Feb. 7, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - While four Patriot League teams opened the second half of their League season on Wednesday, the schedule flips over with this weekend's games comprising four rematches from the opening contests of the season. All of the home teams will be out for revenge on Saturday when Colgate visits Army, Lafayette goes to Holy Cross and Bucknell is at Navy. American was the only road team to win the season opener, and has a chance for a sweep of Lehigh when the two meet at Bender Arena in an ESPNU-televised game on Sunday at Noon.The trend of breaking long series streaks that has been displayed throughout the first half of the season may be showcased again over the weekend, as Army and Navy are both trying to snap seven-game series losing streaks. Lafayette ended a seven-game skid with its victory against Holy Cross on Jan. 12, while American snapped a four-game slide against Lehigh. The Leopards will try to build on their 5-2 League record and maintain first place with American and Bucknell nipping at their heels with 5-3 marks. Lehigh is also over .500 at 4-3 in the League, followed by Army and Navy at 3-4. Colgate enters the weekend with a 3-5 mark, while Holy Cross is 2-6.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 2.7.08

Patriot League Notebook

American, Bucknell Score Victories

Only four men's basketball teams took the floor on Wednesday night, and American and Bucknell seized on their opportunity to close within a half-game of first-place by scoring victories on the road. The Bison rallied to tie the game at the buzzer and went on to beat Colgate in overtime, 91-85. American broke open a close game late in the second half for a 62-46 victory at Holy Cross. The Bison sent the contest to overtime on a three-pointer by Darryl Shazier with time running out in regulation, and went ahead for good in the extra session on a three-point play by John Griffin with 30 seconds left. Griffin scored a career-high 31 points in the contest. The Eagles went on a 10-0 run to open up a 42-32 lead on Holy Cross in the second half, and led by as many as 20 down the stretch. The Eagles hit 66.7 percent (14-of-21) of their shots in the second half, with Holy Cross at 26.7 percent (8-of-30).

Another Sunday on ESPNU

For the third week in a row, the Patriot League occupies the Noon start time on Sunday on ESPNU. The showcase game this week has Lehigh traveling to American in the only matchup between two teams with winning League marks this weekend. Lehigh is making its second appearance on the network after losing at Holy Cross on Saturday, while American makes its ESPNU debut. The game is part of ESPN's Rivlary Week. It will be re-broadcast on Tuesday at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.

Bracket Busting Against the CAA

Bucknell and Holy Cross will both take on opponents from the Colonial Athletic Association in the sixth annual O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event on Feb. 23, it was announced Monday. The Bison will visit Old Dominion at 7 p.m., while the Crusaders will host Northeastern at 4 p.m. The Patriot League has a 4-2 record against opponents from the CAA this season, including a 61-47 victory for Holy Cross against Hofstra and a 71-57 victory for Bucknell at Towson. Both games were returns for last year's BracketBuster matchups. The Bracket Busters event runs from February 22-24 and pits potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other, with 14 nationally televised games on either ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com or ESPN Classic. The matchups were selected from a pool of 100 teams.

A Patriot League First

For the first time in the 18-year history of the Patriot League, every team has recorded at least 10 victories in a season. Bucknell became the last team to reach the mark with a 91-85 win at Colgate on Wednesday. There were only three other instances where every team in the League scored nine wins. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the only other league in the country where every member has at least 10 wins against Division I opponents.

Streak Snappers

Another day, another long series win streak snapped. American ended Holy Cross' eight-game series streak with a 62-46 victory on Wednesday. It was the eighth series streak of seven wins or more that has ended this season, with all of those coming against Holy Cross or Bucknell. Army and Lafayette have ended losing skids against both opponents, with the Black Knights snapping a 15-game skid against Bucknell and a 13-game slide against Holy Cross. Navy stopped the longest slide by ending a 17-game skid against the Crusaders, while Lehigh and Colgate stopped seven-game streaks against the Bison and Crusaders, respectively. Bucknell and Holy Cross also saw long home streaks come to an end. The Bison's 38-game home win streak against Patriot League opponents ended on Jan. 30 against Lehigh, while Holy Cross' 23-game overall home streak was snapped by Army on Jan. 16. Two more seven-game series win streaks are on the line on Saturday, as Colgate goes to Army and Bucknell travels to Navy looking to extend their streaks.

Road Warriors

The road is becoming friendlier and friendlier in Patriot League play. With wins by American and Bucknell on Wednesday, the road team has won eight of the past 11 games in League action, starting with Army's victory at Navy on Jan. 27. Road teams have a 17-13 edge in Patriot League play, and six of the eight teams are at or above .500 on the road in League action.

