Jan. 28, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - Parity reared its head over the weekend, and the Patriot League standings became more compressed when the results were in. Bucknell and Lafayette have a share of the League lead at 4-1, and have a chance to build a little breathing room at home on Wednesday. The Bison take on Lehigh, which has won three in a row to move to 3-2, while the Leopards host a 2-3 Army team. Navy will try to get back to .500 when it travels to American, which is looking to build on its 3-2 mark and stay close to the top spot. Holy Cross and Colgate will battle to stay out of last place, as the two 1-4 teams in the League meet up in Hamilton.

Patriot League Men's Basketball - 1.28.08

Anaconda Player of the Week (Jan. 21-27)

Jarell Brown, Army Sr., G, 6'2, 183, Cleveland, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel

Brown earns his record-tying fourth Patriot League/Anaconda Player of the Week honor of the season after averaging 29.5 points in two games last week, including a 35-point effort in Sunday's 69-67 win at Navy. It was his fourth 30-point effort of the season. He scored 16 of his points in the final 10:55 as Army overcame a nine-point second-half deficit. His final basket was the game-winner with 13.4 seconds to play. Brown also had a game-high seven rebounds and handed out four assists without committing a turnover while playing all 40 minutes in the game. He notched 24 points in Army's 66-53 loss to American on Wednesday. Brown also averaged five rebounds and 2.5 assists for the week. He became the sixth Patriot League player to earn four Player of the Week nods in a season. He also earned his seventh career Player of the Week honor, which is just one off the record shared by Colgate's Adonal Foyle (1995-97) and Lafayette's Brian Ehlers (1997-00).

Anaconda Rookie of the Week (Jan. 21-27)

Prentice Small, Lehigh Fr., G, 5'9, 170, North Babylon, N.Y./St. John the Baptist

Small had a career-high 19 points in Wednesdays' win at Colgate, and chipped in five in Saturday's win at Lafayette, to help the Mountain Hawks become the only Patriot League team with two wins last week. His 19 points off the bench were the most for a Lehigh player since 2005. Small scored 17 of his points in the second half as Lehigh rallied for the victory, including a three-pointer with 7:39 remaining to give Lehigh its first lead of the night. Small averaged 12.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the week, and shot 50 percent from the floor and 75 percent from the free throw line. He earns his first Patriot League/Anaconda Rookie of the Week honor of the year.

Patriot League Notebook

Close Calls Over the Weekend

Patriot League men's basketball fans probably want to check their fingernails after this weekend. All four contests were decided by five points or less, with Army, Holy Cross, Lehigh and Bucknell scoring the victories. Army's Jarell Brown scored 35 points, the most for a Patriot League player this season, and hit the game-winning shot with 13.4 seconds left as the Black Knights beat Navy, 69-67, on Sunday. The Crusaders got a jumper from Andrew Beinert with 18.5 seconds left to notch their first League win with a 66-64 victory at American. Lehigh rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit and gave Lafayette its first League defeat of the year by knocking off the Leopards, 60-55, in Bethlehem for its third win in a row. Bucknell moved to 4-1 in the League and back into a first-place tie with the Leopards by opening the game with a 23-0 run and holding off Colgate, 65-61.

Comeback Kings

The weekend's action continued to prove that no lead is safe in Patriot League play. Lehigh, Army and Holy Cross all rallied from second-half deficits of six points or more, with the Mountain Hawks coming back from 14 points down to defeat Lafayette. With those results, 14 of the 20 winners in Patriot League games have trailed in the second half, with nine of those comebacks from six points or more down. Lehigh has emerged as the cardiac kid of the League. The Mountain Hawks have been down by at least nine points during all three of their Patriot League wins, including the comeback against Lafayette and a rally from 15 points down early and 10 in the second half against Army. Bucknell has two big comeback wins, trailing by eight points in the second half against Navy and by 11 against American.

Packing the House

Nearly 17,000 fans came out to see Patriot League action this weekend, including a sellout crowd at Navy and season-high attendances at both American and Lehigh. With the entire Brigade of Midshipmen in attendance, Navy sold out the 5,710-seat Alumni Hall on Sunday. The largest attendance figure prior to the game was 3,028. American and Lehigh easily surpassed their previous high as well. The Eagles drew 3,994 fans for Saturday's game against Holy Cross, topping an earlier mark of 2,041. Lehigh drew 3,141 fans for its rivalry game with Lafayette, which easily exceeded a previous high of 1,375. Bucknell missed its season-high by only eight people, but still drew the second-biggest crowd of the weekend with 4,118 on hand to watch the victory over Colgate. The Bison are still in control of the League attendance race with an average of 3,451 spectators in nine home dates.

