Patriot League Notebook
Holy Cross-Lehigh Battle Turns Very One-Sided
In one of the most anticipated league match-ups of the season, Holy Cross quickly dashed any chance of an exciting game. With caped Crusaders throughout the Hart Center, the HC dominated early and never looked back, cruising to an easy 73-53 triumph. Everyone got in on the act for Holy Cross, as Nate Lufkin returned from a sprained ankle to contribute 10 points and six rebounds, while Torey Thomas got his first start since mid-January and added eight points, 11 assists and five steals. With two more wins over the weekend, Holy Cross extended its winning streak to 11 games and appears destined for the top spot in the Patriot League Tournament – the team has already clinched at least a No. 2 seed.
Colgate Going Up, American Going Down
One team has won three games in a row, while the other has lost three consecutively. The two teams met on Sunday, and the Raiders showed that they are certainly the team on the upswing. Colgate dominated the Eagles for much of the game before calling off the dogs late and allowing American to score some garbage-time points, with the final score ending up at 73-63. The score doesn’t reflect the dominance of the Raiders for most of the game, as American seems to be tiring quickly as the regular season winds down. Colgate, meanwhile, looks to be making a customary late-season push.
Baldwin Returns From Prolonged Suspension
The tumultuous season for Navy center Carlton Baldwin has finally gotten the center back on the court. After missing the season’s first three games due to injury and then playing in four contests, Baldwin was suspended by the team for violating Naval Academy rules. After a 15-game absence, Baldwin returned to action this weekend against Colgate and Bucknell, scoring 11 points and hauling in nine rebounds in a combined 26 minutes of action.
Player of the Week
Matt Bell, Army
It’s not often I give an award to an Army player, but 44 points in two games will do that. Besides averaging 22 points in the Black Knights’ two losses, Bell also averaged seven rebounds, 4.5 assists and two steals in each contest. Bell leads the Army squad in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game, good enough for fourth in the league.
Rookie of the Week
Kyle Roemer, Colgate
The Patriot League’s leading three-point shooter continued his success this weekend, averaging 14 points per game in Colgate’s two victories over Navy and American. The Martinez, Calif., native shot 56 percent (9-of-16) from the field and 63 percent (5-of-8) from beyond the arc in two games, increasing his league leading three-point percentage to an even 47 percent.
Team Recaps
Holy Cross Crusaders (10-1 PL, 19-5 overall)
The Crusaders moved two big steps closer to another Patriot League title this weekend, handily defeating Lafayette on Friday night and then easily passing what was supposed to be a difficult Lehigh test on Sunday afternoon, keeping the team’s two-game lead firmly intact.
Holy Cross won its 10th consecutive game Friday night, pounding Lafayette 81-60. Five Crusaders scored in double figures, led by Keith Simmons and Kevin Hamilton each with 16 points. The Crusaders led the game throughout, but the team’s lead was in jeopardy at the 10:59 mark of the second half before Simmons hit three straight three-pointers to give his team a comfortable lead that would not be challenged again. John Hurley had a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards, while Simmons also added 10 rebounds for Holy Cross, which swept the season series with the Leopards with the win.
At the Hart Center on Sunday, the Crusaders ran the winning streak to 11 games – and with great ease, too. Holy Cross shot 56 percent from the field in the first half and held Lehigh to only five field goals in the first 20 minutes, jumping out to a 17-point halftime edge and cruising to a 73-53 win. The Crusaders’ stifling defense struck again against the Mountain Hawks, forcing 16 Lehigh turnovers and converting them into 23 points, while also amassing eight blocks and nine steals – five from Torey Thomas, who got his first start since separating his shoulder on January 15. Hamilton led three Crusaders in double figures with 20 points, as the HC emphatically staked its claim to the top seed in the Patriot League.
With a two-game lead in the Patriot League with three games remaining, there isn’t much left for the Crusaders to do. On Saturday, the team faces possibly the second-hottest team in the league in Colgate on Cotterell Court, where Holy Cross lost last season. Here’s a guess that the Crusaders won’t be taking any game lightly this time around, however.
Bucknell Bison (8-3 PL, 17-7 overall)
With two wins over American and Navy, Bucknell claimed sole possession of second place in the league and set itself up well to host one half of the league tournament.
Bucknell used solid team defense and excellent three-point shooting to defeat American on Friday night, 65-52. The Bison put on an basketball clinic in the first half, keeping American to 29 percent shooting and hitting 50 percent of its shots, including 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. The Bison sprinted out to a 13-point halftime edge. In the second half, the Bison lead never shrunk below 11 points. Kevin Bettencourt led three Bison in double figures with 20 points, including 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. In splitting the season series with the Eagles, Bucknell remained in a second-place tie with Lehigh.
