middies, along with Army and Bucknell, are going to need to show vast improvement if they are going to make any move in the league this season.

As is custom for most sportswriters, I’m going to change my order of finish as the Patriot League season begins. We’ll see if these ones pan out any better than my preseason picks:

1. Lafayette – Best team in the League to this point, by far
2. Colgate – It all depends on the bench production
3. Lehigh – Can Olivero keep up his excellent play?
4. American – Draughn is a force on the boards
5. Bucknell – Bettencourt can single-handedly raise this team’s play
6. Holy Cross – Could be higher if the young kids produce
7. Army – Many freshmen still need some seasoning
8. Navy – Let’s see ‘em beat some more D-I teams first

Patriot League Player of the Week:

Jernavis Draughn, American

The senior forward averaged 17.7 points, including a career-high 20 against East Tennessee State, and 9.7 rebounds in his last three games, which have coincided with the Eagles’ three-game winning streak. Draughn currently leads the league in rebounding, and his inside presence has been a key factor in the recent resurgence of American as the league schedule looms ahead.

Patriot League Freshman of the Week:

Colin Harris, Army

The forward from West Des Moines, Iowa had a good week for the Black Knights, averaging 11.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in his last three contests. He scored a career-high 20 points in the team’s loss to The Citadel, proving to be one of the few bright spots during a dismal stretch for the Army team.

Lafayette Leopards (9-3 overall)

Lafayette endured its first losing streak of the season, falling to USC and Cal State-Northridge on its West Coast trip. The team had its eight game winning streak ended against the Trojans, as USC jumped out to a 19-0 lead in winning 81-59. The Leopards, who had received a few votes in the last two AP Top 25 polls, missed their first 12 shots in the opening seven minutes, putting themselves in an early hole that they were unable to dig out of. The team shot just 33.3 percent from the field on the evening, which was a season low for the Lafayette squad. Justin DeBerry led the team with 14 points on the day, as he did the following Tuesday in a 99-76 loss to Cal State-Northridge. DeBerry’s 21 points, however, were countered by a career-high 25 points from Etoagwara Onyenegecha (if I spelled that right, it will be a miracle). The Matadors shot a sizzling 63 percent from the floor, giving Lafayette little chance to get into the game. The team, however, ended the losing streak with the end of the year, as the team’s first game of 2004 resulted in an 82-73 win over Columbia. The team’s apparent resolution of excellent balance came true, as Rob Dill (18 points) led five Leopards scoring over 14 points. Dill also contributed eight rebounds and six blocks against the Lions. The team looks to finish up its non-league schedule strong on Wednesday when the Leopards travel to face Penn.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks (7-5 overall)

The Mountain Hawks split its two games since the holiday break, falling to #22 Vanderbilt, 85-59, and defeating Wagner, 64-59. Against the Commodores, Lehigh was able to stay with its ranked opponent for the first half, heading into the break with a manageable 12-point deficit. The quality of play of its opponent, however, wore down the Lehigh attack in the second half, as the Commodores’ 57 percent second half shooting shot down the Hawks. As usual, Jose Olivero led Lehigh in scoring for the game, dropping 18 points in 21 minutes. Against Wagner, Austen Rowland scored a career-high 23 points on 22 shots, including 16 in a second half that saw Lehigh start out with a 26-4 run that put the team out front for good. The Mountain Hawks were especially lethal from three-point range, hitting 50 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Earl Nurse was the only other Mountain Hawk in double figures for the game, netting 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Lehigh has its final non-league game of the year on Tuesday, when the team travels to Ithaca to take on the Big Red of Cornell, with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m.

Colgate Raiders (6-5 overall)

The Colgate basketball squad returned to Hamilton from sunny California just as it left, one game over .500 after splitting games with Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount. The Raiders were able to nip Long Beach thanks to the efforts of Alvin Reed, who scored 14 points including four free throws in the final 14 seconds. In their 73-71 victory, Colgate became the first Patriot League team ever to defeat the 49ers. In other good news, it seems as if the Raider bench may have finally woken up to provide some support for the starters. Besides Reed and Mark Linebaugh, reserves Kendall Chones and Jon Foss contributed career-highs in points with 12 and 10, respectively. This momentum was promptly halted when the team traveled to Los Angeles, however, as the squad fell to the Lions, 78-54. Howard Blue returned from a quiet performance against Long Beach to lead Colgate with 19 points, while Andrew Zidar added 11 in a losing effort. Thanks to the excellent Lions defense, Linebaugh was held scoreless for only the second time in his career. In another good sign for the Raiders, Keith Williams, coming back from a serious knee injury suffered last season, scored his first points of the year. Colgate prepares for its first Patriot League match-up with a Thursday meeting with Juniata at Cotterell Court.

American Eagles (6-7 overall)

American is a team that seems to be getting better as the League season comes upon us, as the team has won three of its last four following a successful run in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. After falling to Pepperdine in the first round, the Eagles knocked off Bowling Green and East Tennessee State to claim the consolation championship. Andre Ingram led the team in scoring in the first two games of the tourney, while Linas Lekavicius led the team against East Tennessee. Following the 82-69 loss to Pepperdine in the opening round, the team rattled off three straight victories. Ingram scored a team-high 19 points and Jernavis Draughn added 16 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-64 win over the Falcons, while the Eagles took the consolation prize with a 71-66 victory against Buccaneers thanks in large part to Lekavicius’ career-high 22 points. Draughn and Ingram seem to be hitting their strides at the right time, as Draughn added 20 points and 11 boards while Ingram recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. The team then returned to the mainland and made it three in a row with an 84-73 win over Yale, led by Draughn and his 17 points. The Eagles will look to start the league season with a four-game winning streak after a Monday tilt with Niagara.

Holy Cross Crusaders (5-7 overall)

Holy Cross traveled to NYC for its holiday break to participate in the Dreyfus Holiday Festival, losing both games to very competitive squads. In the first round, the team fell to a very good Manhattan squad, 56-54, despite holding Luis Flores to only nine points on 3-of-11 shooting. The Crusaders played very well at times but faltered at other times, allowing the Jaspers to steal a victory by scoring just six points over the game’s final nine minutes. Against St. John’s, the Crusaders again were almost able to pull an upset, but once again Holy Cross was outscored down the stretch (12-5 over the final 4:39) in losing another close contest. For the second straight game, a last second three-point attempt couldn’t give the Crusaders a victory. Nate Lufkin led The Cross against the Red Storm with 17 points in a losing effort. The team bounced back with a 68-55 win over Iona on the final day of 2003, as John Hurley recorded his first double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Holy Cross held Iona to just 20 percent shooting in the first half, as the team jumped out early and never looked back against the Gaels. The team then continued its seven-game road trip against Marist, falling in a close 59-55 contest. Holy Cross had some chances to win the game down the stretch, but it was unable to snatch victory from the Red Foxes. The team continues its road trek on Tuesday against Dartmouth.

Army Black Knights (3-8 overall)

The Black Knights continue to go in the wrong direction following three more losses to UNH, The Citadel and Fairleigh Dickinson, bringing the service academy’s losing streak to six games. Even 19 days of rest could not stem Army’s troubles against the Wildcats, as the team faded down the stretch in a 61-47 loss. A 19-8 run over the game’s final ten minutes did in the Black Knights, overcoming 11-point performances by both Bill Mohr and Marshall Jackson. Against the Bulldogs of The Citadel, a decisive 22-0 run late in the first half led to an 82-58 victory. Colin Harris paced the Black Knight attack with a career-high 20 points while Matt Bell added 14, but these two were the only Army players who broke the five-point barrier for Army on the evening. On Sunday afternoon the Knights defeated the Black Knights as Fairleigh Dickinson used a Christl Arena-record 14 three-pointers to take down Army, 57-48. Josh Wilson, who led the Black Knights with 16 points, helped Army get to within two points late in the second half, but the Knights used the three ball to up the lead for good. Army will once again try to snap its losing streak on Tuesday when it hosts St. Francis (N.Y.) at 7 p.m.

