Dec. 7, 2007

Four days, four winning records. The Patriot League posted a winning mark on every day of action from Monday-Thursday, and the result was a 7-2 record that included wins for seven of the eight teams. The week started with a 2-1 record on Monday, which included Bucknell's 67-66 come-from-behind victory over La Salle and Lafayette's 81-66 triumph over NJIT. Tuesday's action was highlighted by one of the most impressive wins of the year for a Patriot League team, as Holy Cross went on the road and beat a highly regarded Saint Joseph's team, 71-66. American made it a 2-0 night by knocking off Howard, 66-54. Lafayette saw its four-game winning streak come to an end with a 90-79 loss at Rutgers on Wednesday, but the Patriot League still posted a pair of wins with Lehigh beating Stony Brook, 76-61, and Colgate winning at Binghamton, 73-55. Army capped off a successful week with a 54-44 victory at NJIT on Thursday. Patriot League teams improved to 37-31 in non-League play for the season.

Patriot League Men's Basketball - 12.7.07

Patriot League Notebook

Light Weekend Ahead

With four Patriot League teams already playing their last game before a break of at least a week and a half for final exams, the weekend schedule contains only a light slate of four matchups. American hosts Jacksonville on Friday, Lehigh hosts Harvard and Lafayette is at Columbia on Saturday, and Army hosts Quinnipiac on Sunday in the only action of the weekend. Two of the contests will be broadcast live, with American playing on MASN at 7:30 on Friday and Army on NESN at 12:30 on Sunday. The schedule is even lighter next week, with American, Lafayette and Lehigh hitting their exam break. Army will host Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 13, and Bucknell returns from its break to go to Wake Forest on Dec. 16 in the only two games of the week.

Crusaders Continue Hot Start

Holy Cross rebounded quickly from its first loss of the season to pull off a victory that helps put them on the national map. The Crusaders went into Saint Joseph's and came away with a 71-66 victory in a hostile environment against a team that is projected by many to compete for an NCAA berth. The Crusaders used a stifling defensive effort to take an 18-2 lead early and hold the Hawks without a field goal for the first 15 minutes of the game. Saint Joseph's did not hit a two-point field goal in the first half. Holy Cross had a balanced scoring effort, with 16 points from Tim Clifford and Alex Vander Baan leading the way. The Crusaders were very efficient with the ball, producing 22 assists on 25 made field goals. The victory moved Holy Cross to 7-1 for the season as they now go more than two weeks until returning to action on Dec. 22 at Siena. The Crusaders are currently ranked 10th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.

From the Court to the Books

Holy Cross, Colgate, Bucknell and Navy have all hit their break in the schedule for final exams, and American, Lafayette and Lehigh will play their last game before focusing on finals this weekend. Here are the institutional exam dates for all of the Patriot League schools: American = Dec. 10-15; Army = Dec. 15-22; Bucknell = Dec. 6-13; Colgate = Dec. 10-14; Holy Cross = Dec. 8-15; Lafayette = Dec. 11-18; Lehigh = Dec. 11-19; Navy = Dec. 7-14;.

He's Got Game, and "CLASS" Too

Army's Jarell Brown is off to a great start on the floor, and now has a chance to earn an accolade off the court as well. The Patriot League's leading scorer (21.5 ppg) and two-time Player of the Week in 2007, Brown was named as one of 30 candidates for the Loews Senior CLASS Award, which honors the attributes of college basketball seniors while recognizing on and off-the-court accomplishments. The award focuses on classroom, character, community and competition, and will be presented to the nation's top senior during the Final Four weekend. A national committee of media members will select 10 finalists for the award in January.

Patriot League in the NCAA Statistics

Brown also made a splash with his on-court achievements this week when the NCAA statistics were released for the first time on Monday. Through Sunday's games, Brown ranked 24th in the NCAA in scoring, third in three-point field goals per game and ninth in three-point field goal percentage. Holy Cross, Lafayette and Colgate all held a spot in the top 10 nationally in team statistics. The Crusaders ranked sixth in scoring defense, the Leopards were fourth in three-pointers per game and the Raiders placed sixth in three-point field goal percentage.

Still the Only One

When Lehigh won at St. Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 17, the Patriot League became the first of 31 Division I conferences to have all of its teams record at least one road victory this season. Nearly three weeks later, the Patriot League is still the only one to accomplish the feat. Lehigh's home win over St. Peter's on Nov. 14 made the League the second conference to have every team record at least one win over a Division I opponent. The SEC beat the Patriot League to the mark by day.

Team Notebooks

American

The Eagles got back on the winning track wtih a 66-54 home victory over Howard on Tuesday...It was the 1,000th win in the 82-year history of the program...The Eagles now have a 1,000-947 (.513) record in the program's history... American trailed by 11 points in the first half, but rallied to take a 34-30 lead at halftime...They pulled away with a 10-0 run to start the second half, and led comfortably the rest of the way...Four Eagles were in double figures, led by Garrison Carr with 17...American is now 4-0 this season when four or more players score in double-digits...American hosts Jacksonville on Friday to complete a three-game homestand...The game will be broadcast live at 7:30 on MASN...The Eagles are then off until a Dec. 19 trip to Dayton.

