Jan. 8, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. - After nearly two months of non-League action, Patriot League men's basketball teams will only face each other for the rest of the season as the League schedule opens up on Saturday. There are two games in the afternoon, with preseason favorite Holy Cross visiting the League's biggest surprise, 9-6 Lafayette, at 1 p.m. and Army, holding the League's top overall record at 10-4, traveling to a peaking Colgate squad at 2 p.m. In the evening, two-time defending champion American starts its quest for a three-peat when it visits Lehigh, which brings a five-game win streak and 9-6 record into the contest. Also, Navy heads to Bucknell in a matchup of teams in the middle of the pack during non-League play.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 1.8.10

Patriot League teams compiled an overall record of 49-70 in non-League action, but there is a group of teams playing their best basketball heading into League play. Lehigh has won five straight games to move to 9-6, while Colgate has won three straight after a 1-10 start. Army and Lafayette have been strong nearly from start to finish, with the Black Knights holding five and four-game win streaks in their 10-4 start and the Leopards claiming five wins in their last six games to improve to 9-6.

A wide-open season appears to be in store, with preseason favorite Holy Cross and defending champion American both at just 3-12 but capable of contending for the crown, and Navy and Bucknell with losing marks but the potential to compete with any team as well. Each squad will play 14 League games, playing a home-and-home series with the other seven teams in the League. The League schedule concludes on Feb. 27, with the Patriot League Tournament starting on March 3.

Patriot League Notebook

Catch the Action on All-Access
For the fourth straight season,the Patriot League and CBS Interactive are going to offer the majority of men's and women's basketball games as part of the Patriot League All-Access package, beginning with the start of League play this weekend. Almost every regular-season and Patriot League Tournament game will be shown on high-speed broadband through the video streaming package.

The All-Access package is available for a price of $7.95 per month, which allows subscribers to see the live action of all available Patriot League basketball games as well as the archived content for past games. The cutting-edge technology takes viewers up close with multi-camera coverage. To purchase the All-Access package, go to the multimedia link at the right-hand sidbear of the front page at www.patriotleague.org.

Home Teams Dominate Last Set of Non-League Games
Patriot League teams played their final non-League games earlier this week, and that was good news for the half of the squads that played on their home floor. The host school won all nine games involving Patriot League teams from Monday through Wednesday, with Colgate winning against both Central Connecticut State on Monday and NC Central on Wednesday. Lehigh defeated Yale on Tuesday, while Lafayette beat Columbia and Army knocked off Brown on Wednesday. Holy Cross, American, Bucknell and Navy all dropped their last non-League game on the road.

Lehigh, Colgate Getting Hot at Right Time
Lehigh has the best streak as the schedule hits Patriot League play, as the Mountain Hawks have won five games in a row heading into League action. The streak matches Army for the longest by a Patriot League team this year. It is the second winning streak of at least three games this year for the Mountain Hawks. Army and Lafayette also have two winning streaks of at least three games, while Colgate added its name to the list this week by knocking off Central Connecticut State and NC Central to push its streak to three games. Bucknell is the only other Patriot League team that has done it once.

Local Rivals Looking Alike
With campuses separated by less than 15 miles, Lafayette and Lehigh are always looking for a leg up on each other. But the schools really are similar this year. Each team is 9-6 overall, with a 6-1 home mark and 3-5 road record. Lafayette leads the way in scoring offense at 72.9 points per game, with Lehigh a point behind at 71.9. They are also 1-2 in the League in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, blocked shots, assists and assist/turnover raio, with Lafayette leading the first three categories and Lehigh the latter two. They have played three common opponents. Each team beat St. Francis (Pa.) and NJIT, while Lafayette got a leg up on Wednesday by beating a Columbia team that Lehigh lost to earlier in the year.

Army, Lafayette Leading the Categories
There are 19 team categories in the Patriot League statistics, and Army and Lafayette combine to lead most of them. Army was clearly the top defensive team in non-League play, and is first in the Patriot League in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage defense, three-point field goal percentage defense, steals and turnover margin. The Black Knights also led the way in rebounding defense. Lafayette has the advantage in five categories. Four are on offense: scoring offense, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point field goal percentage; while the Leopards also lead in blocked shots. Lehigh and Holy Cross each lead three of the remaining seven categories.