Bucknell Bison (3-8 overall)

One win in three games was enough to keep the Bison temporarily out of the Patriot League basement, as the team plods along heading into league play. At the Saturn of North Charleston Shootout, Kevin Bettencourt scored a game-high 29 points in leading the Bison to a 68-52 win over Norfolk State in the opening round. Bucknell opened up with an 11-0 run to take a lead it would never relinquish against the overmatched Spartans, who were held without a field goal for the first 7:07 of the game. The team dropped the next tourney game, however, as a 71.4 percent second-half shooting performance propelled the College of Charleston to a 76-63 win last Tuesday. Bettencourt and Davorin Skornik both scored 13 points to pace the Bison while Chris McNaughton contributed 11 points, but Bucknell couldn’t stop the Cougars from scoring, which hampered the Bison cause greatly. On Saturday against Penn State, the Bison couldn’t overcome a terrible start to the second half in falling to the Nittany Lions, 58-46. Bettencourt continued his solid play for Bucknell, as his 16 points led the team, with McNaughton adding 10. The team shot only 39.1 percent on the evening, including 29.2 percent in the second half to seal its fate. A Wednesday match-up with Robert Morris ends the Bison’s non-league schedule, with the team looking for some momentum heading into the important games.

Navy Midshipmen (3-9 overall)

The Midshipmen’s game against Mount St. Mary’s epitomized the team’s non-league schedule this season, as the team bounced back many times and yet fell victim to a last-second buzzer-beater, falling to Mount St. Mary’s by a score of 54-53. Despite having the inbounds pass tipped away twice, Landy Thompson hit an off-balance shot as time expired to disappoint the home crowd. The last-second heroics spoiled a great effort for the Middies by Carlton Baldwin, who poured in a career-best 23 points and nine rebounds. Navy then set up a battle of the D-I winless by falling to SMU, 68-54, with Baldwin again leading his team in scoring with 12 points. Navy then picked up its first D-I win of the season in its second to last non-league game by taking down Loyola (Md.), 58-54. Navy’s terrible free throw shooting (2-for-11) was offset by its good shooting from the field (48.1 percent), giving the Middies the opportunity to grab its first quality win of the season. Jeff Charles scored 16 points to lead Navy, who finishes up its non-league slate with a road trip to Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

Once Again, It’s Lafayette

It was a good week for the top team in the Patriot League, as Lafayette went undefeated on the week. Lafayette finished the week with its winning streak and its first place standing intact, while Lehigh had a five-game winning streak broken on Monday night, still enough to hold down the second spot. Colgate and Holy Cross both managed one victory last week to take the third and fourth slots, respectively. If the early non-league standings are any indication, it looks as if the Patriot League race will be composed primarily of these four squads, with Lafayette as the early favorite as we slowly creep towards the beginning of league play.

Player of the Week:

Sean Knitter, Lafayette.

The reserve center had his best two games for Lafayette since transferring from Delaware, recording two straight career-highs in games against Lycoming and Cornell. The center missed only four field goals and one free throw in these two games, proving to be an impressive weapon for coach Pat Flannery off the bench.

Freshman of the Week:

Chris McNaughton, Bucknell.

In his one game of the week, McNaughton scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The center leads the nation in field goal percentage (.804), despite seeing his percentage go down with his performance against Penn. This is the center’s second Freshman of the Week award this season, having been awarded the honor on the first day of December.

Lafayette Leopards (8-1 overall)

The Leopards seem to be getting help from everywhere on the roster so far this season, and this week’s leader was junior reserve center Sean Knitter. Wednesday against Lycoming, Knitter hit all seven of his second half shots on his way to a career-high 20 points, leading the Leopards to a 84-73 win over the Warriors.

After a 10-day break for exams, it looked as if Lafayette needed some time to shake off the rust, as Lycoming held a 10-point advantage early in the second half. Knitter, however, responded by making four straight shots to get the Leopards back in the game. Knitter led four Leopards in double-figures on the evening.

On Saturday, Knitter did himself three better, pouring in 23 points in an 87-79 victory over Cornell. The center led a huge Lafayette burst midway through the second half, a 22-4 run that gave Lafayette a 20-point lead with 6:12 remaining, and the team managed to hold on from there. The team also managed to eke out a 47-44 victory over Princeton on Monday night. The Leopards’ 8-1 record, with eight straight wins, is the best start for a Lafayette team since the 1971-1972 season. Following a holiday break, the team heads to California to face-off with Southern Cal on December 28 and Cal State-Northridge on December 30.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks (6-4 overall)

Lehigh won its two games last week to vault over Colgate into second place in the non-league standings, increasing its winning streak to five. The team first cruised to a 99-61 win over Delaware Valley, then clung to a small lead in a 60-57 victory over Dartmouth. Against Delaware Valley, sophomore Mitch Gilfillan led the team with a career-high 21 points in his most minutes of the season. The large point deficit allowed coach Billy Taylor to play all members of his squad, as all 13 members of the team had at least six minutes of playing time, with 12 of the 13 reaching double digits in minutes. The team had a much tougher time against the Big Green, as it took two free throws by Jose Olivero with eight seconds remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a three-point victory. Olivero and Ra Tiah both had 16 points to lead Lehigh, while Austen Rowland had an excellent overall game, finishing with seven points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. The streak came to a halt, however, when Albany took advantage of some poor Mountain Hawk shooting to send Lehigh home for the holidays with a 63-55 overtime loss. Despite the fact that Albany didn’t get on the scoreboard for the first 6:33 of the first half, the Great Danes were able to come back thanks to a 5:27 dry spell for Lehigh. The team now takes a holiday break before traveling to #24 Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

Colgate Raiders (5-4 overall)

Continuing the theme of streaks, Colgate has now won four of its last five after a 97-67 victory over Hobart on Saturday afternoon. Howard Blue tied a season-high with 23 points to lead the Raiders to a decisive victory, while Andrew Zidar added 11 points and 10 boards for his third double-double of the young season. As is custom in these types of blowouts, coach Emmett Davis emptied his bench, as four Raider bench-players notched career-highs in scoring on the evening, including twin brothers Kyle and Kendall Chones, who registered nine and eight points, respectively. The team’s annual trip to Syracuse, however, seems to always stop any momentum the team may have garnered. The Raiders must have had a lot to think about on the 45-minute ride back to Hamilton after a 101-63 drubbing at the hands of the eighteenth-ranked Orangemen. Mark Linebaugh led the Raiders, who have now lost 38 straight to their upstate rivals, with 23 points in a losing effort. The team now takes a week off to celebrate the holidays, traveling next to Long Beach State on December 30.

Holy Cross Crusaders (4-4 overall)

The Cross finally made it back to the .500 mark after a 69-43 victory over Brown. Following an 11-day layoff, the Crusaders were led by Kevin Hamilton’s team-high 15 points, while also having three other Crusaders in double figures. Jave Meade, John Hurley and Keith Simmons each notched 12 points for Ralph Willard’s club. It looked like the layoff might have given Holy Cross some trouble originally, but a huge spurt midway through the first half resulted in a 24-9 run and an 11-point halftime advantage. The Crusader defense held the Brown shooters to just six field goals in the second half, never letting the Bears get closer than seven points. Meade’s two steals on the day set a new standard for Holy Cross with 206 thefts, besting the 204 steals recorded by Dwight Pernell from 1987-1990. The Crusaders will next be in action on Sunday, when they travel to Madison Square Garden to participate in the Dreyfus Holiday Festival, first facing a tough task against Luis Flores and Manhattan.

Army Black Knights (3-5 overall)

Army moved up from sixth to fifth in the non-conference standings without playing a game, as the team is currently in the midst of a 19-day stretch between games. The team will look to end its three-game losing streak on Tuesday when UNH comes to West Point to face the reeling Black Knights.

