March 5, 2010

2010 Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship page

Center Valley, Pa. - The 2010 Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship game is in sight for four teams in Sunday's semifinals, as No. 1 Lehigh hosts No. 4 American and No. 3 Lafayette welcomes No. 7 Holy Cross with bids to the title contest on the line.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Semifinal Preview - 3.5.10

Each game will be televised, with the American/Lehigh contest shown nationally on CBS College Sports Network at 8 p.m. Veteran Patriot League broadcasters Bob Socci and John Feinstein are on the call. The matchup between Holy Cross and Lafayette can be seen on RCN-4 and WBPH-60 as well as through the Patriot League All-Access package. Tickets are available through each host institution at $12 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. The winners will meet for the Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship on March 12 at 4:45 p.m. on ESPN2.

Holy Cross and American made it to the Patriot League title game last year, and are two of the most accomplished teams in League annals. The Crusaders have made a League-record 10 title contests, while the two-time defending champion Eagles have made five in their eight years and are trying to continue their quest to join Holy Cross (2001-03) as the only teams to win the title in three straight years. Each team is trying to become the first lower than a No. 3 seed to make the title game.

Lafayette and Lehigh ended quarterfinal losing streaks on Wednesday, as the Leopards are in the semifinals for the first time since 2003 and the Mountain Hawks had not made it this far since 2006. Lafayette made three Patriot League title games from 1998-00, while Lehigh's only appearance was in its title season of 2004. The teams have some history on their side, as higher-seeded teams are 37-1 in the semifinal round, with 36 straight victories, and hosts are 18-2 in semifinals with a perfect 10-0 mark since the format put semifinal games at home sites in 2005.

Both matchups were the openers of the Patriot League schedule, so the teams have not faced off since playing their second meetings on Feb. 6. Lehigh swept American, while Lafayette and Holy Cross split with victories at home.

Neither matchup features a ton of Patriot League Tournament history. Lehigh and American have played twice, with the Mountain Hawks winning the League Championship in 2004 and the Eagles in the quarterfinals in 2002. Holy Cross and Lafayette have only played in the quarterfinals, with the Crusaders winning in 1992 and 2007 and the Leopards in 1997.

For more information, visit the 2010 Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship page

Patriot League Semifinal Notebook

Television, All-Access Coverage for Patriot League Semifinals
Sunday's Patriot League Tournament semfinal matchups will each be televised. The American/Lehigh game will be shown nationally on CBS College Sports Network at 8 p.m., with Patriot League broadcasters Bob Socci and John Feinstein on the call. The Holy Cross/Lafayette contest is being broadcast by the Lafayette Sports Network on RCN-4 and WBPH-60, and will also be available on Patriot League All-Access. CBS College Sports Network is available through cable operators as well as on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152. The winners meet for the Patriot League Championship on March 12 at 4:45 p.m. on ESPN2.

Semifinal Tickets Now Available
Tickets are available through each host institution for the semifinal round on Sunday. Ticket prices for the semifinal round are set at $12 for adults and $6 for senior citizens and students. Visit www.patriotleague.org for more information.

It's Good To Be No. 1
In addition to home court throughout the Patriot League Tournament, Lehigh has history on its side as the No. 1 seed. The top seed has made the championship game in all 19 Patriot League Tournaments, winning it all 15 times. The No. 1 seed has won the championship in the last four and six of the past seven seasons, which includes Lehigh's title in 2004.

History Favors the Higher Seed
Higher-seeded teams have a long line of success in the Patriot League Tournament, and that especially rings true in the semifinal round. The higher seed is 37-1 in Patriot League semifinal contests, and has won 36 straight times since No. 3 Holy Cross beat No. 2 Lehigh, 95-90, in double overtime in the League's first Tournament in 1991. Even that game was played on Holy Cross' home court. No team lower than No. 3 has ever made it to the League title game. Lafayette will try to become the seventh No. 3 seed to make the Championship.

Holy Cross, American Try to Buck the Semifinal Trend.....
Holy Cross and American are each attempting to make Patriot League history on Sunday by becoming the first team seeded lower than third to make the League Championship game. Teams seeded fourth or lower have lost all 30 of their games in the Patriot League semifinals.

....But the Crusaders and Eagles Do Have History on their Side
While the history of their seeds in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals is not encouraging, Holy Cross and American can point to their own semifinal history as a reason for optimism on Sunday. The Crusaders have a 10-2 mark in the semifinal round, and have won eight straight since losing to Navy in 1994. American has made it to the semifinals in each of its nine Patriot League seasons. The Eagles are 5-3 in the round, winning from 2002-04 and in the last two seasons.

