Dec. 18, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Patriot League men's basketball teams are beginning to return from their break in the schedule for final exams, with five squads in action over the weekend. American and Lehigh each play again after winning their games during the week, while Bucknell, Army and Colgate are in action after at least a week away from the court.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 12.18.09

Patriot League Notebook

Two Wins to Start the Week
The first two teams to come out of extended layoffs for exams did not show any signs of rust this week, as American went on the road to Big East member DePaul and beat the Blue Demons, 62-57, on Wednesday and Lehigh defeated Dartmouth, 66-58, at home.

The Eagles became the first Patriot League team to beat an opponent from an FBS-level conference this season, and the first to knock off a Big East team since Lehigh beat Rutgers on Nov. 26 of last season. American got big production from Vlad Moldoveanu, who scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the contest in his first action of the season. Nick Hendra had a career-high 17 points, while Stephen Lumpkins pulled in a career-high 14 rebounds.

American and Lehigh will look to start winning streaks this weekend, as the Eagles host UMBC on Saturday in a game broadcast by RCN and the Mountain Hawks travel to St. Joseph's on Sunday. Bucknell comes back from its nearly two-week break on Saturday, as the Bison visit La Salle. Colgate and Army took the mid-week portion off before hosting games this weekend, with the Raiders facing UT-San Antonio on Sunday and the Black Knights playing Division III Mount St. Vincent on Saturday. Holy Cross, Lafayette and Navy all return to the court on Tuesday.

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 eight and seven of the top 13 scorers in the League are sophomores. Navy's Jordan Sugars and Colgate's Yaw Gyawu are tied for third in the League with 15.0 points per game and Army's Julian Simmons (13.6), Holy Cross' R.J. Evans (13.5) and Lafayette's Jim Mower (13.1) join them in the top eight with more than 13 points per game.

Lumpkins leads the Patriot League with 8.6 rebounds per game after Wednesday's career performance, while Sugars is next with 8.3 rebounds per contest. Lumpkins also shares the Patriot League lead with 1.8 blocks per game. Mower, Simmons, Sugars and Holy Cross' Devin Brown give sophomores the top four spots in the League in three-point field-goal percentage, with Sugars, Simmons and Mower ranking three through five in three-pointers made.

Watch the Eagles
Coming off perhaps the biggest win for a Patriot League team this season, the American Eagles have an opportunity to play in front of a television audience in each of the next two games. American's home contest with UMBC will be shown on RCN on Saturday at 2 p.m., and the Eagles trip to Penn State on Monday will be televised on the Big Ten Network at 5 p.m.

Coaching Milestones
Lafayette Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon recorded his 200th career victory on Saturday, as the Leopards knocked off Long Island, 77-63. O'Hanlon became just the second coach in Patriot League history to win 200 games at his school, and is behind only former Bucknell Head Coach Pat Flannery (1994-08) for the most overall wins in League annals. The victory came less than one week after O'Hanlon set a League record for overall games coached, and he is now at 415 games coached with a 200-215 record. O'Hanlon's not the only Patriot League coach with big numbers on his record. American Head Coach Jeff Jones moved within three wins of 300 for his career on Wednesday. Bucknell's Dave Paulsen is two wins shy of 275 for his career, while Colgate's Emmett Davis is two away from 150. Navy's Billy Lange needs two more wins to record 75 victories at the Academy.

Army Doing It With Defense
Army has a 7-2 mark for the season, and has gained success through outstanding defense. The Black Knights started the week in the top 20 nationally in both scoring defense and steals per game, and in the top 30 in field goal percentage defense. Army has allowed less than 60 points in all seven of its wins this season and has won 10 straight games when limiting foes to 59 points or less. Army is allowing opponents 57.8 points per game, eight points ahead of second-place American in the Patriot League.

Three Teams Have Exceeded Last Year's Non-League Success
Army, Lafayette and Bucknell have all exceeded last year's non-League win total. Army is 7-2 after a 4-10 non-League record last season, while Lafayette is at 6-5 in non-League games after going 4-11 last year. Each team has won its last two games. The Bison have four wins after a 3-12 non-League mark last year.

Scoring Duos
Navy and Colgate continue to get solid production from their prolific scoring duos. The teams boast the top four scorers in the Patriot League, with Navy's Chris Harris (20.6) first, Colgate's Kyle Roemer (16.9 ppg) second, and Navy's Jordan Sugars and Colgate's Yaw Gyawu tied for third (15.0 ppg).

Three-Man Race for Active Lead
Roemer and Harris are engaged in a competitive race along with Lehigh's Marquis Hall for the active scoring lead among Patriot League players. Roemer has the edge right now with 1,248 career points, with Hall just one point behind at 1,247 after putting up 17 against Dartmouth on Thursday. Harris is next with 1,230 points, but has made up ground on both Roemer and Hall this season. Roemer is 42nd in Patriot League annals in scoring, while Hall is 43rd and Harris ranks 45th.

