Dec. 26, 2007

IIt was a happy holiday season for American and Lafayette, as both teams went into the Christmas break with momentum. When the Eagles knocked off Maryland, 67-59, on Saturday, it marked the first victory for a Patriot League school against any ACC opponent since 2001. The Leopards won a pair of road games against Towson and Mount St. Mary's during the week. For their efforts, Lafayette junior Andrew Brown and freshman Deirunas Visockas earned Patriot League Anaconda Player and Rookie of the Week honors.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 12.26.07

Anaconda Player of the Week (Dec. 17-23)

Andrew Brown, Lafayette Jr., G, 5'11, 175, Littleton, Colo./Heritage

After sitting out the Dec. 19 game at Towson with a nagging heel injury, Brown returned to the lineup with a career-high 32 points and a school-record nine three-pointers in Lafayette's 76-72 win over Mount St. Mary's on Friday. Brown hit six three-pointers in the first half as Lafayette built a 20-point halftime lead, and nailed three in the second half. His final three-pointer came with 27 seconds left and provided the final margin. The nine three-pointers topped the previous school record of eight held by three players (Larry Spigner, Tyson Whitfield and Brown who hit eight against Holy Cross last season). He made 11-of-16 shots overall, and 9-of-14 from three-point range. Brown leads Lafayette and is second in the Patriot League with 18.0 points per game. He has made 40 three-pointers and is shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc. Brown earns his first-ever Anaconda Player of the Week nod, and the first for a Lafayette men's basketball student-athlete since 2005-06.

Anaconda Rookie of the Week (Dec. 17-23)

Deirunas Visockas, Lafayette Fr., G, 6'3, 185, Los Angeles, Calif./University

Visockas poured in 14 points, including four three-pointers, in Lafayette's 79-69 overtime victory over Towson on Wednesday. He connected on a three-pointer and a layup as Lafayette outscored Towson, 17-7, in the extra session. He made 5-of-9 shots and 4-of-8 three-pointers in the game. Visockas also chipped in by making his only shot of the game, a three-point field goal, in Lafayette's 76-72 win over Mount St. Mary's on Friday. He leads the Patriot League in three-point shooting at 55 percent for the season (11-of-20). Visockas earns his first Anaconda Rookie of the Week honor.

Patriot League Notebook

American's Big Win Highlights Solid Weekend

Six years to the day after they recorded the Patriot League's first and only win over an ACC team, the American Eagles accomplished the feat again with a 67-59 triumph over Maryland on Saturday. Derrick Mercer had 18 points in the game, and American led by at least five points throughout the second half as it knocked off Maryland for the first time in 80 years and 14 meetings. American recorded the only other win over an ACC opponent when it knocked off Florida State on Dec. 22, 2001 in its first season of competition as a Patriot League member. The Eagles were not the only team to come through over the weekend, as Lafayette, Navy and Army also recorded victories. The Leopards beat Mount St. Mary's, 76-72, for their third win in a row, while Army won its second straight with a 59-56 triumph over Dartmouth. Navy beat Maryland-Eastern Shore, 85-61. Holy Cross, Bucknell and Colgate all fell on the road, with the Crusaders losing at Siena, 84-77, in overtime.

Back in Action After Christmas Break

All eight Patriot League teams have off for Christmas break from Monday-Thursday, but seven of the squads return to the court beginning on Friday. And once again, the schedule will be road-heavy with seven of the eight games away from home. Bucknell plays North Dakota State in the Golden Bear Classic at Cal. The Bison will also take the court on Saturday against either Cal or Long Beach State. Lehigh returns from its 20-day layoff to host Monmouth on Friday. In addition to Bucknell's game on Saturday, American is at No. 8 Georgetown and Navy visits St. Francis (N.Y.). The week concludes with three games on Sunday, with Colgate at New Hampshire, Holy Cross at Sacred Heart and Lafayette at Robert Morris.