Eagles Go For a Three-Peat
Two-time defending champion American has a chance to become just the second three-time champion in Patriot League history, as Holy Cross won the League crown in three straight seasons from 2001-2003. If the Eagles win on Sunday, they will be the seventh team to make it to three straight Patriot League title games, a feat they also accomplished from 2002-04.

Title Game Appearances
Each of the semifinalists has played in the Patriot League title game, with Holy Cross and American facing off for the Championship last year. That was the League record 10th appearance for the Crusaders, and the fifth for the Eagles. Lafayette made it to the Championship in three straight seasons from 1998-00, while Lehigh's only appearance was in its Patriot League title campaign in 2004. Holy Cross has a League-best five titles, while American and Lafayette have two and Lehigh has one.

It's Been A While
When the teams step on the court Sunday, they may take some time to get familiar with their opponent again. Both the Holy Cross/Lafayette and American/Lehigh matchups were openers on the Patriot League schedule cycle, so the teams will have not faced off in more than a month since their second meetings on Feb. 6. Lafayette and Holy Cross split the season series, while Lehigh swept American.

First Time in the Semifinals
Each matchup will be played in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals for the first time. Lehigh and American have faced off twice in the Tournament, with the Mountain Hawks winning in the League Championship in 2004 and the Eagles in the quarterfinals in 2002. Holy Cross and Lafayette have only played in the quarterfinals, with the Crusaders claiming wins in 1992 and 2007 and the Leopards in 1997. Lafayette plays as the higher seed in the matchup for the first time.

Home-Court Advantage
Playing the semifinal games at home could prove to be very important for both Lehigh and Lafayette on Sunday. Home teams have an 18-2 record in the Patriot League semfinals, and are a perfect 10-0 since the top seeds began hosting semifinal games in 2005. Both of the Lehigh Valley schools have excelled at home all season, too. Lehigh is 13-2 overall and 7-1 against Patriot League teams at Stabler Arena, while Lafayette holds a 12-3 mark and 6-2 record versus League foes at Kirby Sports Center.

Wrapping Up the Quarterfinal Round
Notes from Wednesday's quarterfinal matchups: American won its ninth straight quarterfinal game, while dealing Navy a ninth consecutive defeat...Lafayette snapped a six-game quarterfinal losing streak, while Lehigh had lost in three straight seasons...American won its seventh consecutive Patriot League Tournament game...Holy Cross' win over Bucknell means the lower-seeded road team has won at least once in every season since the League went exclusively to home sites in 2007...Home squads are 11-5 in those four years...The No. 7 seed won for the second time in the past three years...The No. 7 and No. 6 seeds have more wins (six) in the Tournament than the No. 5 (five)...Holy Cross took a 7-6 lead in Tournament games against Bucknell, while Lafayette now has a 5-4 Tournament edge over Colgate.

McCollum Makes Patriot League History
Lehigh's C.J. McCollum capped off the most decorated freshman season in Patriot League history with multiple historical accomplishments on Monday. When the awards and All-League teams were announced in the morning, McCollum became the first-ever student-athlete to win the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season. He was also named First-Team All-League, joining Colgate's Adonal Foyle (1994-95) as the only two players to achieve that feat. McCollum earlier broke Foyle's Patriot League freshman scoring record of 509 points, and his current total of 563 is now also a Lehigh school record. McCollum was also named Patriot League Rookie of the Week for the ninth time, tying the League record set by teammate Marquis Hall (2006-07) and Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt (2002-03).

More Awards, All-League Notes
While McCollum's accomplishments made the headlines, there were plenty of other significant bits of news in the release of the All-Patriot League teams and awards. Lafayette's Fran O'Hanlon was named Patriot League Coach of the Year for the third time overall and first since 1999, while Bucknell's Bryan Cohen received the school's third Defensive Player of the Year award in six years. Navy's Chris Harris and Lehigh's Marquis Hall became the 13th and 14th Patriot Leaguers to earn All-League honors three times, while Bucknell's Mike Muscala made the Second Team to add his name alongside McCollum, Foyle and Colgate's Pat Campolieta (1998-99) as freshmen All-League picks. For the complete major awards and All-League teams, visit www.patriotleague.org.