Nine is Fine

With weekend victories by Bucknell and Army, every Patriot League team has recorded at least nine wins on the season. The Patriot League joins the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12 as the only conferences to accomplish the feat. Bucknell, Colgate, Army and Navy all have nine wins, with the Mids having the worst overall record despite being just two games under .500 at 9-11.

Rising RPI

Though the Patriot League remains at No. 21 overall in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI rating, the numbers continue to point towards a move into the top 20. The League has a .4780 weighted RPI, and is just .0003 points behind the No. 20 Southland Conference, and within .0030 of the No. 17 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Patriot League has opened up a .0047 gap on the No. 22 Summit League. Five of the eight Patriot League teams have an RPI in the top 200, led by Lafayette at No. 132 and Holy Cross at No. 142.

Time to GET SIRIUS

The February schedule of Patriot League games on SIRIUS Satellite Radio is out, and every team will make at least one appearance the rest of the way. The League has five games remaining on its schedule, with American at Lafayette on Saturday, Lehigh at American on Feb. 10, Holy Cross at Bucknell on Feb. 16, Lehigh at Lafayette on Feb. 23 and Lafayette at American on March 1. All seven games of the 2008 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament will also be aired. In addition to the Patriot League package, Army and Navy have instiutional packages which will feature games against Colgate, Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh.

Patriot League Games

Lehigh (10-9, 3-2) at Bucknell (9-10, 4-1), Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.

Series: Bucknell, 90-56 Streak: Bucknell, Four Wins Last Meeting: Bucknell, 69-56 (2.21.07)

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to defeat Lafayette, 60-55, on Saturday...It was Lehigh's third win in a row, and it moved above .500 in League play for the first time...The Mountain Hawks have rallied from a deficit of at least nine points in all three wins...Lehigh has won four of the last five against Lafayette, and six in a row at Stabler Arena (though the victory in 2005 was later forfeited)...Lehigh used a 17-3 run to get back in the game after trailling by 14, and took its first lead of the second half on a three-pointer by Dave Buchberger with 1:33 to play...The Mountain Hawks scored the next six points at the foul line to seal the win...Zahir Carrington led Lehigh with 18 points, his second 18-point performance of the week...Bryan White had 11 points and 14 rebounds, while Marquis Hall notched 10 points and six assists...Lehigh held Lafayette to a season-low five three-pointers...Lehigh will try to stop a four-game losing streak in the series against Bucknell...They have not won at Bucknell since a 60-56 victory on Jan. 15, 2003, the first game at Sojka Pavilion.

Bucknell The Bison jumped out to a 23-0 lead and held on for a 65-61 win over Colgate on Saturday...It is their 38th consecutive home victory against Patriot League teams, and seventh in a row overall against Colgate...Bucknell made eight of its first 11 shots to take the big lead...In the first 10 minutes the Bison forced 11 turnovers and held Colgate to 0-for-10 shooting...After the Raiders rallied to close to within 46-44 with 10:59 to play, Bucknell responded with a 13-1 run to build a 59-45 lead with 5:42 left...Bucknell went 2-for-7 from the free-throw line in the final 1:11, but Colgate never had a possession in the final minute where it could shoot for a tie or the lead...Justin Castleberry led the way with 22 points, while John Griffin added 10...The Bison forced 22 turnovers and held Colgate to 38.3 percent shooting...Senior Rob Thomas made his first-career start and scored four points...Bucknell goes for its fifth win in a row over Lehigh...The Bison have won the last three meetings by double digits.

Army (9-10, 2-3) at Lafayette (13-7, 4-1), Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.

Series: Lafayette, 33-19 Streak: Army, One Win Last Meeting: Army, 83-65 (2.21.07)

Army With a shot by Jarell Brown with 13.4 seconds left, Army came away with a 69-67 victory in a back-and-forth game with Navy on Sunday...Army won the first game in the season series against Navy for the fifth year in a row, though it has not swept the two games in that span...The Black Knights led 11-0 early on, but had to rally from a 55-46 deficit with 10:55 remaining...Brown hit a jumper to tie the score at 60 and gave Army a 65-63 lead with a three-pointer...After Navy tied the score at 67 with 42 seconds left, Brown hit the game-winner on the other end...Brown scored a career-high 35 points, including 16 in the final 10:55 to lead Army's rally...It was his fourth 30-point game of the season, and he hit 13 of 26 shots from the floor...Josh Miller had 11 points and eight assists for the Black Knights...Army's five road wins are its most since the 1986-87 squad won five...It has won two Patriot League road games in a season for the first time since 2003-04, and won back-to-back League road games for the first time since 2001-02...Army broke a nine-game losing streak against Lafayette in the teams' last meeting a year ago...The Black Knights have not won at Lafayette since the 2001-02 season.