Hall, Avworo Up For Cousy Award
Lehigh senior guard Marquis Hall and Navy junior guard O.J. Avworo were named to the initial list for the 2010 Bob Cousy Award this week, which is presented to the top male collegiate point guard across all divisions. There are 73 candidates on the list, which Hall appears on for the second straight year. Hall leads the Patriot League and is among the national leaders with 6.0 assists per game, while Avworo is next with 5.2 assists per contest. Hall has 433 career assists, which is just two away from ninth place in League annals and only 20 off the Lehigh record. He is one of only four players in League history with at least 1,200 points and 400 assists. Hall has 1,247 career points, 43rd in League annals. Hall was named the League's Preseason Player of the Year, and is a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award.

Northeast Rivals
The Patriot League and Northeast Conference have already faced off 20 times, with the Patriot League holding a 14-6 advantage in the meetings. The Patriot and Ivy League matchups are beginning to crank up with the Patriot League now leading, 7-6, after Lehigh's win over Dartmouth on Thursday. The Patriot and Ivy League match up eight more times this season.

Harris Hauling In Honors
Navy's Chris Harris has been raking in awards this season. Harris was named the Patriot League Player of the Week and MidMajority.com Baller of the Week on Dec. 7. Previously, Harris won the Patriot League Player of the Week award on Nov. 30 and claimed the ECAC Player of the Week award the next day.

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
The Patriot League is expanding its men's basketball coverage on the League website. The composite schedule will include all live stat, audio and video links for games throughout the season, and a recap with links to school box scores and recaps will be provided after each night of games.

Keep Track of the Patriot League Through Social Media
In addition to visiting www.patriotleague.org, the Patriot League has accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and has now started a blog to give more information on the action on the field. All three accounts are accessible through the multimedia link at the right-hand sidebar on the front page of www.patriotleague.org.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles put together their most impressive performance of the season on Wednesday, as they went on the road and beat DePaul, 62-57, to improve to 2-8 on the season...American has won two of its last three games after dropping the first seven of the season...With the fall semester over, George Mason transfer Vlad Moldoveanu was able to make his season debut for the Eagles...His first effort was a smashing success with 26 points and eight rebounds...Moldoveanu was 8-for-15 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range...Nick Hendra and Stephen Lumpkins also had big efforts, with Hendra scoring a career-high 17 points and Lumpkins pulling down a career-best 14 rebounds...The Eagles had an eight-point lead at halftime, but DePaul rallied early in the second half and the game was back and forth until the final minutes...Down by one, American took the lead for good when Hendra made a three-pointer for a 59-57 advantage with 2:23 to go...American held DePaul scoreless for the rest of the game, sealing the victory with a pair of free throws by Daniel Munoz with 34 seconds left...American held a 39-27 advantage on the boards, and made 11-of-15 foul shots in the game...The Eagles go for a two-game winning streak when they host UMBC on Saturday...American won the matchup on the road, 74-61, last season...The Eagles then visit Penn State on Monday.

Army In their most recent action, the Black Knights put on another defensive show on Saturday, holding Dartmouth to 30 percent shooting and forcing 15 turnovers for a 59-46 victory...Army's 7-2 start is the program's best since the 2006-07 team started 9-2...Head coach Zach Spiker is the first Army head coach to win seven of his first nine games since Tates Locke began his West Point career 10-2 during the 1963-64 season...Army has allowed less than 60 points in all seven of its wins this season and has won 10 straight games when limiting foes to 59 points or less...The Black Knights started the week in the top 20 nationally in both scoring defense and steals per game, and in the top 30 in field goal percentage defense...Army is allowing opponents 57.8 points per game, eight points ahead of second-place American in the Patriot League...Army hosts Mount St. Vincent on Saturday, its first action against a Division III team since the 2006-07 season.

Bucknell The Bison are ready to step back on the court on Saturday at La Salle after nearly a two-week break from game action...Bucknell has dropped its last three games to fall to 4-6 on the season...In their most recent action, the Bison were hindered by slow starts in a 64-60 loss at Binghamton on Dec. 4 and a 63-53 defeat at Boston University on Dec. 6...Freshman Mike Muscala leads the Patriot League with 1.8 blocks per game...Darryl Shazier is fourth in assists and second in assist/turnover ratio in the League...The Bison lead the Patriot League at 71.1 points per game, and join Army as the only Patriot League teams to outscore their opponents...The Bison are in the top three in the Patriot League in free throw percentage, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage...Bucknell trails in the all-time series against La Salle, 16-4, including a 68-65 loss on the road last year.