Best Seasons in a While in the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh is one win away from matching the best season in school history. The Mountain Hawks have 20 victories, matching the total from 2004 and just one off the school record set in 1987-88. Lafayette's 18 wins match the 2004 season as the most since winning 24 games in a League Championship season in 2000.

High-Scoring Action in League Play
Patriot League action included one 100-point outing, eight 90+ point games and 24 80+ point games this season. That dwarfed last year's totals of one 90-point game and four 80-point efforts. Patriot League players scored 29 points or more 15 times in League action after nobody did it last year, and there were 11 30-point efforts in League games There have been 15 30-point efforts for the season, including five by Navy's Chris Harris, after a total of four last year.

Patriot League Semifinal Games

No. 4 American (11-19, 7-7) at No. 1 Lehigh (20-10, 10-4)
Stabler Arena; Bethlehem, Pa. - Sunday, 8 p.m.

Series American, 19-14 TV CBS College Sports Network
Streak Lehigh, Two Wins Last Meeting Lehigh, 77-65 (2.6.2010)
Last American Win 66-58 (2.7.2009) Last Five Games American, 3-2

No. 1 seed Lehigh looks to continue the success of the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament, while No. 4 American tries to keep its dream of a three-peat alive when they square off in Bethlehem on Sunday at 8 p.m. on the CBS College Sports Network in a semifinal matchup...The top seed has made it to all 19 Patriot League Championship tilts, and the higher seed has a 37-1 record in Patriot League semfinal games, including all 36 games in the past 18 seasons....The Eagles are trying to become the first team seeded lower than No. 3 to make the title contest...The teams have never met in the semifinals, but have played twice in the Patriot League Tournament...No. 1 seed Lehigh defeated No. 2 American, 59-57, at Stabler Arena to win the 2004 Patriot League Championship in the most recent meeting, while the top-seeded Eagles beat Lehigh in a quarterfinal contest in 2002...The Mountain Hawks are trying to get back to the title game for the first time since that season, while the Eagles attempt to become the seventh team to go to three straight Championship games...American previously went to three straight title contests from 2002-04...The Eagles have advanced to the semifinal round in all of their nine Patriot League seasons, and have a 5-3 mark with wins from 2002-04 and 2008-09...Lehigh is just 1-7 in semifinal contests, with the lone victory in 2004...The Mountain Hawks swept the regular-season matchups, winning 78-67 at home on Jan. 9 and 77-65 at American on Feb. 6.

American The two-time defending champion and No. 4 seed Eagles continued their quest for a three-peat by holding off No. 5 Navy, 62-60, in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament on Wednesday at Bender Arena...American has a perfect mark in the quarterfinal round, winning in each of its nine seasons as a League member...The Eagles also won their seventh consecutive Patriot League Tournament game overall, all coming at Bender Arena...They have won a home quarterfinal game in each of the last four seasons...American had a 10-point lead with just over a minute to go, but saw Navy get as close as one and held on when the Mids' missed a desperation shot at the buzzer...Stephen Lumpkins led the way with the best game of his career, as the sophomore had a career-high 29 points to go with 15 rebounds..After falling behind by two, American answered with a Nick Hendra three-pointer to take the lead for good with just over 10 minutes left, and later scored nine straight points to open up a 57-46 advantage with 2:49 to play...It was still a 10-point lead when Navy started a furious rally in the final 1:11, getting it to 61-60 on with nine seconds to go...Daniel Munoz hit one-of-two free throws two seconds later for the Eagles, and the Mids missed a half-court attempt at the buzzer...American made 45 percent of its shots overall, but was just 2-of-10 from three-point range and 16-of-29 at the line...The Eagles improved to 11-19 overall, and have matched their longest win streak of the season at three games.

Lehigh The No. 1 seed Mountain Hawks moved on to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2006 by defeating No. 8 Army, 64-45, on Wednesday at Stabler Arena...The game was closer than the final score appears, as Lehigh trailed, 34-29, with just over 11 minutes to play before closing the contest on a 35-11 surge...The Mountain Hawks had lost to Army in the quarterfinals in each of the past three seasons...The No. 1 seed remained perfect in the quarterfinal round, and has also never failed to make it to the Patriot League title game...Lehigh won all three meetings against Army this season by double digits...The Mountain Hawks improved to 20-10 on the season, their first 20-win season since hitting that mark in their Patriot League Championship campaign in 2004...Lehigh only once won more than 20 games in a season, when it claimed 21 victories in 1987-88...After trailing by five, Lehigh answered with eight straight points and took the lead for good...Lehigh later put together a 10-2 run to break the game wide open...McCollum led the Mountain Hawks with 19 points and seven rebounds...He broke the Lehigh freshman scoring record....Lehigh has won three straight and five of its last six.