American Eagles (3-6 overall)

American dropped a spot in the standings after losing to St. Francis and Notre Dame. Against the Red Flash, the Eagles got off to a hot start, leading 21-7 after ten minutes of play and holding a 30-15 lead with five minutes left in the first half, yet St. Francis used a 12-4 run to close the gap heading into halftime. The Red Flash came out flying in the second half, and after taking the lead held American from getting closer than three points. Andres Rodriguez led the Eagles against the Red Flash, scoring a career-high 18 points while dishing out nine assists, grabbing five rebounds and registering four steals. Against previously ranked Notre Dame, Andre Ingram and Matej Cresnik combined for 44 points in a 78-74 loss. For a ten-minute span, American wouldn’t miss a shot, hitting 11 straight shots for 26 points to take a four-point lead. Chris Thomas, however, hit the Irish’s last 13 points to give Notre Dame the victory. AU next plays Pepperdine in the first round of the Rainbow Classic on Sunday.

Bucknell Bison (2-6 overall)

Bucknell went 1-1 on the week, falling to Penn before coming back to best Ursinus on Monday night. Against Penn, both teams had a terrible first half, with the Bison holding a tenuous 19-16 halftime lead. Both teams shot under 30 percent in the first frame. The Quakers were able to effectively contain Kevin Bettencourt, who came into the game averaging 19.2 points per game to lead the league, as he finished with just five points and five boards. For the game, Bucknell shot only 37.5 percent, while Penn rebounded to shoot 41.9 percent on the evening. Against Ursinus, Chris Niesz’ first career double-double led the Bison past the previously-unbeaten Bears, 77-62.

The taller Bucknell squad availed themselves fully of that height advantage, dominating the rebounding margin, 56-29, while outscoring the Bears 36-16 in the paint. Niesz recorded 14 points, 11 boards and four blocks, leading the team in each category for the game. Bucknell will next be in action on Monday, when they compete against Norfolk State in the first round of the College of Charleston Classic.

Navy Midshipmen (2-7 overall)

Navy had a brief winning streak going for itself last week, as a 95-66 clobbering of Washington (MD) College gave the team two straight wins. The team shot 53.9 percent in garnering its second straight victory against a Division III opponent, with 14 of 15 roster players scoring for Navy. However, the team returned to Division I and returned to its losing ways as well. Against Ohio, the Middies were done in by a 22-9 Bobcat run to close out the game, spoiling what had been a back-and-forth affair. After 10 ties and 12 lead-changes, a Jeff Halbert three-pointer gave Ohio a 44-43 lead it would never relinquish. Jeff Charles played well at the point guard position, filling in for injured Kwame Ofori, scoring five points and dishing out four assists. On Monday night, Navy traveled to Rice and was blown out of the water, 81-55. A 14-0 run midway through the first half broke a 14-14 tie and gave Rice a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Charles continued his good play, leading the team with 13 points. The Midshipmen are next in action on Saturday, when they host Mount St. Mary’s.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

Bucknell and Navy Decide To Start Winning Games

It took playing against a Division III opponent, but the Navy Midshipmen finally got into the win column on Saturday night against Gettysburg, eking out a 61-60 victory in front of a surely exuberant home crowd. Sophomore guard David Hooper led Navy to its first win of the season, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the final two minutes of the game when the team needed it most, while also coming down with 11 boards. But if the early season has taught us anything, it is that nothing is going to come easy in Annapolis this season, even against lesser teams. Despite holding a 16-point advantage early in the second half, the team had to endure a big second-half rally by the Bullets, holding just enough of an advantage to counter a last-second three-pointer by Gettysburg. The win kept the Middies from becoming the first team in school history to begin a season 0-6.

Bucknell also managed to feast on a much lesser opponent, destroying the Dickinson Red Devils by a score of 79-36. All 15 members of the Bucknell squad managed to tally a field goal and a rebound in the contest, which was never in doubt after the Bison ran off 16 unanswered points to begin the contest. Coming off of a 42-point outburst against Saint Francis, Kevin Bettencourt led the team against Dickinson with 13 points, as the offense was truly spread around the entire roster. Bucknell also garnered 17 more rebounds than Dickinson had points, grabbing 53 boards to the Red Devils’ 27. The 36 points was the fewest let up by a Bucknell squad since 1951, when the team lost (not sure how) 21-15 to Penn State. The 43-point differential was the largest for the Bison since the 1998-99 season, when they defeated another basketball powerhouse, Carnegie-Mellon, 98-42.

Olivero Continues to Deliver For Lehigh

Jose Olivero, who picked up his second straight Patriot League Rookie of the Week award this week (see below), continues to lead the Mountain Hawk offense, scoring 23 points to lead the team over Columbia, 60-57 on Monday night. The biggest three points of the game provided the final score, as his three-pointer with four seconds remaining gave Lehigh the hard-fought victory. An even bigger story in this game, however, was the second-half futility of the Mountain Hawk team. Lehigh went nine minutes without scoring a single point during one stretch, being outscored 24-0 in that span. Somehow, the team managed to stay in the game, with Olivero providing the late-game heroics for the Mountain Hawks.

Holy Cross’ Average Height Drops A Foot

The Crusaders (and team Super Fan Tom Severo) will have to deal with the recent departure of 7’6″ center Neil Fingleton, who has returned to his home to England to take care of some family matters. The tallest player in Holy Cross and Patriot League history averaged 12 minutes per game in three games this season, registering eight points and eight rebounds in limited action. The departure leaved 6’11″ Nate Lufkin as the sole center listed on the Crusaders’ roster.

Patriot League Player of the Week:

Howard Blue, Colgate.

The senior forward was named the Player of the Week for the first time in his four-year career for his games against Buffalo and Harvard. He scored a game-high 20 points in a losing effort against the Bulls, while contributing 17 points and six rebounds against Harvard. Blue also notched his 1,000th point of his career against the Crimson, joining newly-minted member Justin DeBerry and Raider teammate Mark Linebaugh.

Patriot League Freshman of the Week:

Jose Olivero, Lehigh.

As mentioned above, Olivero was named the Frosh of the Week for the second week in a row following his 23-point game against Columbia. The freshman has led the Mountain Hawks in scoring in each of the team’s last four games.

On to the team recaps . . .

Lafayette Leopards (5-1 overall)

The Leopards continue their winning ways, running its winning streak to five straight after dispatching of Centenary and Binghamton. Against Centenary, the team used a 22-2 run over the final 9:38 of the first half to take control of the contest, winning handily by a score of 96-54. Fourteen different Leopards were entered into the scoring column on the Friday evening, with Winston Davis leading the way for Lafayette with 12 points, while Justin DeBerry and Jamaal Hilliard each adding 11 points to the well-balanced attack. Against Binghamton, DeBerry poured in a team-high 19 points and took in seven rebounds. Nine different Lafayette players scored in this one, marking the fourth consecutive contest in which at least nine players got on the score sheet. With the win, the Leopards are off to the best start since the 1998-99 season, when the team opened the year 6-1. Lafayette is next scheduled to play Lycoming on Wednesday night and then hosts Cornell on Saturday.