Success Vs. NEC, Ivy League in Non-League Play
The Patriot League finished its non-League schedule with a 49-70 record, with 30 of the wins coming against rivals from the Northeast Conference and Ivy League. The Patriot League finished 17-7 against the NEC, and put up a 13-8 mark against the Ivy League with wins in the final three meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Four for the Record Books
Four Patriot League seniors hold a spot in the League's record book, with three of them earning a place in multiple categories. Colgate's Kyle Roemer, Lehigh's Marquis Hall and Navy's Chris Harris are engaged in a competitive race for the active Patriot League scoring lead. Roemer has pulled slightly ahead with big games of late, and now stands 32nd in League annals with 1,345 points. Hall and Harris are just behind with 1,302 points in 37th position. Lehigh's Zahir Carrington became the League's 70th 1,000-point scorer last week, and now has 1,032 points to stand 64th. Hall and Harris are each in the top ten in another category, with Hall eighth in League annals with 465 assists and Harris 10th with 242 three-pointers. Carrington is part of the 500-rebound club as well, while Roemer is just outside the top 10 in three-point field goals made and three-point percentage.

Scoring Duos
Navy and Colgate continue to get solid production from their prolific scoring duos. The teams boast four of the top five scorers in the Patriot League, with Navy's Chris Harris (19.9) first, Colgate's Kyle Roemer (17.8 ppg) second, Navy's Jordan Sugars (15.8) third and Colgate's Yaw Gyawu (14.4) fifth. Roemer has a 38-point game and Harris earlier scored 37, the highest marks for League players since 2005-06.

Coaching Milestones
Colgate's Emmett Davis and Navy's Billy Lange became the latest Patriot League coaches to hit milestones over the weekend. Davis won his 150th career game, all at Colgate, and Lange claimed his 75th win in Annapolis on Saturday. Earlier, Lafayette Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon recorded his 200th career victory and became the all-time Patriot League leader in overall games coached. American Head Coach Jeff Jones is within two wins of 300 for his career, and notched his 150th at the school earlier in the year. Bucknell's Dave Paulsen is one win shy of 275 for his career.

Super Sophomores
A strong group of sophomores looks like it will have an impact in the Patriot League through the 2012 season. Five of the top nine and 10 of the top 19 scorers in the League are sophomores. Navy's Jordan Sugars (15.8) ranks third in the League in scoring, with Colgate's Yaw Gyawu (14.4) fifth and Holy Cross' R.J. Evans (14.1), Lafayette's Jim Mower (13.5) and Army's Julian Simmons (13.4) occupying spots seven through nine. Sugars, despite standing just 6-foot-3, leads the League with 8.4 rebounds per game, with American's Stephen Lumpkins second in rebounds (8.3) and blocked shots (1.7) per contest. Sophomores hold four of the top seven spots in three-point field goals per game, and four of six in three-point field goal percentage.

Patriot League on CBS College Sports
The Patriot League home for men's basketball coverage moves to the CBS College Sports Network in 2010, with 12 men's games on the slate including a pair from the Patriot League Tournament. The schedule featues regular-season games on Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, as well as the final Saturday of the regular-season. On the final two weekends (Feb. 21 and 27) a "Flex Game" schedule is in place where the televised contest will not be announced until a later date. One Patriot League quarterfinal game will be shown on March 3 at 7 p.m., while a semifinal contest will be televised on March 7 at 8 p.m. CBS College Sports Network is available through cable operators as well as on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152. The Patriot League Championship remains on ESPN2 and will be played on March 12 at 4:45 p.m.

Plenty Of Coverage on League Website, Social Media Outlets
The Patriot League is expanding its men's basketball coverage on the League website and through social media. The composite schedule includes all live stat, audio and video links for games throughout the season, and a recap with links to school box scores and recaps has been provided after each night of games. Tthe Patriot League has accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and a blog on the League website to provide more information. All three accounts are accessible through the multimedia link at the right-hand sidebar on the front page of www.patriotleague.org.

Patriot League Games

Holy Cross (3-12, 0-0) at Lafayette (9-6, 0-0)
Kirby Sports Center; Easton, Pa. - Saturday, 1 p.m.