Patriot League Teams on Record Pace

With a 47-39 record, the Patriot League is on pace for it best-ever non-League mark. The top record thus far, and only winning mark, came in a 54-53 effort in the 2000-01 season. Last season was the only other campaign at the .500 mark in non-League action, as the Patriot League's 60 wins were the most in its 17-year history. The 47 non-League wins are already the seventh-highest total in Patriot League history, which is made even more impressive being the first season of an all Division I schedule for the League. Patriot League teams still have 31 games remaining to boost the win total, as well as any postseason competition. The remaining strech will be difficult, however, as 21 of the 31 games will be played away from home and games against Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Mississippi State are left.

Don't Adjust Your Eyes

A quick glance at the Patriot League statistics would be enough to give anyone a "Brown" out. The surname Brown appears prominently in the League leaderboard, as Army's Jarell Brown and Lafayette's Andrew Brown appear right next to each other in multiple categories. Jarell leads the League in scoring with 19.6 ppg, while Andrew is second with 18.0 ppg. Both players are tied for third in three-point field goal percentage at 50 percent, and Andrew has a slight lead over Jarell for the top spot in three-pointers made per game. They are both in the top ten in overall field goal percentage and foul shooting. Each player does get to avoid the other "Brown" in some categories. Andrew is seventh in assists, and Jarell is eighth in rebounding and third in steals.

Time to GET SIRIUS

The Patriot League has once again partnered with SIRIUS Satellite Radio to broadcast select men's basketball games for the 2007-08 season. The League has three games set for January's schedule, beginning with Holy Cross traveling to Lafayette in the season opener on Jan. 12. In addition to regular-season coverage, all seven games of the 2008 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament will be aired. Bucknell's visit to Holy Cross will be broadcast on Jan. 18, and the Bison's matchup at home against Colgate on Jan. 26 will wrap up the January schedule. Lehigh's matchup with Princeton on Jan. 6 will also be broadcast on SIRIUS. The schedule of Patriot League games for February will be announced at a later date. For an updated listing of all SIRIUS games and channels involving Patriot League teams, see page 5 of this release or www.patriotleague.com.

Holy Cross at No. 7 in Mid-Major top 25

Saturday's loss at Siena didn't do too much damage to Holy Cross in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major top 25. The defending Patriot League champions fell from fifth to No. 7 in the latest rankings released on Monday. American garnered two points in the poll after its win over Maryland on Saturday, and also picked up a vote in the AP Top 25. While Holy Cross is the only Patriot League team to earn a ranking this season, American, Colgate and Bucknell have now all appeared in the receiving votes category.

Four in the top 200 in RPI

Four Patriot League teams found a spot in the top 200 in the updated Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report, with one more falling just outside the group. Holy Cross checks in at No. 52 with a 7-2 overall record. The Crusaders' only losses came against No. 18 Dayton and No. 31 Siena. Lafayette made a significant jump after beating Towson and Mount St. Mary's last week, as the Leopards are all the way up to No. 142 with an 8-3 record. Colgate checks in at No. 174, while Bucknell is No. 194. American's victory over Maryland helped it move up to No. 201 in the rankings. The Patriot League ranks No. 21 among 31 Division I conferences.

Finally Some Company in the Road Win Column

After 34 days of standing alone, another conference finally joined the Patriot League with at least one road victory for all of its members. The Horizon League became the second conference to accomplish the feat when Wright State won at CS-Fullerton on Saturday. The Patriot League set the mark on Nov. 17 when Lehigh won at St. Francis (Pa.). Six of the eight Patriot League schools have at least two road victories, and five have three road wins or more. The Patriot League has a 22-23 record in true road games.