No. 7 Holy Cross (9-21, 5-9) at No. 3 Lafayette (18-12, 8-6)
Kirby Sports Center; Easton, Pa. - Sunday, 1 p.m.

Series Holy Cross, 31-15 TV RCN-4, WBPH-60
Streak Holy Cross, One Win Last Meeting Holy Cross, 73-46 (2.6.2010)
Last Lafayette Win 84-74 (1.9.2010) Last Five Games Holy Cross, 4-1

No. 7 Holy Cross and No. 3 Lafayette meet for a berth in the Patriot League Championship when they square off in a semifinal of the 2010 Patriot League Tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m...The teams split the regular-season series, each winning on their home court...Lafayette scored an 84-74 win in the Patriot League opener on Jan. 9, while Holy Cross came back with a 73-46 victory at home on Feb. 6...It is the first time the teams are meeting in the Patriot League Tournament beyond the quarterfinal round...Holy Cross has a 2-1 lead in the three Tournament matchups, winning in the quarterfinals in 1992 and 2007 while Lafayette won in the round in 1997...It is the first time that the Leopards have the higher seed in a Tournament matchup with Holy Cross...The Crusaders are trying to continue school history and set some Patriot Leauge history in the process...Holy Cross has a 10-2 record in the semifinal round, and has won eight straight semifinal contests...The Crusaders have not dropped a semifinal since losing to Navy in 1994...A win would extend their League-best total of title contests, and make Holy Cross the lowest seed to ever make the Patriot League Championship...No seed lower than No. 3 has ever made it to the League title game, and Lafayette will try to become just the seventh third seed to make it...The Leopards are in the semifinals for the first time since 2000, also the last time they made the League title game...Lafayette had a three-year run of title contests from 1998-00, and is 3-4 in the semifinal round...The higher seed has a 37-1 record in Patriot League semfinal games, including all 36 games in the past 18 seasons.

Holy Cross The No. 7 seed Crusaders are on to the semifinal round for the fifth time in the past six seasons after winning at No. 2 Bucknell, 67-64, in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament on Wednesday...Holy Cross defeated Bucknell in the semifinals for the second straight year, and improved to 7-6 all-time in the Tournament against the Bison...The teams were meeting for the eighth time in the last nine Tournaments...The Crusaders have won three of the past four games in Lewisburg...The game was tied, 51-51, with under four minutes to play before Holy Cross scored seven straight points to take the lead for good...They key buckets were a three-pointer by Andrew Beinert that made it 55-51 with 1:57 to go, and a three-point play for Mike Cavataio that made the score 58-51 with 1:19 left...Holy Cross made 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win...Cavataio led the Crusaders with 20 points, while Beinert scored 19...The Crusaders made just under 50 percent of their shots in the game, and were strong from three-point range (6-of-9) and the line (17-of-20)...Holy Cross held a 33-29 rebounding advantage...It was just Holy Cross' third road win of the year, and the Crusaders were 1-6 in League road games.

Lafayette The No. 3 seed Leopards won their first Patriot League Tournament game since 2003 by taking down No. 6 Colgate, 73-65, on Wednesday in the quarterfinals at the Kirby Sports Center...Lafayette was hosting its first League Tournament game since 2000...The Leopards had lost in the quarterfinal round for six years in a row...Lafayette improved to 5-4 in the League Tournament against Colgate...Lafayette's 18 wins match the most for the program since winning 24 games in their Patriot League Championship season in 2000...The Leopards also won 18 games in 2004...Lafayette came out firing to build a double-digit lead in the first eight minutes, using a 12-2 run in less than a minute and a half to open up a 26-14 edge with 12:04 to go in the first half...Colgate fought back in the second half to cut the gap to 48-43, but the Leopards responded with five straight points, and held at least a six-point advantage for the final 12 minutes...Jim Mower delivered the dagger on a three-pointer that put Lafayette up, 71-61, with 1:59 to go...Mower led all scorers with 19 points, making 6-of-11 shots and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc...Lafayette made just under 50 percent of its shots overall, and hit 10-of-22 from three-point range...It built the lead by making more than 60 percent from the field in the first half...Lafayette has won three of four games, and improves to 12-3 overall and 6-2 against Patriot League competition at Kirby Sports Center.