Series Holy Cross, 30-14 TV RCN-4 & 8, WBPH-60; MASN (tape-delay)
Streak Holy Cross, Three Wins Last Meeting Holy Cross, 64-50 (2.7.2009)
Last Lafayette Win 60-52 (1.12.2008) Last Five Games Holy Cross, 4-1

Two teams that went in opposite directions during non-League play meet for their Patriot League opener on Saturday in Easton when Holy Cross visits Lafayette...The Crusaders, picked to finish first in the Patriot League, put up a 3-12 record in non-League play, while the Leopards, selected eighth in the preseason, have gone 9-6 and have already topped last year's win total of eight...The situation is similar to the 2008 League opener, when Lafayette knocked off Holy Cross, 60-52, when the teams were picked in the same positions in that year's preseason poll as they are this season...That is the last win for the Leopards in the series, as Holy Cross has won three consecutive games over Lafayette including a 64-50 victory when the teams last played in Easton on Feb.7 of last season...The Crusaders have claimed 10 of the last 11 matchups overall, and have won at Lafayette in four of the past five seasons...The teams are opening the League schedule against each other for the fifth straight year, with the Leopards only scoring the win in 2008 in those matchups...Holy Cross holds a 26-12 edge over Lafayette in regular-season League games, and 28-13 in matchups as League members including postseason.

Holy Cross The Crusaders concluded their non-League slate with a 3-12 record, falling at N.C. State, 87-70, on Wednesday...Sophomore Devin Brown had another strong game, scoring 21 points in just 24 minutes off the bench...Holy Cross was in the game at halftime, trailing only 33-31, before N.C. State used a 16-2 run early in the second half to pull away...The Crusaders hit on 58.8 percent (10-of-17) of their three-point chances and held a 37-34 edge on the boards...Three other players scored in double figures for Holy Cross, with R.J. Evans totaling 13 points and Mike Cavataio and Andrew Beinert each scoring 11...Evans, Brown and Cavataio and are all in the top 15 in the Patriot League in scoring, all averaging more than 10 points per game...Beinert and Andrew Keister are in the top 25 in scoring in the League with an average higher than nine points per game...Keister, Cavataio and Evans are in the top seven in rebounding, as Holy Cross leads the Patriot League with a + 3.3 rebounding margin.

Lafayette The Leopards ended a strong non-League campaign with perhaps their best performance of the season, a 91-74 victory at home against Columbia on Wednesday night...Lafayette improved to 9-6 on the season, giving the Leopards more wins than last year's entire 8-22 campaign...Lafayette's offense was on fire throughout the contest, as the Leopards shot 56.9 percent from the field and made 9-of-17 three-point attempts...Lafayette led by seven points at halftime, and used a 19-4 run to pull away in the second half after Columbia had claimed a one-point lead...The Leopards held a double-digit lead for the final 9:15 of the contest...Ryan Willen scored a career-high 27 points in the contest, shooting 9-of-11 from the field and 7-of-10 from the line...Three other Leopards scored in double figures, as Jim Mower finished the night with 15 while Jared Mintz chipped in 12 and Tony Johnson 11...Lafayette beat a Columbia team that came in at 3-0 against Patriot League foes with wins over Lehigh, Bucknell and American...The Leopards have established themselves as the top offensive team in the Patriot League, leading the way in scoring offense, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point field goal percentage during the non-League portion of the schedule...Mintz is fourth in the Patriot League with 15.0 points per game and ranks among the national leaders by making 61.3 percent of his shots.

Army (10-4, 0-0) at Colgate (4-10, 0-0)
Cotterell Court; Hamilton, N.Y. - Saturday, 2 p.m.