Patriot League All-Access

Watch the majority of Patriot League Men's and Women's Basketball regular-season and tournament games on high-speed Broadband. For $7.95 a month, this cutting-edge technology takes your from your seat to the sideline with multi-camera coverage. Visit your school's website or www.PatriotLeague.com for more information.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles posted an impressive week in two tough road venues, knocking off Maryland, 67-59, on Saturday after losing a close game at Dayton, 63-56, on Wednesday...The victory over the Terps was just the second for a Patriot League team over an ACC opponent...American notched the other win, knocking off Florida State on Dec. 22, 2001...It was the first time in 80 meetings and 14 seasons that the Eagles knocked off the Terps...Derrick Mercer led the way with 18 points, while Bryce Simon had a career-high 17 and Brian Gilmore added 12...The Eagles closed the first half with a 10-3 run to take a 25-20 halftime lead...They held Maryland without a field goal for a 10:33 stretch of the first half...It was their 11th halftime lead in 12 contests this season...They opened the lead to nine early in the second half, and led by anywhere from five to 12 points the rest of the way...The Eagles hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 43 seconds to seal the win....American held a 40-33 rebounding edge...Garrison Carr scored a career-high 26 points against Dayton...Carr connected on 9-of-19 shots overall, and nailed a career-high seven three-pointers on 14 attempts...Carr's seven treys tied for fourth-most in a game in American history...The two games this week started a seven-game road swing which goes into the first two contests of League play...It continues at No. 8 Georgetown at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a game shown on MASN...The Eagles are celebrating the 25th anniversary of defeating the fifth-ranked Hoyas on Dec. 15, 1982.

Army The Black Knights returned to the court after an exam break and won their second game in a row with a 59-56 triumph over Dartmouth on Saturday...Army trailed, 49-43, with 8:38 left before outscoring the Big Green, 16-7, the rest of the way...Doug Williams had a season-high 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Marcus Nelson and Jarell Brown each had 10...Army shot 47.8 percent for the game, while limiting Dartmouth to 37.5 percent shooting...Nelson gave Army the lead for good by hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 with 59 seconds to play...The Black Knights are now 4-1 in games decided by five-or-fewer points...Army has won four of its last five games and ends the 2007 portion of its schedule at 6-5...It is the first time the squad has been above the .500 mark since Feb. 10 of last season....Army has now won 21 games in the last two seasons after winning 20 total games from 2002-06...The Black Knights are currently 2-1 on a five-game homestand, and return to action on Jan. 2 against Brown.

Bucknell The Bison fell at Drexel, 65-53, to complete a 1-1 record for the week...They also notched an 88-75 victory over Cornell on Wednesday...Bucknell struggled in the first half and trailed, 34-15, at the break against Drexel...They would get no closer than eight points in the second half...John Griffin had 11 points in the game, while G.W. Boon added 10...The Bison committed a season-low 11 turnovers...They set a Sojka Pavilion record with their highest scoring output in the last 85 games against Cornell...They had a 47-30 lead by halftime, and the 47 points are the most in a half this season...Griffin scored a career-high 27 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range...Justin Castleberry equaled a career high with 18 points, while Josh Linthicum had a career-high 12...Bucknell returns to action Friday against North Dakota State in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic in Berkeley, Calif...They will face either Cal or Long Beach State on Saturday.

Colgate Colgate dropped a pair of tough road contests last week, falling at Penn State, 66-48, on Sunday and losing a regional matchup at Syracuse, 87-59, on Tuesday... Alex Woodhouse had eight points and nine rebounds against Penn State, while Kendall Chones notched nine points...The Raiders cut a 16-point deficit down to five early in the second half, but Penn State answered with an 18-6 run to put the game away...Colgate held Penn State to 38.1 percent shooting...Freshman Mike Venezia scored 11 points in his first collegiate action against Syracuse...Venezia injured his knee in preseason drills, and just returned to the lineup for the Raiders...Kyle Roemer and Chones both scored in double figures with 10 points apiece...The Raiders have played five games of a six-game road swing thus far, and have a 2-3 mark with this week's defeats as well as a loss at Notre Dame...The road swing wraps up on Sunday at New Hampshire.