Bucknell then got revenge on Navy for an early-season game on Sunday afternoon, taking down the Midshipmen by a score of 71-60. Charles Lee scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the first half on 6-of-6 shooting as the Bison came out strong and held on against Navy. Late in the game, the Bison defense kicked in, holding Navy without a field goal for the final 5:29 of play. Besides Lee, Abe Badmus also reached double figures for Bucknell with 10 points, as the team won its 13th consecutive league home game and clinched a winning league record for the 13th time in 15 years.
Bucknell takes the unusual step of playing a non-league game this late in the season on Tuesday, when the team faces off with Bucknell graduate Jay Wright and his Villanova Wildcats. The team returns to league play on Saturday with a game against last-place Army.
Lehigh Mountain Hawks (7-4 PL, 13-11 overall)
It wasn’t a very pretty weekend for Lehigh. First, the team barely squeaked by last-place Army on Friday, and then was blown out of the gym on Sunday afternoon against first-place Holy Cross. With the loss, Lehigh moves down into third place.
Against Army, Lehigh had a tougher time than the team expected, but in the end the Mountain Hawks’ skill outlasted the Black Knights, 69-64. Lehigh was unable to shake the Knights in the first half and for much of the second, but a late run gave the Hawks a double-digit lead that they held onto for the rest of the contest. The Mountain Hawks shot 70 percent from the field in the second half, allowing the team to show its superior shooting game. Joe Knight led the home team with 20 points, but the team’s sparkplug on the offensive end was first-year player Bryan White, with 10 points and six rebounds.
On Sunday, a very poor first half doomed the Mountain Hawks from the very beginning in Worcester, as the team was run over by the Crusaders. Joe Knight and Jose Olivero combined to score 20 points – but did so on terrible 5-of-27 shooting, which was symbolic of the afternoon the Hawks had. Lehigh made only five field goals in the first half and headed into the break down 17 points, and the team never made a serious challenge to Holy Cross in the second stanza. Olivero was the only Mountain Hawk player in double figures with 12 points, but no Lehigh player could overcome the raucous Hart Center crowd and the sizzling Crusader squad.
After seeing its three-game winning streak go down in flames, Lehigh hopes to get back on the winning track on Saturday evening, when the Hawks host Navy in an important league showdown for both teams.
American Eagles (6-5 PL, 13-10 overall)
American suffered through one of its worst league weekends of the season, as the team followed up a disappointing loss to Holy Cross last weekend with back-to-back losses to Bucknell and Colgate.
American suffered a tough league blow on Friday against the Bison, as the Eagles could not match the intensity of Bucknell and in turn lost the game by 13 points. Andre Ingram and Jason Thomas combined to score just nine points, as American as a team shot the ball poorly all afternoon. The team shot 38 percent from the field, including only 3-of-16 makes from three-point land, as American could not solve Bucknell on either the offensive or defensive end. Linas Lekavicius was the only Eagle player in double figures with 13 points, as no other American player could get anything going. The lack of effort did not bode well as the team headed into Hamilton on Sunday.
Coming off huge games against Holy Cross and Bucknell, the Eagles looked worn out as they traveled to Hamilton and were beaten badly by Colgate, 67-57. American scored the opening basket but never led again, as the team looked lethargic throughout. The Eagles tried to stay with Colgate in the opening half, but the team collapsed in the second stanza, causing head coach Jeff Jones to send in the reserves and also get himself a technical foul late in the contest. The American bench scored the game’s final 12 points to make the score respectable, but make no mistake – this game was a rout.
Coming off two of their worst games of the season, the Eagles must find a way to regroup on Saturday, when American travels to Easton to take on Lafayette. With another bad performance, American could fall out of the top half of the Patriot League – and that would get Jeff Jones really mad.
Colgate Raiders (6-5 PL, 11-13 overall)
The roller coaster ride that is the Colgate Raiders’ season is now back on the upswing. Following a close win over Navy and an impressive performance against American, the Raiders have moved into a fourth-place tie with the Eagles and are threatening for to move higher.
In a fast-paced contest filled with runs, Kyle Roemer provided a huge second-half spark on Friday night as Colgate held off Navy, 72-67. Colgate came out very flat in the first half, as the team couldn’t hit many shots and went into halftime down by eight points. Despite the fact that the team could hit any free throw attempts (48 percent), the team managed to steal a win thanks to solid second-half shooting (56 percent) and some excellent defense. Roemer scored a game-high 18 points, including 15 in the second half, while Andrew Zidar added 10 points and 13 rebounds against the taller Middies.