Series Colgate, 53-51
Streak Colgate, Two Wins Last Meeting Colgate, 55-53 (2.7.2009)
Last Army Win 59-57 (OT) (2.9.2008) Last Five Games Colgate, 4-1

The top team throughout non-League play takes on one of the hottest squads in the League when Army visits Colgate on Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court...Army has posted a strong 10-4 record in non-League games, while Colgate has recovered from a slow start with four wins in the last five games and three in a row to get to 4-10 for the year...Colgate swept last year's series, winning at Army, 64-42, in both teams' League opener on Jan. 10 and at home, 55-53, on Feb. 7...The Raiders have won nine of the last 10 meetings over the past five seasons, and have defeated Army in each squad's League opener in each of those years...Army's only triumph during that time was a 59-57 overtime win at home in the teams' second meeting of the year on Feb. 9, 2008...The teams have engaged in low-scoring, close affairs, with five of the last six games decided by six points or less and the winning team scoring fewer than 65 points in each of the past five meetings...Colgate has edged ahead, 53-51, in the all-time series, and has a dominant 32-6 lead in regular-season Patriot League games...The Raiders have a 34-6 lead since League play began.

Army The Black Knights capped an outstanding non-League campaign by coming from behind for a 59-51 victory over Brown on Wednesday...Army trailed, 39-33, before outscoring Brown, 26-12, in the final 14 minutes to go on to the win...Julian Simmons hit two threes to quickly tie the score at 39, and put the Black Knights up for good with another trey with 10:45 left to make the score 44-42...Simmons scored 11 of his game-high 16 points during the decisive run...Army moved its home record to a perfect 7-0, and improved its overall home winning streak to eight games...The home streak is tied for the longest since moving to Christl Arena in 1985...Josh Miller had an outstanding overall game, scoring a season-high 15 points with a team-high seven rebounds, five assists and no turnovers in 37 minutes of action...Marcus Nelson added 11 points in the game...Army won despite shooting a season-low 35.5 percent (22-of-62)...The Black Knights made up for it with a season-low five turnovers...Army concluded its non-League slate with a 5-0 record against Ivy League opponents, helping the Patriot League win the season series by five games...Army is 10-0 this season when keeping opponents under 60 points ...The Black Knights have won nine non-League games against Division I teams for the first time in program history, and the 10 non-league wins are the most since the 2006-07 squad entered Patriot League play at 10-5 (two wins over Division III teams) ... Zach Spiker is the first Army basketball coach to win 10 of his first 14 games on the Black Knights' sideline since Tates Locke started 10-4 in 1963-64 ... Army has now won at least 10 games in four straight seasons for the first time since Mike Krzyzewski's first four years (1975-76 through 1978-79)...The Black Knights lead the Patriot League in every major defensive category.

Colgate The Raiders are playing their best basketball of the season going into the League Tournament, as they cruised past Central Connecticut State, 64-45, at home on Monday and dominated North Carolina Central, 75-54, on Wednesday...Colgate has won three straight and four of its last five games after an 0-9 start...The Raiders have won the first three of their five-game homestand by at least 15 points apiece...Kyle Roemer had 23 points and nine rebounds and Yaw Gyawu totlaed 17 in the win over CCSU...Each player scored 15 second-half points as the Raiders scored 45 points after a low-scoring first half...Colgate shot 76 percent (19-of-25) in the second half....The Raiders led for all but the first eight minutes agaisnt CCSU, then led from start to finish in an easy win over NC Central...The Raiders opened up a 45-28 lead by halftime and went up by as many as 31 points in the eventual 21-point victory...Roemer led the team with 14 points while playing only 20 minutes, and Anthony Hill and Sterling Melville both finished in double figures with 10...Joe Hoban had six points and nine assists in the game...Colgate also held a 51-31 edge on the boards...Roemer and Gyawu conclude the non-League slate both in the top five in the Patriot League in scoring average.

American (3-12, 0-0) at Lehigh (9-6, 0-0)
Stabler Arena; Bethlehem, Pa. - Saturday, 7 p.m.

Series American, 19-12 TV Service Electric 2 Sports
Streak American, Four Wins Last Meeting American, 66-58 (2.7.2009)
Last Lehigh Win 56-54 (2.3.2007) Last Five Games American, 4-1

Two-time defending champion American starts its search for a third straight League title at Lehigh, the hottest team in the League with a five-game winning streak...The Eagles won all four games against the Mountain Hawks over the past two years, including a 76-66 overtime triumph to open last year's League schedule on Jan. 10 in Washington, D.C. and a 66-58 win at Lehigh in the teams' most recent meeting on Feb. 7 of last season...Lehigh had won the previous four games before American's current streak...American leads the all-time series, 19-12, and has a 9-7 lead in regular-season Patriot League games, and 10-8 edge since entering the Patriot League.