Comebacks Still In Style, Too

The other continuing trend of coming back from a second-half deficit showed up again as well, with Bucknell rallying from 11 points down to win at Colgate, 91-85, in overtime. Nineteen of the 30 winners in Patriot League games have trailed in the second half, with 11 of those comebacks from six points or more down. Bucknell and Lehigh have both come back from six points or more in three of their wins.

Rising RPI

The Patriot League continues to sit strong in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI rating. Through Wednesday's games, the League has a .4809 weighted RPI, which puts the Patriot League in 18th place and just .0002 behind the Western Athletic Conference. American leads all Patriot League teams at No. 137 in the RPI, while Lafayette is right behind at No. 145. Five teams are in the top 200 in RPI rating. The Patriot League is one of three Mid-Major conferences with a winning overall mark on the season.

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

Colgate (11-11, 3-5) at Army (10-11, 3-4), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Christl Arena; West Point, N.Y.

Series: Colgate, 51-50 Streak: Colgate, Seven Wins Last Meeting: Colgate, 50-44 (1.12.08)

Colgate The Raiders saw their two-game win streak come to an end with a 91-85 overtime loss at home to Bucknell on Wednesday...It was their eighth consecutive loss against the Bison, including a season sweep this year...The Raiders held a 38-33 lead at the half, and extended the advantage to 55-44 with 11:21 remaining....It was still an eight-point Colgate lead with 2:29 left in the game when the Bison started a 10-2 run to send the contest to overtime...Colgate took an 84-83 lead with 42 seconds left in overtime, but fell behind for good when Bucknell converted a three-point play...Colgate placed six players in double figures, led by Daniel Waddy with 16...Tim Pounds had 14, and Kendall Chones and Mike Venezia each had 13...The Raiders are in search of their eighth consecutive win against Army...They won at home, 50-44, to open the Patriot League schedule on Jan. 12 and take a 51-50 lead in the series...Colgate never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a 17-4 lead...Colgate has won three in a row and six out of seven at Army.

Army The Black Knights ended a 15-game losing streak against Bucknell with a 68-52 win in Lewisburg on Sunday...Army concluded its three-game road trip with a 2-1 record, with both wins coming in ESPNU-televised games...Army trailed 28-25 at halftime, but took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Jarell Brown with 13:26 left...The Black Knights shot 63 percent in the second half and 51 percent for the game, while holding the Bison to 40 percent shooting overall and 33 percent in the second half...Army also forced 24 Bucknell turnovers...Brown led the Black Knights with 21 points, while Cleveland Richard added 11...Army has recorded back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time since 1988-89 (12) and 1989-90 (10)...The Black Knights look to stop a seven-game losing streak in the series against Colgate, which includes a 50-44 loss on the road on Jan. 12...Army's last win in the series was in 2003-04, when it swept the Raiders...The teams have not split the season series since 1999-00.

Lafayette (14-8, 5-2) at Holy Cross (11-10, 2-6), Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

Hart Center; Worcester, Mass.

Series: Holy Cross, 27-14 Streak: Lafayette, One Win Last Meeting: Lafayette, 60-52 (1.12.08)

Lafayette The Leopards saw their seven-game home winning streak come to an end with an 87-76 loss to American on Saturday...Lafayette still has sole possession of first place in the League with a 5-2 record....Lafayette opened the game with a 10-2 run, but fell behind by 10 at halftime and came no closer than eight in the second half...Andrew Brown led the team with 22 points, hitting 5-of-11 three-point shots...Matt Betley and Bilal Abdullah both tallied 16 points...It was Abdullah's 11th consecutive game in double figures...Lafayette had three steals in the game, just the fourth time this season they have recorded fewer than five...The Leopards look for a season sweep against Holy Cross after stopping a seven-game series losing streak with a 60-52 win in Easton on Jan. 12...Lafayette closed the game on a 12-2 run, spearheaded by a pair of threes by Betley...The Leopards have lost the last four contests at Holy Cross, including an 83-53 defeat in last year's Patriot League quarterfinals...The last victory in Worcester was in 2003-04, which was also the last time Lafayette swept the season series.