Colgate The Raiders fell to 0-9 on the season with a 66-55 home loss to Stony Brook on Saturday...Colgate trailed by just one with three minutes to play, but Stony Brook scored 12 consecutive points to pull away...Kyle Roemer scored 18 points with six rebounds, while Yaw Gyawu tallied 15 points...Roemer is second in the Patriot League with 16.9 ppg, while Gyawu is tied for third with 15.0 ppg...Roemer leads the Patriot League with 3.0 three-pointers per game, and is the active career leader with 1,248 points...Gyawu is second in field goal percentage, hitting 52.9 percent of his shots...Mitch Rolls is fifth in the Patriot League with 3.9 assists per game, and also fifth in assist/turnover ratio...He scored a career-high nine points and dished out a team-high four assists in the loss to Stony Brook...Colgate is back in action on Sunday when it plays host to Texas-San Antonio...The Raiders have lost both of the all-time meetings, with a 76-66 defeat on the road last season.

Holy Cross The Crusaders are on nearly a two-week break until returning to action when they host Sacred Heart on Tuesday...In its most recent game, Holy Cross dropped its second straight game and fell to 2-8 on the season with a 73-54 loss to Fairfield on Dec. 9...R.J. Evans leads Holy Cross and is seventh in the Patriot League with 13.5 ppg, while Mike Cavataio (11.5) and Andrew Keister (10.9) also average in double figures scoring...Keister leads the Patriot League with four double-doubles, and is third in the League with 7.7 rebounds per game...Keister leads the League with 2.8 offensive rebounds per game...The Crusaders lead the Patriot League with a +2.2 rebound margin, and 12.2 offensive rebounds per game.

Lafayette Lafayette Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon earned his 200th victory as the Leopards put together a strong performance in a 77-63 win over Long Island on Saturday...Lafayette has won two straight after a four-game losing streak, and is back over .500 at 6-5 on the season...O'Hanlon is the second Patriot League coach to win 200 games at his school, with his win total placing behind only former Bucknell Head Coach Pat Flannery (234) in League annals...It was also a big night for sophomore Jim Mower, who topped his career high for the second straight game by scoring 25 points...The Leopards lead the Patriot League in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, three-pointers made and blocked shots, and are second in the League in scoring offense, assists, steals, turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio...Lafayette breaks for nine days from game action to prepare for and take final exams before returning to the court at St. Francis (N.Y.) on Tuesday.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks returned from an 11-day layoff from game action with a strong performance in a 66-58 win over Dartmouth on Thursday...The win snapped a three-game losing skid as Lehigh improved to 4-5 for the season...Marquis Hall tallied 17 points in the game, while Michael Ojo matched a career-high with 14 points...Hall now has 1,247 career points, one behind Colgate's Kyle Roemer for the active Patriot League career lead...Hall also had three assists, and his 433 career assists are two away from ninth place in League annals...The Mountain Hawks had a balanced effort with seven players scoring five points or more and nine players seeing 10 minutes of action or more... Zahir Carrington returned to action with eight points, five rebounds and six blocks, while freshman Gabe Knutson had a career-high 10 rebounds...Lehigh held a small lead throughout the first half, then closed the period with a 9-2 run to claim a 34-22 advantage at the break...The Mountain Hawks went up by as many as 20 points in the second half before Dartmouth cut the gap to six with 1:07 remaining...Lehigh connected on 4-of-4 free throws in the final 41 seconds to seal the win...The Mountain Hawks shot just 35 percent, but made 24-of-29 free throws...Lehigh also committed only seven turnovers while forcing 15 by Dartmouth, and Carrington helped lead the way to a season-best seven blocked shots for the team...Lehigh leads the Patriot League and is among the national leaders in free throw percentage and assists, and also paces the League in assist/turnover ratio...The Mountain Hawks play the middle game of a stretch of three games in six days when they visit St. Joseph's on Sunday...Lehigh has lost all 13 all-time matchups, with a 77-64 loss at home against the Hawks last year.

Navy The Mids have dropped three straight games to fall to 4-7 on the season...In its last action, Navy faltered down the stretch for the third game in a row, getting outscored 23-12 in the final eight minutes of a 73-62 loss at Wofford on Saturday...Jordan Sugars scored 21 points in the game, and is now tied for third in the Patriot League with 15.0 ppg while placing second with 8.3 rebounds per game...Sugars has three double-doubles and three 20-point games this season after not recording any of either last year...He is averaging 17.5 ppg and 9.8 rpg in Navy's last four games...Chris Harris has finished in double figures in all 11 of Navy's games this season...He leads the Patriot League with 20.6 points per game...In five of its seven losses this year, Navy was tied or within one possession of the lead with under eight minutes to go... The Mids are in their exam break, and will return to the court on Tuesday at Seton Hall.