Colgate Raiders (4-3 overall)

With much of the campus’ attention focused primarily on the Raider football team, which plays for the 1-AA national championship Friday against Delaware, the men’s basketball team has been flying under the radar as of late. The Raiders followed up a terrible 72-49 home loss to Buffalo by rebounding for a 78-60 victory over host Harvard. Against Buffalo, the team’s obvious lack of height was exposed, as Buffalo’s five players standing over 6’9″ had their way inside against the small Colgate lineup, holding a 39-22 rebounding edge. Against Cornell, Howard Blue led the team with 17 points on his way to the Player of the Week honors, while Mark Linebaugh, Andrew Zidar and Jon Simon all reached double digits for Colgate. After taking the week off for finals, Colgate returns to action on Saturday when Hobart comes to Cotterell Court for a matinee matchup.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks (4-3 overall)

Lehigh has won two in a row to get back over .500, with an 88-79 victory over Harvard coming before the aforementioned triumph over Columbia. Excellent guard play carried the team against the Crimson, as Jose Olivero scored a career-high 24 points, while fellow guards Ra Tiah and Austen Rowland added 16 and 14 points, respectively for the Mountain Hawks. The game saw 89 free throws between the two teams, as Lehigh scored 34 points from the line out of 50 attempts. As mentioned above, Olivero once again led the team to victory over Columbia with a game-high 23 points, while Rowland was the only other Lehigh player in double figures with 10 points. The team returns to action this Wednesday with a 7 p.m. tip-off against Delaware Valley.

American Eagles (3-4 overall)

The Eagles have run off two straight victories by taking down UNC-Greenboro and Howard. Andres Rodriguez was the top scorer for the Eagles in its 65-45 win over UNCG, scoring 16 points to go along with 10 assists and four steals. American went on a 16-4 run to start the second half to put the game away, with Rodriguez scoring seven of his points during that stretch. The Eagles led by as many as 28 points late in the game, but gave up the final eight points to account for the 20-point margin. A much closer game ensued against Howard, as two Andre Ingram free throws with five seconds left sealed the game for the Eagles. The freshman led all scorers on the evening with 16 points, while Matej Cresnik and Jason Thomas also reached double digits for the Eagles. The team is now off until Thursday, when they travel to Pennsylvania to play St. Francis.

Holy Cross Crusaders (3-4 overall)

The Crusaders fell last Saturday night to number 25 Louisville, dropping a 56-40 decision. The team gave a good fight to Rick Pitino’s Cardinals, but ultimately were subdued by Louisville’s big-game experience and athleticism. Nate Lufkin led the Crusaders on the night, tallying nine points while adding six rebounds. The Crusaders actually held a 23-22 lead with two minutes gone in the second half, but Louisville went on a crushing 22-5 run to take control of the contest. The team responded on Wednesday night by snapping its four-game losing streak in a 66-57 win over Fordham. Freshman Keith Simmons led Holy Cross with 12 points, while Jave Meade, John Hurley and Nate Lufkin also scored 10 or more for the Crusaders. The team is now in the midst of an 11-day layoff, playing next on Sunday against Brown.

Army Black Knights (3-5 overall)

The Army basketball team has fallen on hard times, losing three straight contests to fall under .500 on the season. Against Albany, Sean O’Keefe scored 12 points in a 68-62 loss. The team then took on fourth-ranked UConn, fighting valiantly before succumbing, 74-46. Emeka Okafor dominated for the Huskies inside, recording his first career triple-double with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocks against the over-matched Black Knight squad. Stony Brook gave Army a three-game losing streak with a 69-44 beating on Thursday night. Freshman Adeniyi Amadou paced Army with nine points on the evening, as the Army first-years contributed 36 of the team’s 44 points. The team is currently in the middle of a 19-day winter break, picking the ball up again on December 30 against New Hampshire.

Bucknell Bison (1-5 overall)

As previously mentioned, the Bucknell squad put itself into the win column for the first time this season after a 79-36 dismantling of Dickinson. In the previous game against Saint Francis, Kevin Bettencourt exploded for 42 points but in a losing effort, as the Bison dropped an 84-79 decision. Besides Bettencourt’s career night, Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton added 13 and 12 points, respectively, but the other nine members of the team combined for a mere 12 points, resulting in another Bison loss. The team actually shot 50 percent from the field for the game, yet after Bettencourt’s 20 attempts no other Bison took more than seven shots. Next up for the Bison is the Penn Quakers on Saturday.

Navy Midshipmen (1-5 overall)

The Midshipmen finally won a game as well, squeaking by D-III Gettysburg, 61-60. Before that contest, the team committed 31 turnovers in losing to the University of Central Florida, 80-52. In topping the team’s season-high of 30 turnovers, the Midshipmen gave the Golden Knights nearly half their points, as 39 of 80 came off of Navy turnovers. Separate 13-0 and 10-0 runs in the first half did in the Midshipmen, as the lead was extended to 20 at the start of the second half and Navy would never see the deficit fall beneath this number for the remainder of the contest. The team next hosts Washington College on Thursday and Ohio on Saturday.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

Divine Patience Needed At The Cross

If you look at the standings for Patriot League teams so far this season, you certainly would not expect Holy Cross to be under .500. The Crusaders are currently 2-3 on the season, having dropped their last three games, but the real story is the team itself. Nate Lufkin, who was expected to be an integral part of the team, is only now slowly working himself back into form after missing time with a leg injury, which severely hampers the progress made by the team. Neil Fingleton is also coming off an injury, meaning that two of The Cross’ big men are not near full capacity. Coach Ralph Willard has been forced to go to his entire bench for support, even if it means having four freshmen on the court for a majority of the game, as the team did in a victory over Harvard a few weeks back.

But while the Crusaders may sacrifice some wins in the short term, these circumstances are giving valuable experience to freshman and sophomores who will be able to contribute once the Patriot League season comes around in January. Names like Keith Simmons, Torey Thomas and Kevin Hamilton may not be well-known right now, but it is people like these who will ultimately decide whether Holy Cross will repeat in the Patriot League this season, not the well-known commodities such as Lufkin and Jave Meade. With all these underclassmen gaining valuable experience being thrown into the fire, only time will tell whether they are able to stand the heat.

Patriot League “Direct” To You

Good news for all you Patriot League basketball fans out there, as the Patriot League Basketball TV Package has returned to DirecTV for a second season. The schedule calls for 11 games to be broadcast, with six Friday night men’s regular season contests, as well as all four men and women’s League Tournament semifinal games and the women’s Championship game. Bob Socci will return to handle the play-by play duties for all 11 games, while renowned author John Feinstein will provide color commentary for the men’s broadcasts. Feinstein, author of The Last Amateurs, which is an excellent book on Patriot League men’s basketball (I recommend it highly), will be sure to provide some quality commentary for the broadcasts.

Featured matchups this package include Lehigh-Lafayette, one of the league’s longest-running rivalries, and Army-Navy, a game in which the records can be thrown out the window. Each team will be seen at least once as part of this package, so be sure to catch your favorite team in action in the coming weeks.

Player of the Week: Winston Davis, Lafayette. The Leopard guard nets his first career Player of the Week award after averaging 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games last week. Davis led Lafayette in scoring in the first three games of the season.

Freshman of the Week: Chris McNaughton, Bucknell. the 6’11″ center from Germany has a very nice week for himself coming off the Bison bench, as McNaughton scored 26 points in two games for Bucknell. The freshman missed only three of 13 shots in these two games, contributing to his 78.6% shooting from the field so far this season.

Lafayette Leopards (3-1 overall)

The Leopards have rebounded from an opening game loss to reel off three straight victories, defeating St. Peter’s, LaSalle and Drexel. St. Peter’s and Drexel did not go down easily, however, as it took last-second blocks to secure victories in these two games. Against St. Peter’s, Justin DeBerry gave Lafayette a one-point lead with 11 seconds left and Rob Dill swatted away a last-second scoring attempt. Against Drexel, Sean Knitter’s tenth and eleventh points of the night gave the Leopards a 69-68 led with 1:09 left, and Jamie Hughes helped the lead stand up with a game-saving block with three seconds left. Player of the Week Winston Davis led the team in scoring against St. Peter’s and LaSalle, while DeBerry paced the team versus Drexel. Against LaSalle, DeBerry crossed over the 1,000-point threshold, joining Colgate’s Mark Linebaugh in the active Patriot League 1,000-point club. The team goes up against Centenary and Binghamton this weekend on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Army Black Knights (3-2 overall)

Army has moved to 3-2 on the year after a 65-48 defeat of SUNY Maritime, which came after the team dropped two straight to Sacred Heart and Cornell. Josh Wilson has stepped up for the Black Knights, leading the team in scoring in two of its last three games. The senior center chipped in 18 against Sacred Heart and 21 against Cornell, while adding 10 points against SUNY Maritime. Things will get a little tougher for Army this weekend, as they travel to Albany on Friday to take on a solid Great Dane squad, before entering Husky territory to take on fourth-ranked UConn in Storrs.