Army

Army posted its second victory in a row with a 54-44 triumph at NJIT on Thursday...Jarell Brown led the team with 23 points and also notched six rebounds...Brown reached the 20-point mark for the fifth consecutive game, and leads the Patriot League with 21.5 ppg for the season...Josh Miller had nine points, a career-high eight rebounds and six assists...Army opened the game with a 14-0 run and would lead by at least nine points throughout the contest...Army forced 23 NJIT turnovers, including 16 in the first half...The Black Knights finished a three-game road trip with a 2-1 mark...They return home to face Quinnipiac on Sunday to kick off a five-game homestand in a game that will be shown live on NESN at 12:30 p.m.

Bucknell

The Bison snapped a four-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, rallying for a 67-66 win over La Salle on Monday...The Bison finished the game on a 12-2 run, culminating with John Griffin's two game-winning free throws with eight seconds left...Bucknell trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, and by nine with five minutes to play before the final run....Griffin led the way with 21 points, while Justin Castleberry and Patrick Behan both set career highs with 18...The trio accounted for 57 of Bucknell's 67 points and 21 of 26 field goals...It was the first meeting against La Salle since 1982-83, and first Bison victory since 1979-80, which was Head Coach Pat Flannery's senior year...Bucknell's exam period runs from Dec. 6-13, and the Bison are back in action on Dec. 16 at Wake Forest.

Colgate

The Raiders won their second game in a row with a 73-55 victory at Binghamton on Wednesday...They improved to 2-1 on their season-long six-game road trip, and 4-1 on the road for the season...Colgate had a two-point lead at halftime before taking control in the second half....Kyle Roemer had 21 points to lead four Raiders in double figures...Kendall Chones had 15 points and eight boards, while Tim Pounds had 14 and Daniel Waddy finished with 10...Alex Woodhouse blocked a career-high five shots and notched eight rebounds...Colgate shot 52 percent from the field, while holding Binghamton to 33 percent shooting...Colgate is off until Dec. 18 at Syracuse because of final exams from Dec. 10-14...The road swing wraps up at Penn State on Dec. 23 and at New Hampshire on Dec. 30.

Holy Cross

The Crusaders rebounded from their first loss of the season with an impressive 71-66 victory at Saint Joseph's on Tuesday...The Crusaders opened the game with a 12-0 run, and took an 18-2 lead...The lead grew as large as 18 points (27-9)...They held the Hawks without a field goal for the first 15 minutes of the game, and without a two-point field goal for the entire first half...Saint Joseph's closed to within five points with two minutes left, but Holy Cross made 5-of-7 seven free throws down the stretch to seal the win....Tim Clifford and Alex Vander Baan each had 16 points and seven rebounds...Kyle Cruze had 13 points and six assists, while freshman Andrew Beinert had a career-high 10 points and four assists...The Crusaders had 22 assists on 25 made field goals, and shot 50 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from three-point range...Holy Cross has its exams period from Dec. 8-15 and does not play again until Dec. 22 at Siena.

Lafayette

Lafayette recorded its fourth consecutive win with an 81-56 triumph over NJIT on Monday, but saw the streak come to an end with a 90-79 loss at Rutgers on Wednesday that opened up an eight-game road swing...Lafayette led by as many as 35 points against NJIT...Every player who was dressed hit at least one field goal in the game...Lafayette won four straight games for the first time since notching seven in a row in the 2003-04 season...The Leopards started 5-2 for the first time since 1999-00...Lafayette's 15 steals were the most for a Patriot League team this season...Five Lafayette players scored in double figures in the loss to Rutgers, led by Andrew Brown with 17...Matt Betley had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Everest Schmidt had a career-high 14...The Leopards led by one early in the second half, and were within five with just over five minutes to play...The Leopards continue their road trip at Columbia on Saturday, then have final exams from Dec. 11-18 before returning to the floor at Towson on Dec. 19.

Lehigh

The Mountain Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 76-61 win against Stony Brook on Wednesday in the first of a three-game homestand...Dave Buchberger scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting in his first-ever start...Bryan White had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Marquis Hall had a career-high 10 assists without any turnovers...Lehigh shot 52 percent from the field, inclduing 51.9 percent from three-point range as they hit a season-high 11 treys...The Mountain Hawks were up 11 points at halftime, and extended it to an 18-point lead in the second half...Every player on the roster got into the game...Lehigh plays the middle game of the homestand against Harvard on Saturday...They break for exams from Dec. 11-19, and do not return to complete the home stretch until Dec. 28 against Monmouth.

Navy

The Mids dropped a home contest to Mount St. Mary's, 62-58, on Monday...Navy held Mount St. Mary's to 27.9 percent shooting from the field, but shot only 32.7 percent itself, with a 4-of-22 effort from three-point range...Navy fell behind 13-0 in the contest...The Mids held Mount St. Mary's to 4-of-26 shooting in the second half, and without a field goal for the final 7:19...Kaleo Kina and Greg Sprink each had 16 points, while Chris Harris scored 15...No other player had more than four points...Sprink had nine rebounds, while Kina had seven and Adam Teague notched eight...Navy breaks for its exam period that spans from December 7-14, and returns to the court when it travels to San Diego State on Dec. 17.