Sunday, the Raiders improved their league record to 5-1 at Cotterell Court this season, with a dominating 67-57 win over American. The Raiders used some abnormally hot shooting to shoot down the Eagles, shooting 51 percent from the field and a sizzling 63 percent (10-of-16) from beyond the arc. Alvin Reed led the Raider offensive attack with a game-high 17 points, as the Colgate offense couldn’t miss and the Colgate defense constantly frustrated the Eagles’ offense. The lead grew to as much as 25 in the second half, as the performance elicited the best crowd response of the season from the Cotterell Court faithful.
The team heads into its biggest game of the season with the most momentum it has had all year. The team welcomes league-leading Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon, looking to take down the Patriot League’s top team – a trick it pulled against Lehigh earlier in the season.
Lafayette Leopards (3-8 PL, 7-17 overall)
With one win on Sunday, Lafayette moved up a notch from seventh into a tie for sixth (with the tiebreaker in its favor) with the league games winding down.
Lafayette had trouble all evening long shooting the ball on Friday, and offensive weakness was quickly turned into a blowout loss by the home standing Crusaders. Lafayette hit only one field goal in the first eight minutes, as the HC came out strong and never looked back. Sean Knitter was the only Leopard player with any touch, hitting 5-of-12 points for 13 points in only 18 minutes of play. Jamaal Douglas scored 12 points, six of which came from the free throw line, but Bilal Abdullah continued his late-season disappearing act, scoring only three points in 23 minutes.
In a game that could have dropped the team into the league cellar, Lafayette outlasted Army on Sunday afternoon, 76-73, to move up into a tie for sixth place with Navy. The team got a big performance from Sean Knitter, who scored a season-high 21 points off the bench and nailed two free throws with 5.5 seconds left to account for the final score. Knitter scored 19 of his 21 in the second half, as the Leopards shot 65 percent as a team in the final 20 minutes of play. Douglas and Marcus Harley also reached double figures for Lafayette, as the Leopards held off the Black Knights down the stretch.
Although the Leopards are now in possession of sixth place, thanks to their season sweep of Navy, they cannot afford to let up this weekend. The team hosts a struggling American squad at the Kirby Sports Center with a chance to put some distance between it and the Middies.
Navy Midshipmen (3-8 PL, 7-17 overall)
Coming into the weekend having won three of four games, Navy returned to its past form against Colgate and Bucknell, losing twice to fall back into a sixth-place tie.
Navy came into Friday’s game with Colgate very hot, but the team’s offense betrayed it down the stretch and the Midshipmen fell 72-67. Navy was unable to hit any shots in the second half from anywhere on the court, shooting under 40 percent from the floor, 17 percent from three-point land and only 55 percent from the charity stripe. First-year player Greg Sprink attempted to single-handedly keep his team in the game near the end, ending up with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, but the team couldn’t hit its free throws in the second half and that proved to be Navy’s downfall.
Looking for a season sweep against Bucknell, the Middies instead found a tough defeat and a two-game losing streak. Sprink once again attempted to single-handedly win the game for the Middies, attempting 19 shots – but only making four of them. Sprink finished with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds, but the team went ice cold from the floor in the game’s waning minutes. Navy was held without a field goal for the 5:29 of the game, as the team was unable to get the lead below seven points in the second half.
The road gets no easier for Navy on Saturday evening, as the team must travel to Lehigh to take on a team that will be looking to take out some anger after the team’s tough loss at Holy Cross. The Middies will likely need a win to stay in a sixth-place tie, so this game will be crucial – and may also be a preview of a first-round Patriot League Tournament game.
Army Black Knights (1-10 PL, 3-20 overall)
Don’t tell Cory Sinning and Matt Bell that Army isn’t a good basketball team. But despite the best efforts of the Army duo, the Knights lost another two games to fall into an even deeper hole in the Patriot League.
Sinning and Bell combined to score 34 of the team’s 64 points on Friday against Lehigh, but the team’s late-game rally fell just short and the team fell to 1-9 in the league. The Black Knights shot the ball as well as they had all season in all categories, and yet the team could not erase all of Lehigh’s 15-point edge in the final 7:50 of the game. The Knights hit 8-of-12 shots after the Hawks’ lead grew to 15, but the team’s defense gave Lehigh too many opportunities to put space between the squads on the scoreboard. Sinning had a career-high 20 points for Army, as the team continues to struggle in league play.
On Sunday, the duo upped their efforts even more – and the team still lost. Against Lafayette, Bell scored 30 points and Sinning again added 20, but it was not enough to overcome the Leopards. Bell and Sinning took control of the team down the stretch, scoring the team’s final 17 points and 39 of the team’s 50 second half points. Both players played all 40 minutes, showing that both players will be vital parts to this Black Knight team for the rest of the season and into the future. Unfortunately, they cannot do it alone – and at this point, that’s the only choice they have.
The Black Knights continue to play out the remainder of the league season on Saturday, when they travel to Lewisburg to take on the Bucknell Bison.