Colgate Raiders (2-2 overall)

The Raiders continued their inconsistent play of late, alternating wins and losses for the first four games of the season. This is not a good sign for the ‘Gate, as the team’s inconsistency became their downfall during most of last year’s league schedule. One constant for Colgate has been the excellent play of Alvin Reed, who has notched career-high point totals in three straight games. He poured in 26 points, including 19 in the first half, in the team’s first home win of the season, a 69-66 seesaw victory over Albany. Against Cornell, the Raiders picked up their first win of the season by holding the Big Red scoreless for the final two minutes of regulation and the first four of overtime, escaping Ithaca with an 84-77 OT victory. The team travels to Durham tonight to take on New Hampshire and then returns to Cotterell Court for a Tuesday tilt with Buffalo.

Holy Cross Crusaders (2-3 overall)

As mentioned above, it has been a tough few weeks for the Crusaders. After upending a young Harvard squad, Holy Cross endured three straight defeats. The Cross was handed its first loss of the year by a solid Princeton team, 61-55, with Keith Simmons leading the way for Holy Cross with 20 points in a losing effort.

The team then traveled to Chestnut Hill for its annual matchup with Boston College, and hung around with BC before falling, 64-51. The big difference in this contest was at the free throw line, where BC went 30-for-42 while the Crusaders went only 8-for-15. A losing streak was officially pronounced after Williams College, the defending Division III national champions, shocked the Hart Center crowd by invading Worcester and leaving with a 78-71 win. Allowing Williams to shoot 66.7 percent in the second half did in the Crusaders, as well as their own 37.3 percent shooting. One bright spot for Holy Cross in this contest was the 16 points, a team-high, for Nate Lufkin, who looks to get himself back into form. The Crusaders have no time to dwell on past losses, however, as the team meets up with Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks (2-3 overall)

Lehigh ended a two-game skid on Wednesday night with an 82-58 victory over Swarthmore. Freshman Jose Olivero led the way for the Mountain Hawks, scoring 12 points. This win came on the heels of the team’s game with fourth-ranked UConn, a game in which Lehigh managed to hang around with the Huskies, yet never really put a serious scare into Jim Calhoun’s club. Olivero again paced the team, scoring a career-high 17 points, and yet this wasn’t nearly enough to topple one of the nation’s best teams. Lehigh was able to knot the score at 24 with 2:43 left in the first half, but UConn went on an 11-2 run to put the game away before halftime. The Mountain Hawks will play a pair of Ivies next, as they host Harvard on Saturday and journey to New York City to take on Columbia on Monday.

American Eagles (1-4 overall)

In its last two losses, American has surely given its fans their moneys worth, as both losses have come down to a final shot. Against Farleigh Dickinson, Tamien Trent hit a three-pointer with five seconds left to lift FDU over the Eagles, 55-54. Andres Rodriguez, who got himself into foul trouble early and scored only one basket all game, got a last-second shot off that couldn’t find its mark. A 21-10 run to close the game gave American a chance against Elon, but Linas Lekavicius’ half-court heave wasn’t close as the Eagles fell, 85-82. Rodriguez finished with 16 points on the evening but once again fell into foul trouble, fouling out in the game’s final minute. American coach Jeff Jones must want to see Rodriguez on the court in the game’s waning moments, and so this recurring theme must be one that is worrisome to the squad. Rodriguez and his mates will look to put some games away early against UNC-Greensboro and Howard this weekend.

Bucknell Bison (0-4 overall)

The Bucknell squad must have used up all its energy in attempting to take down Michigan State a few weeks back, as the team has still yet to find a win four games into the season. The Bison’s best chance at victory came against the Yale Bulldogs, in which the team battled back from a 14-point second-half deficit to take the lead before Scott Gaffield hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to give Yale a 63-62 victory. Bucknell had a chance for a last-second shot, but the inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds remaining was stolen, ensuring the Yale win. Against Northwestern, Bucknell again made a serious charge late in the second half only to fall short. They were down 16 points with under six minutes to go and went on a 9-1 run to end the game, but time was not on their side on the night. The Bison tries for the fifth time to get that elusive first win on Saturday against St. Francis.

Navy Midshipmen (0-4 overall)

The Midshipmen have had some ugly games so far this season, starting with the 73-40 pummeling at the hands of South Carolina in the season opener, and things have not gotten any better after that. After Navy scored the first basket of the game, Belmont scored 20 unanswered points in cruising to an 88-71 victory in the Middies’ home opener. According to the team’s website, the team “more than doubled” its point total from the USC game (40), and those math skills must have come in handy calculating the point differential when the Air Force Academy blew Navy off its home court last Wednesday, whooping the Midshipmen by a score of 86-46. Again, it was the fast start that did in the Middies, as the Falcons jumped out to a 25-6 lead early on before putting themselves on cruise control for the remainder of the evening. Add in a 65-60 loss to James Madison, in which the Dukes scored 18 of their final 21 points from the free-throw line, and Navy has been outscored by 95 points in its four losses. Ouch. The team takes on the University of Central Florida in sunny Orlando on Sunday.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Notebook

by Steve Sheridan

If you were to pick two Patriot League teams that would begin the season with a victory, the Holy Cross Crusaders would certainly have been one of them. But after that, only one other Patriot League team started off the season on the right foot, and that team turned out to be Army, a team which couldn’t manage a league victory all of last season.

The Black Knights defeated Columbia, 60-57, on Friday night to get the team’s season off to a good start. Freshman guard Matt Bell shined in his first collegiate game, pouring in a game-high 20 points, including 11 points registered from the free-throw line. Bell, one of twelve freshmen on coach Jim Crews’ squad (along with six seniors), also played a team-high 37 minutes in the game. His emergence looks to be a good sign for an Army team that lost leading scorer guard Andy Smith, as Bell seems to be able to step right into Smith’s shoes and lead the offense.

With the victory, Crews registered his 300th career victory, becoming the 44th active Division I coach to reach the milestone. In his nineteenth season behind the bench, Crews has compiled a record of 300-231, with this being his second season leading the Midshipmen. Congratulations to Coach Crews and his team on his accomplishment.

Just weeks after a Board of Trustees vote bestowed athletic scholarships on the athletic department for the first time, the Colgate men’s basketball team had its first two players sign National Letters of Intent to come to Hamilton next fall. Kyle Roemer (Martinez, CA) and Peter Minchella (West Lafayette, IN) will comprise Colgate basketball’s first scholarship class in the fall of 2004.

Roemer is a 6’3″ shooting guard who averaged 16.7 points per game for De La Salle High School, shooting 42 percent from three-point land. He was named the MVP of the Bay Valley Athletic League in his senior season. Minchella, a 6’10″ center out of William Henry Harrison High School who averaged 10 points per game, was ranked as the eleventh best player coming out of Indiana this season. These two student-athletes look to be the first in a long line of qualified players to come through the newly established Colgate scholarship pipeline.

As mentioned, the Holy Cross Crusaders started off their season with a victory, a surprisingly close 59-57 win over the Terriers of Boston University. The game was not over until Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Jave Meade sunk two free throws with five seconds left to give Holy Cross the victory. The free throws marked the end of a back-and-forth struggle, which saw each team threaten to lead by double-digits before watching the opponents storm back themselves to threaten likewise.