Lafayette The Leopards dropped their first Patriot League game with a 60-55 loss at Lehigh on Saturday...It also snapped a season-long five-game overall winning streak...Lafayette used a 17-0 run over the end of the first half and beginning of the second to build a 14-point lead, but Lehigh came back for the win...The Leopards had three shots to tie or take the lead in the final minute, but could not convert and Lehigh pulled away at the foul line...Bilal Abdullah had his ninth consecutive double-digit scoring effort with 14 points...Abdullah moved into 25th place in Lafayette history with 1,102 career points...He is 45th in Patriot League annals...Matt Betley pulled down nine rebounds in the game, and became the 43rd Patriot League with 500 career rebounds...Lafayette has won nine of the last 10 against Army...The Leopards have a five-game winning streak in Easton.

Holy Cross (10-8, 1-4) at Colgate (9-10, 1-4), Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.

Series: Holy Cross, 47-14 Streak: HC, Seven Wins Last Meeting: HC, 68-57 (2.21.07)

Holy Cross The Crusaders won their first Patriot League game and snapped a five-game losing skid overall with a 66-64 victory at American on Saturday...It was their eighth win in a row over the Eagles...Holy Cross jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but American rallied to take a six-point edge in the second half...The Crusaders bounced back for a 52-50 lead with 6:14 to play, and there were five ties and 12 lead changes in the final six minutes...Holy Cross took the lead for good on a jumper by Andrew Beinert with 18.5 seconds remaining...Tim Clifford had a big day with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go with three rebounds and a pair of blocks...Clifford has now scored at least 20 points in a game eight times this season....Kyle Cruze and Greg McCarthy each scored 10 points...Holy Cross played without injured starters Alex Vander Baan and Pat Doherty...The Crusaders are in search of their eighth consecutive win against Colgate...They have won the last three meetings at Cotterell Court.

Colgate The Raiders nearly came back from a 23-0 hole but ultimately lost at Bucknell, 65-61...It was their fourth consecutive loss, with all of them coming by single digits...Colgate's losses to Lafayette, Lehigh and Bucknell were by a total of eight points...The Raiders rallied to close the deficit to 39-25 by halftime, and got it all the way down to 46-44 with 10:59 remaining after a 19-4 rally...Bucknell used a 13-1 run to pull away again and Colgate's final rally fell short...Willie Morse scored a career-high 19 points in the game, while Kyle Roemer added 12...Kendall Chones had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double in the last three games...The Raiders dominated the glass, 44-25, including outrebounding the Bison 21-6 on the offensive boards....Colgate will try to stop its seven-game losing skid in the series against Holy Cross...The last home win against the Crusaders was in 2004, but the last two home losses have been by just three and six points.

Navy (9-11, 2-3) at American (11-9, 3-2), Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

Bender Arena, Washington, D.C.

Series: Navy, 34-31 Streak: American, Three Wins Last Meeting: American, 71-60 (2.20.07)

Navy The Mids dropped a heartbreaker in a 69-67 loss to Army on Sunday at a sold-out Alumni Hall...Navy fought back from an 11-0 deficit to claim a 38-34 lead at halftime, and went ahead, 55-46, with 10:55 remaining...After Army rallied to take a 67-63 lead, the Mids tied the score on a layup by Adam Teague with 42 seconds left...Army went back ahead by two, and Navy missed in two chances to tie or win the game, including Chris Harris' three-point attempt at the buzzer...Harris and Greg Sprink shared the team lead with 20 points...Sprink became the first Navy player since David Robinson to score 20 or more points in six straight games...Robinson scored 20 or more in 13 straight games from Jan. 10, 1987 to Feb. 9, 1987...Sprink has scored in double figures 11 straight games, a career-long streak....Harris has made 46 three-pointers in the last 11 games, with 24 of them coming in the last five games...Navy forced 20 Army turnovers in the game...The Mids are tied for sixth nationally with 19.2 turnovers forced per contest...Navy will try to snap its three-game losing skid against American...The Mids have lost all six of their visits to Washington, D.C. as a Patriot League member, and last won at American with a 94-82 triumph on Jan. 26, 1991.

American The Eagles fell in a hard-fought 66-64 loss to Holy Cross on Saturday...It was their eighth straight defeat against the Crusaders, with seven of those losses coming by 11 points or less, including two in overtime...American bounced back from an early seven-point hole to take a one-point lead at halftime and a six-point edge in the second half...The Crusaders rallied, and there were five ties and 12 lead changes in the final six minutes...American had a pair of one-point leads in the final minute before Holy Cross went ahead for good with 18.5 seconds left...The Eagles had a shot to win the game but Derrick Mercer's leaner went off the rim...Garrison Carr had 17 points and hit four three-pointers...Carr has 80 three-pointers on the season, seven away from breaking the school's all-time single-season three-pointers made record and 20 off the Patriot League mark...Bryce Simon had 14 points and a career-high six assists...The Eagles have won three straight and 14 of the last 15 against Navy...They have won all six Patriot League home games against the Mids.