Holy Cross The Crusaders suffered a tough loss in their first game in two and a half weeks as they fell at Siena, 84-77, in overtime...Tim Clifford led the way with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and also pulled down six rebounds...Holy Cross trailed by 10 early in the second half and was down seven with a minute to go, but rallied to force overtime...Clifford nailed two three-pointers in the final 12 seconds, including the game-tying shot as time expired in regulation...Holy Cross missed its first six shots in the extra session as Siena built a five-point lead...Colin Cunningham and Pat Doherty each had 15 points, while Alex Vander Baan had 13...No other player had more than five points, and only six players scored in the game...The Crusaders fell to seventh in Monday's College Insider.com Mid-Major top 25 after the loss...Holy Cross returns to action on Sunday when it travels to Sacred Heart.

Lafayette The Leopards recorded a pair of impressive road wins, knocking off Mount St. Mary's, 76-72, on Friday and defeating Towson, 79-69, in overtime on Wednesday...Andrew Brown scored a career-high 32 points and made a school-record nine three-pointers in the win over Mount St. Mary's...His final three-pointer came with 27 seconds left and provided the final margin...The nine three-pointers topped the previous school record of eight held by three players (Larry Spigner, Tyson Whitfield and Brown who hit eight against Holy Cross last season)...The Leopards led by as many as 22 points in the first half and held a 45-25 advantage at halftime...Mount St. Mary's put together a 21-4 run to trim the Lafayette lead to 69-66 with 3:03 remaining...Lafayette shot 55 percent for the game, the Leopards' second-best shooting night of the season.....Five players scored in double figures in the win over Towson, with Bilal Abdullah, Deirunas Visockas and Matt Betley all notching 14...Abdullah played 41 minutes and recorded his first double-double of the season with a career-high 13 rebounds, while Betley notched nine rebounds...Lafayette trailed by seven with just over nine minutes to play, and did not tie the score until Michael Gruner scored with 8.1 seconds left...Abdullah and Visockas hit key three-pointers as Lafayette outscored Towson, 17-7, in overtime...Lafayette has played three of the five overtime games for Patriot League teams this year, and is the only team to win in the extra session....Lafayette has hit 10 or more three-pointers in 10 consecutive games...The Leopards have won three games in a row, and are 3-1 on the first four contests of an eight-game road stretch...The Leopards travel to Robert Morris on Sunday.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks return from a 20-day layoff to complete their three-game home stretch on Friday against Monmouth...Lehigh's layoff for finals and the holidays is its longest since the inception of Patriot League play in 1990...Lehigh stayed sharp with a 99-48 win in an exhibition against Briarcliff on Friday...They had 30 assists on 39 field goals in the game...Marquis Hall and Bryan White have emerged as individual stars for Lehigh...Hall is second in the Patriot League in assists (5.1), first in assist/turnover ratio (2.55;51/20), and ninth in scoring (13.7 ppg)...White averages a League-best 8.3 rebounds per game, and is only 13 shy of 500 boards for his career.

Navy The Midshipmen split a pair of road games last week, downing Maryland-Eastern Shore, 85-61, on Saturday after falling to San Diego State, 86-76, on Monday...Kaleo Kina scored 20 points and Chris Harris had 19 in the win over UMES...Navy took a 41-23 lead at halftime, and shot 50.8 percent for the game...The 24-point victory was Navy's largest against a Division I foe since a 73-47 win over Morgan State on Dec. 8, 2006...Greg Sprink led the way with 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting against San Diego State...The Mids were done in by a 13-0 Aztec run late in the contest...Sprink has 1,346 career points, good for 11th in Navy history and 27th in Patriot League annals...Navy's 29 three-pointers during the last two games are tied for the most in school history during a two-game span. Navy also hit 29 combined three-pointers against Fordham (9) and Mount St. Mary's (20) on Nov. 24-27, 1990...The trio of Harris, Kina and Sprink are averaging 53.3 ppg between them in the last three games...The Mids have shot over 45.0 percent in three of their last four games, after accomplishing the feat just twice in the first eight games...Navy returns to action on Saturday at St. Francis (N.Y.), looking to win consecutive games for the first time this year.