Freshman Torey Thomas tied for the team high with 18 points along with junior John Hurley. The Cross shot 51.2 percent from the field and forced 20 BU turnovers on the day, two stats that will help you win a lot of games. Meade added 10 points and five assists in his 40 minutes of play, including his two clutch free throws.

As could be inferred from above, American and Bucknell both lost their respective season openers, but that could be excused considering the competition they were up against.

American fell 79-48 to Maryland, with much of the blame going to the team’s terrible shooting. The Eagles opened the contest hitting just one of its first 21 shots, which in large part contributed to the team’s eight-point first half, in which the Eagles shot a miserable 14.8 percent. Freshman Andre Ingram paced the anemic American attack, scoring a game-high 16 points on four-of-eight shooting from beyond the arc.

Bucknell faced a much tougher opponent and came much closer to pulling out the biggest win in school history. Unfortunately for Bison fans, the seventh-ranked Michigan State Spartans fought the Bison off late to take a 64-52 win Friday night. Bucknell, led by Kevin Bettencourt’s career-high 21 points, held the lead until 5:14 left in the game, when a Shannon Brown layup gave the Spartans a 51-50 lead that they would never relinquish. The Achilles heel for the Bison proved to be free throw shooting, as the team connected on only one of 17 free-throw attempts for the game. With a few more free throws dropping, Bucknell might have been able to secure the lead and make some school history.

Player of the Week:

Matt Bell, Army

The freshman scored 20 points and added four steals and two rebounds in his first collegiate game to lead the Black Knights to a 60-57 victory over Columbia.

Newcomer of the Week:

Matt Bell, Army

If you’re the player of the week and you’re a freshman, the odds are good you’ll win this award too.

Holy Cross Crusaders (1-0 overall)
Holy Cross barely avoided the upset bug against Boston University, eking out the aforementioned 59-57 victory. The play of Torey Thomas must have coach Ralph Willard optimistic, as Thomas may be looked upon to replace the graduated Brian Wilson. With Jave

Meade at the other guard position, things might just come easy to whomever Willard chooses to play the other guard spot. The Crusaders will take on another Boston-area team on Tuesday, when they welcome Harvard to the Hart Center.

Army Black Knights (1-0 overall)
Although it’s a non-league victory, the Black Knights can wake up this morning knowing that they have more victories than six teams in the Patriot League, which is certainly something that could not be said last season. The success of the team this season will depend on the maturity shown by the squad’s twelve freshmen, some of whom (Matt Bell, for instance) will be asked to step in and contribute immediately. The team returns to action today against the Coast Guard Academy.

Bucknell Bison (0-1 overall)
Despite putting a major scare into the Spartans, Bucknell was unable to seal the deal against Michigan State on Friday. A late 15-2 run by Michigan State turned the score into one that wasn’t indicative of the closeness of the game. Head coach Pat Flannery will be sure to work his team hard on free throws during practice this week, as the squad’s chances went down with its free-throw percentage, which ended up just under six percent. Another unnerving statistic for the Bison is that, other than Bettencourt, only one Bucknell player scored more than four points for the game. The team will try once again to get into the win column Wednesday night as Yale comes to Lewisburg for the team’s home opener.

American Eagles (0-1 overall)
Another team that will have to work on its shooting, not just from the charity stripe but from anywhere on the floor, is American. The Eagles’ eight point first half dug a hole that even the best of teams could not get themselves out of, leading to a rout at the hands of Maryland. They managed to stay with the Terrapins in the second half, which is a good sign for coach Jeff Jones and his squad. The Eagles will continue searching for some consistency on offense when they face off with the University of Delaware on Tuesday night at Bender Arena.

Colgate Raiders (0-1 overall)
Colgate began its 2003-2004 campaign on a down note on Friday night, as the Princeton Tigers built up a lead as large as 21 points while cruising to a 73-64 victory at Jadwin Gym. Princeton shot the lights out on the evening, hitting 63 percent of its shots (27 for 43) on the night. For Colgate, senior captain Howard Blue began the season off right, dropping 23 points and grabbing 14 boards for the Raiders in a losing effort, while fellow captain Mark Linebaugh scored 17 for Colgate, 13 coming in the second half. These two are expected to put up big numbers for the Raiders this season, but if the team is to win the other starters and role-players will have to step up and contribute as well. Next up for Colgate is a Tuesday night match-up with the rival Big Red of Cornell.

Lafayette Leopards (0-1 overall)
Lafayette was unable to put away a persistent Rutgers team on Saturday, as the Scarlet Knights were able to pull off a 71-65 victory over the Leopards in Piscataway, NJ. Lafayette led by as many as nine points in the second half, and yet was not able to keep the Rutgers squad from storming back to take the win. Lafayette’s Winston Davis led all scorers with 20 points, while Justin DeBerry added 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. After them, however, there was a drastic drop off in production, as the next two scorers for Lafayette managed only seven points apiece. The Leopards hope to rebound on Monday when they face Saint Peter’s.

Navy Midshipmen (0-1 overall)
Navy didn’t exactly begin its season on the right foot. Not expected to do much in the Patriot League this season, the Midshipmen began the year by being trounced at the hands of the University of South Carolina, 73-40. The 40 points were the fewest scored by a Navy team since the 1978-1979 season, when the team scored 40 but gave up only 43 to Penn State. Jeff Charles scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, while Kwame Ofori added 10 points for Navy. The team hopes for a much different result when it hosts Belmont in its home opener on Monday night.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks (0-1 overall)
The Mountain Hawks got off to a slow start and never were able to recover in the team’s first game on Friday night, falling 67-54 to Long Island. As apparently was a plague for Patriot League teams this weekend, Lehigh was done in by poor shooting. Lehigh shot 27 percent from the floor, including 12 percent from beyond the arc, statistics that will not win you a lot of games. The defense held LIU to 40 percent shooting, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to generate much on the offensive end, with Earl Nurse and Dayne Mickelson both scoring just 11 points to lead the team. The team hopes to shake off the early season cobwebs on Tuesday when Stony Brook visits Stabler Arena.

Colgate Offers Scholarships

Colgate Goes with Scholarships

by Steve Sheridan

October 18 was a very important day in the history of Colgate University athletics. The Colgate University Board of Trustees approved a measure that would grant athletic scholarships to Raider student-athletes for the first time in the school’s history. This decision culminated a yearlong review of financial aid packaging. This announcement was generally viewed as a good thing by the members of the campus. In tiny Hamilton, the feeling of apathy generally tends to permeate the student body, and I for one hope that this decision will help to bolster the often-dormant state of varsity athletics at Colgate. Some members of the student body derided Colgate, an institution that prides itself on high academic standards, for its decision, saying that scholarships will help lesser-quality students enter the University. Despite these naysayers, the scholarships should help emphasize the fact that Colgate is a Division I school with D 1-quality athletics. As said before, athletics do not play a big role on campus, and I feel this is certainly a step in the right direction in helping to rectify this problem.

When the basketball team wins a game at the buzzer and all of thirty students storm the court, this signals that something could be wrong with the state of varsity athletics at the ‘Gate. The Patriot League in general is new to the idea of merit-based scholarships, having first allowed athletic scholarships to be granted only four years ago. The league was very late into the game in this respect, and it seemed the member schools were hurt by not being able to recruit as they wished. The decision of the Colgate trustees leaves Lafayette as the lone school in the league to not grant athletic scholarships to its athletes, after Bucknell decided to go the same route in the spring. With Colgate’s choice, it looks as if it will only be a matter of time before the Leopards join the rest of the league in compensating student-athletes for their performance on the field. When running a Division I program, these steps are necessary to recruit athletes who may well be tempted to go elsewhere.