American The Eagles concluded their non-League schedule with a 3-12 record after losing at Columbia, 56-51, on Monday...The game was tied at 41 with under five minutes to go before Columbia went on a 10-4 run to take the lead for good...The Eagles closed the deficit to just two with 15 seconds to play before Columbia sealed the win at the foul line...Vlad Moldoveanu led the Eagles with 18 points, while Stephen Lumpkins tallied 11 and Nick Hendra had 10...American committed 18 turnovers in the game...The Eagles are in the midst of a six-game road trip, which concludes at Bucknell on Wednesday.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks matched the longest winning streak for a Patriot League team this season by recording their fifth straight victory in a 75-69 triumph over Yale on Tuesday in Bethlehem...Freshman C.J. McCollum had a huge performance with a career-high 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-10 three-pointers, while pulling down six rebounds, dishing out five assists and notching two steals without a turnover in an outstanding overall game...Zahir Carrington chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Gabe Knutson scored 13 points and Marquis Hall had a career-high 11 assists, his fifth double-digit assist game this season...The game was close into the second half when Lehigh used an 11-1 run to break open a tie score and take a 56-46 lead with 10:36 left...The Mountain Hawks led by at least six points the rest of the way...Hall leads the League with 5.7 assists per game, while the Mountain Hawks are the top Patriot League team in assists and assist/turnover ratio...McCollum is sixth in the League and tops among all freshmen with a team-high 14.3 ppg, and Carrington and Knutson rank in the top five in the Patriot League in rebounding.

Navy (6-9, 0-0) at Bucknell (5-11, 0-0)
Sojka Pavilion; Lewisburg, Pa. - Saturday, 7 p.m.

Series Navy, 32-25
Streak Navy, Two Wins Last Meeting Navy, 62-60 (OT) (2.7.2009)
Last Bucknell Win 87-86 (3OT) (3.5.2008) Last Five Games Navy, 3-2

Navy and Bucknell will try to get their 2010 Patriot League season off to a good start when they meet in Lewisburg on Saturday evening...The series has featured close games of late, with the last three contests decided by four points or less and the past five ending in single-digit differences...Navy swept last year's season series in close matchups, earning a 71-67 win at home in the League opener on Jan. 10 and a 62-60 victory at Bucknell in overtime on Feb. 7...The last Bucknell win was one of the most memorable Patriot League games, as the Bison defeated Navy, 87-86, in triple overtime in Annapolis in the quarterfinals on March 5, 2008...Prior to last year's matchup in Lewisburg, Bucknell had won eight straight home games against the Mids...The teams are opening the League schedule against each other for the fifth straight season, with Bucknell winning from 2006-08 before Navy claimed last year's opener...Navy holds a 32-25 edge in the all-time series, though Bucknell is up, 19-17 in regular-season League games and 21-20 as a League member including Tournament play.

Navy The Mids had a tough finish to their non-League schedule, allowing Howard to score the final nine points in the last minute of the game in a 72-65 defeat on Monday...Navy finishes its non-League slate at 6-9, but just 1-7 away from Annapolis...Navy led by as many as 10 points in the first half and six at halftime before falling in the final minute...Howard tied the score with 59 seconds left, and went ahead for good on a three-pointer with 22 seconds to play...Navy's top scorers hit around their averages, with Chris Harris totaling 18 points and Jordan Sugars scoring 17...Harris leads the Patriot League with 19.9 ppg, while Sugars is third with 15.8 ppg and first with 8.4 rebounds per game...The Mids lead the Patriot League in three-pointers made per game.

Bucknell The Bison ended their non-League slate with a 5-11 record as they lost at Dartmouth, 49-43, on Monday...It was the third time in the last four games that Bucknell scored 50 points or less in a loss...The Bison shot just 30.6 percent from the field and turned the ball over 15 times...Bucknell cut a 14-point deficit to four with just under four minutes to play, but could not add a point in the final minutes and lost by six...G.W. Boon led Bucknell with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Patrick Behan scored 10...The Bison played just five home games in the non-League portion, going 2-3 in Lewisburg and 3-8 in road or neutral site games.