Colgate’s plan allows for 31 athletic scholarships to be distributed among men and women’s basketball, soccer, lacrosse, hockey and swimming and diving, as well as women’s softball, field hockey and volleyball. Nineteen more need-based packages will be set aside for the football team, but these will not be merit-based, as the Patriot League currently does not allow football scholarships to be given by member schools. Because of the size of the football program, there are more women’s sports receiving scholarships than men’s, so as to balance the gender lines as evenly as possible. These scholarships do not alter the financial structure of financial aid, however, as these scholarships will be converted from the 62 financial aid packages that previously had been bestowed upon students.

This new plan looks obviously to help the football program, which doesn’t need much help in recruiting at the current time, as the team is ranked in the top-ten in D 1-AA, but will help to take qualified players away from some similar institutions. The basketball and hockey programs meanwhile, which may not have been able to attract top-quality talent, now look more appealing to prospective students, as well. The main result of these scholarships will be a better product put forth on the playing field. With this goal, I cannot possibly see how this decision could be a bad one. As everyone knows, with W’s come national recognition, and with this comes the name recognition that is a key factor in recruitment of high school seniors and transfer students. And most importantly, of course, I want my team to WIN. Scholarships help a team win, plain and simple, especially when competing against other teams that dole out scholarships to its athletes.

The main criterion for qualification for scholarships was that the team must compete in a full Patriot League schedule. For this reason, the men’s golf team and men and women’s tennis, crew, track and cross country will not be eligible to receive scholarships, as these squads are not required to participate in full Patriot League schedules. These teams are also generally more individually oriented, with the success of the team depending mostly on individual achievements. The crew teams in particular have traditionally never been granted any monetary support from the University, and so this sport was never considered as part of the plan. All the aforementioned schools also hold a much lesser profile on campus, and so scholarships given to these programs would most likely not do much in terms of raising the profile of the program. No offense to these teams, but if Colgate used a scholarship to recruit a “star” rower or a “wicked fast” runner, I still wouldn’t particularly care about the sport.

While the 19 football “equivalencies” will remain constant, the remaining 31 scholarships could vary between the individual teams in certain years. The NCAA does restrict the number of scholarships that can be given to any particular sport in a year, but the school reserves the right to give more scholarships to certain sports depending on special circumstances. The Athletic Director is able to, for example, give more scholarship sports to a team that was particularly hit hard by injuries in order to help the team rebuild itself. This is a good thing.

The first class of Raider scholarship athletes will come to Hamilton in the fall of 2004, and I for one, will welcome them with open arms.

Patriot League Preview

Patriot League Preview

by Steve Sheridan

At the beginning of last season, it looked like Holy Cross would take the League title, and sure enough they did. It seemed predestined (by a higher being hanging out in Worcester, perhaps), that the Crusaders would waltz into the NCAA Tournament. Coming into this season; however, there does not appear to be a clear-cut favorite coming out of the gate.

What can be clearly seen is that this year may very well be the year of the guard in the Patriot League. With Holy Cross’ Jave Meade, Colgate’s Mark Linebaugh and Lafayette’s Justin DeBerry all returning this season, it looks to be a guard-oriented year. Even with the graduations of American’s Steven Miles and Glenn Stokes, Lehigh’s Matt Logie and Zlatko Savovic and Lafayette’s Andrew Pleick, the guard position looks to be as strong as ever in 2003-2004. With each team feeling the sting of graduation, it looks to be a wide-open year in the Patriot League. Right now, it looks as if Colgate and Holy Cross are to be the early favorites for the league title, but Lafayette’s squad is not to be overlooked. As has been proven in the past, anything can and usually does happen over the course of a season, and I expect this season to be no different.

Preseason All-Conference First Team
Jave Meade, Guard, Holy Cross
Mark Linebaugh, Guard, Colgate
Justin DeBerry, Guard, Lafayette
Kevin Blankenship, Guard, Bucknell
Nate Lufkin, Center, Holy Cross

Conference MVP
Jave Meade, Guard, Holy Cross

Team Capsules (In Order of Projected Finish)

Colgate (14-14, 9-5, 3rd)

The Raiders look poised to seriously challenge for the Patriot League title this season, as Colgate returns its top two scorers in senior co-captains Mark Linebaugh and Howard Blue from a team that finished with a .500 overall record (14-14), tying for second in the league with a 9-5 record. Linebaugh, a second-team all-Patriot Leaguer, heads a squad that loves to shoot the three-ball, including all-rookie team member Alvin Reed and junior Keith Williams, who missed half of last season due to a knee injury. With the graduation of point guard Dave Hardy, look for Linebaugh to direct the offense much more so than last season. Blue, along with fellow forward junior Andrew Zidar, gives Colgate a much needed inside presence.

It was not offense but defense that kept Colgate from doing better in the conference, as they were second-to-last and last, respectively, in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense. If the team can improve its defense and keep up the offensive attack, the Raiders will be a serious threat to Holy Cross’ stranglehold on the league title. Colgate’s non-league schedule includes Ivy League powers Princeton and Harvard, as well as the squad’s yearly jaunt to Syracuse to take on the defending national champions at the Carrier Dome.

Holy Cross (26-5, 13-1, 1st)

Last season, the Crusaders were expected to coast through their Patriot League schedule to another league title, and they didn’t disappoint, going 13-1 in the league (26-5 overall). This season; however, looks to be a little more difficult for Ralph Willard’s squad. For starters, the Cross is losing the last three Patriot League Players of the Year, in Tim Szatko (twice) and 2003 honoree Patrick Whearty. Along with guard Brian Wilson, the trio was Holy Cross’ three leading scorers, dropping a combined average of 35 points per game. Junior center Nate Lufkin and senior guard Jave Meade will be asked to step up and fill the large void left by the three. Meade was the catalyst of the Crusader offense all season long and played superb defense as well, while Lufkin showed what he is capable of by playing arguably his best game on the biggest stage, contributing greatly to the Cross’ near upset of Marquette in the NCAA Tournament. Junior Neil Fingleton, all 7-feet 6-inches of him, will also get a chance to contribute to the team in Whearty’s absence. With Meade at the helm, nobody doubts whether Holy Cross can make it a four-peat, but it is known that the road will certainly not be quite as easy as last year.

Lafayette (13-16, 6-8, 6th)

The Leopards should be much improved this season under Fran O’Hanlon, graduating only one senior while keeping the nucleus of last year’s team, which finished sixth in the league last season (6-8, 13-16 overall) intact, including the team’s top four scorers. The team reached the tournament semifinals last season behind the strong play of second-team all-Leaguer Justin DeBerry, who averaged over 16 points a game, and fellow senior Winston Davis. This duo should prove to be one of the best guard tandems in the Patriot League, as DeBerry looks to top the league in scoring after placing second this past season. What the team seeks this season is consistency from its starters, hoping to avoid the alternation of short winning and losing streaks throughout the season as tended to be the case last year. Senior center Rob Dill, the league’s top shot-blocker, and senior forward Mike Farrell should establish Lafayette once again with a solid tandem under the boards. The team’s non-league schedule is packed with Ivies, including trips to Penn, Princeton and Columbia.

Bucknell (14-15, 7-7, 5th)

The Bucknell Bison may very well be the most experienced team in the conference heading into the 2003-2004 season, as its roster is packed with seven seniors. This experience will help counteract the loss of four-year starting point guard Dan Blankenship and the team’s leading scorer and league’s leading rebounder, Boakai Lalugba, who was arguably one of the most dominating players in the league last season. Blankenship and Lalugba were two main reasons why Bucknell was able to stay even in the league last year (7-7) for a fifth place finish, while almost reaching the .500 mark overall (14-15). Patriot League Rookie of the Year Kevin Bettencourt will be one of coach Pat Flannery’s main offensive weapons, while senior guards Matt Quinn (co-captain) and Chris Rodgers will try and fill the large shoes of Blankenship. The guard duo will be sure to try and improve on an offense that ranked second-to-last in the conference last season, which offset the second-best defense in the league. The Bison have put together a competitive non-conference schedule, including Michigan State, who made the Elite Eight last year, as well as Ivy League champion Penn, and look to make a serious run at the league championship for all those seniors.

American (16-14, 9-5, 2nd)

The Eagles will try to return to the Patriot League championship game for the third consecutive year under coach Jeff Jones, but will have to do so without their two leading scorers from last year, who were considered by many to be the best guard tandem in the League. With Steven Miles (all-Patriot League first-team) and Glenn Stokes, two key figures in the Eagles’ second place finish last season (9-5 league, 16-14 overall), both leaving, American has a 32-point hole in its offense that needs to be filled. Senior guard Andres Rodriguez and senior forward Jernavis Draughn will be counted on to help supply points for the Eagles this season, as well as all-rookie team selection Raimondas Petrauskas, as the team hopes to finally win a League title, having come close the past two seasons. With a tough non-league schedule, including match-ups at Maryland and Notre Dame, American should be able to see very quickly how it matches up with some of the better teams in the country, not just the Patriot League.

Lehigh (16-12, 8-6, 4th)

Nobody saw the Mountain Hawks coming in coach Billy Taylor’s first year on the job in Bethlehem, when they stormed to the top of the Patriot League before fading to fourth place by season’s end. The team ended up with a respectable 8-6 league mark, while finishing four games above .500 for the whole season (16-12). The team loses star guards Matt Logie and team MVP and all-league performer Zlatko Savovic to graduation, and so will be counting on senior co-captains Ra Tiah and Austen Rowland to assume the vacated positions. Rowland enters his first year of play for Lehigh, having transferred from Delaware two seasons ago, and will be counted on to provide a viable scoring threat from the outside. All-rookie selection Mitch Gilfillan is also expected to chip in, as the sophomore proved himself a sharpshooter from downtown last season, connecting on 52% of his shots from beyond the arc. As is becoming custom with Patriot League teams, Lehigh has a tough non-conference schedule as well, highlighted by a contest against perennial powerhouse UConn in Storrs, CT.

Navy (8-20, 4-10, 7th)

The Midshipmen of Navy didn’t have the best of years last season (seventh place in the league with a 4-10 record, 8-20 overall), and after graduating its top two players, the team doesn’t appear to have much to look forward to in the 2003-2004 season. With their top four scorers all departing from Annapolis, the Midshipmen will field an inexperienced lineup for the upcoming campaign, and coach Don DeVoe hopes to bring out the best of the bunch. Sophomore guard David Hooper was named to the league’s all-Rookie team, and hopes to once again provide a legitimate scoring threat from the perimeter. Senior guard Kwame Ofori also showed some promise after taking over at point guard, and the team will be looking to him for some much-needed senior leadership when it comes to scoring. With the state of Navy, it looks as if the annual Army-Navy contests, aside from the bragging rights in the natural rivalry of the two academies, may once again also decide who gets to stay out of the Patriot League cellar.

Army (5-22, 0-14, 8th)

If you’re optimistic, you can say that the Black Knights couldn’t get any worse when it comes to Patriot League play. After going winless in their conference schedule (0-14) and winning only five games all year (5-22) in coach Jim Crews’ first season at the helm, Army must find some way to improve the league’s last-ranked offense from last season. This must also be done without the services of junior guard Andy Smith, the team’s leading scorer who left the Black Knight basketball program in April. Senior guard Sean O’Keefe, the team’s second-leading scorer last year, will play a big role in filling that hole, which will have to be filled and overflowed if Army is to be at all competitive in the Patriot League this season. In early December, the team will travel to Storrs, CT to take on UConn, who will most certainly challenge for the NCAA title this season, and if the squad could even remotely hang with the Huskies, it may bode well for its chances of a Patriot League rebound. Those chances; however, may be slim at best.

I can make no such predictions as were made last year, so I can only speculate that the team that lost the least due to graduation, Colgate and Lafayette, will be near the top of the standings. Ralph Willard will always have his Holy Cross team ready for action, so the three-time defending league champions certainly cannot be ruled out by any means. And as was the case with Lehigh, a team could always come up from nowhere to take down the expected leaders. In the Patriot League, there is no such thing as a sure thing.

Patriot League Offseason News Update

Patriot League Offseason News Update

by Steve Sheridan

American

The Eagles were very excited about their incoming first-year class for the 2003-2004 season, which includes co-State Player of the Year in Virginia Linas Lekavicius and 6-foot 10-inch Brayden Billbe. Lekavicius, a native of Silale, Lithuania, averaged over 25 points and 5 rebounds in his senior campaign. Billbe, from Mercer Island, Washington, was apparently influenced by a high school class field trip to D.C. to attend a school in the Washington area.

Army

The Black Knights of Army will have to deal with the loss of junior shooting guard Andy Smith, who will not be returning to the team due to unspecified reasons, head coach Jim Crews announced. Smith, who led the team in scoring last season with just under 10 points per game, started 18 contests for Army in his two seasons on the court and was a leader on the court for the Black Knights.

Bucknell

Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery added two new assistants to his staff for next season, as Nathan Davis and Mark Prosser join the Bucknell staff. Davis stays in the Patriot League, having spent the past five seasons as an assistant at Navy. Prosser, the son of Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser, spent last season as an assistant coach at Wofford College.

The Bucknell basketball program was awarded three scholarships from the school’s Board of Trustees in June, and with them Flannery welcomed the first scholarship class in the history of Bucknell basketball. With the decision, Colgate and Lafayette remain as the last two schools still adhering to the league’s founding principle of need-based aid only for student-athletes.

Colgate

The new Raider recruiting class is highlighted by a twin pair of forwards, 6’7” power forward Kendall and 6’6” small forward Kyle Chones. Kendall will look to bring his strong inside game to a Raider squad that hopes to improve under the boards, while Kyle will fit right in with a team that loves to hoist ’em up from beyond the arc. Kendall and Kyle, two of three triplets, also have a brother Kameron (sensing a “K” theme), who is a first-year player at Brown University.

Holy Cross

The Holy Cross Crusaders honed their skills across the Atlantic in late August with five games against teams from Ireland, including BK Limerick University and the Waterford Crystal Institute. The team, which went 5-0 on the Irish tour, outscored their opponents by an average of 38 points over the five games, including a 61-point beating of Waterford. While the games may not have provided much competition for the Crusaders, the squad also did much sightseeing during their weeklong trip, including stops at glass-making factories and castles in Kilkenney and Blarney Castle.

Lafayette

The point guard position is a question mark for the Leopards for the upcoming season, after Andrew Pleick, who was petitioning the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility, had his appeal denied. Pleick had been counting on being able to return for another season with the Leopards after transferring to Easton from Drake University in 2000.
For the first time since 1996-97, Lafayette will not open the season with three consecutive road games, as the staff decided to disregard the recent trend and scheduled two of the team’s first three games to be played at the Kirby Sports Center.

Lehigh

The Lehigh Athletic Department announced that the team would be partnering with Yahoo! Sports to broadcast all Lehigh men’s basketball games over the Internet, in order to maximize the sound quality of its radio broadcasts around the country. The real-time broadcasts, which will be available with a subscription, will give fans the opportunity to listen in to the local radio broadcasts of many Lehigh sports, including every basketball game.

It was also announced that Matt Logie, who graduated from Lehigh this spring after a stellar four-year career for the Mountain Hawks, would be returning to the school as the Director of Basketball Operations for the 2003-2004 year. Logie will help out in all aspects of Lehigh basketball, including recruiting, summer camps and traveling.

Navy

Blake Flickner, who spent the last two seasons in the Colorado State basketball program, was hired as an assistant coach to replace Nathan Davis who, as mentioned above, left Navy for a job at Bucknell.
Dave Wojcik was also named an assistant coach, coming to the Naval Academy from Wheeling Central Catholic High School (Wheeling, West Virginia), where he was head coach. Wojcik takes over for Tom Marryott, who was named the interim Navy women’s basketball coach over the summer.