Holy Cross The Crusaders dropped a 62-46 contest at home against American on Wednesday ...Holy Cross had its eight-game win streak against the Eagles snapped, and the teams split the season series for the first time since 2002-03...The Crusaders were down 21-18 at half and had the game tied at 32 with 11 minutes left before the Eagles took over down the stretch...Holy Cross struggled from the field, hitting just 31.5 percent for the game and 26.7 percent (8-of-30) in the second half...Tim Clifford led the Crusaders with 18 points, while Kyle Cruze added 11...The Crusaders will try to earn payback for a 60-52 loss at Lafayette to open the Patriot League schedule on Jan. 12...Andrew Beinert scored 15 points in that contest...Holy Cross has won four straight and seven of eight against Lafayette at the Hart Center...All four wins in the current home streak have been by 20 points or more...A Holy Cross victory would provide the first series split between the teams since 2001-02.

Bucknell (10-12, 5-3) at Navy (10-12, 3-4), Saturday, 7 p.m.

Alumni Hall; Annapolis Md.

Series: Navy, 29-24 Streak: Bucknell, Seven Wins Last Meeting: Bucknell, 85-77 (1.11.08)

Bucknell The Bison rallied for a 91-85 overtime victory at Colgate on Wednesday....It gave Bucknell a sweep of the season series and an eighth straight win over Colgate..The Bison trailed by as many as 11 points, and were down by eight with 2:29 left before using a 10-2 rally to send the game to overtime...John Griffin hit five foul shots in the run, and Bucknell tied it on a three-pointer by Darryl Shazier with time running down...The lead changed hands on the first 10 baskets of the overtime, but Bucknell finally went ahead for good when a three-point play by Griffin made it 86-84 with 30 seconds left...A three-point play by Tyree with 6.6 seconds left provided the final margin...Griffin scored a career-high 31 points, the most by a Bucknell player since Kevin Bettencourt had 42 against St. Francis on Dec. 6, 2003...Tyree had a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds, while Justin Castleberry and Darren Mastropaolo each added 10...The Bison shot 52.6 percent from the field, and held a 39-29 advantage on the boards...Bucknell is looking to sweep the season series against Navy for the third year in a row, and win its eighth straight against the Mids...Bucknell came back from a seven-point second-half deficit to defeat Navy, 85-77, in the League opener on Jan. 11...The Bison have won two in a row and three of four at Navy.

Navy The Mids fell to 3-4 in the Patriot League with an 84-77 loss to Colgate on Saturday..The Mids dropped their sixth consecutive contest in the series against Colgate...Navy held a 36-35 lead at the half, and extended it to 41-35 early in the second half before Colgate went on a 12-0 run to claim the lead for good...Kaleo Kina led the Mids with 21 points, while Chris Harris had 15 and Greg Sprink scored 10...Sprink has 1,598 career points, good for fourth in Navy history and 11th in Patriot League annals...Navy has lost three consecutive home games, and has alternated losses and wins throughout the first half of League play...Navy looks to break a seven-game losing streak to the Bison, which includes an 85-77 defeat on Jan. 11...The Mids last victory was a 66-62 triumph on Jan. 30, 2005 in Annapolis...They also look for the first season split with the Bison since the 2004-05 campaign.

Lehigh (11-10, 4-3) at American (13-10, 5-3), Sunday, Noon (ESPNU)

Bender Arena; Washington, D.C.

Series: American, 16-11 Streak: American, One Win Last Meeting: AU, 71-54 (1.12.08)

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks had their four-game winning streak come to an end with a 60-42 loss at Holy Cross on Saturday...The Mountain Hawks fell behind by 14 points early and 11 at half, but rallied to close within seven in the second half before Holy Cross pulled away...Holy Cross held the Mountain Hawks to just 24 percent shooting (12-of-50) from the field..Marquis Hall led the way with 15 points, including 10-of-10 from the foul line....Lehigh tries to get back on the winning track at American...The Mountain Hawks had a four-game win streak against the Eagles snapped in a 71-54 loss at home on Jan. 12...Lehigh has won the last four meetings in Washington, though the 2005 victory was later forfeited...A Lehigh win would provide the first split in the season series since 2002-03, though the teams did split on the court in 2004-05 before the Lehigh victory was forfeited.

American The Eagles ended an eight-game losing streak against Holy Cross, and split the season series, with a 62-46 win in Worcester on Wedensday...It was their second all-time win at the Hart Center, and snapped a four-game road losing sreak to the Crusaders...The Eagles broke open a tied game with 11 minutes to play with a pair of runs...They went on a 10-0 run to open up a 42-32 lead, with five of those points coming from Garrison Carr...They later used a 6-0 surge to increase the advantage to 20 points with two minutes to play...American shot 53.7 percent from the field while holding Holy Cross to 31.5 percent....Carr had 22 points and hit five three-pointers, which gives him 94 on the season...He is five threes away from tying the Patriot League record of 99 held by Army's Mark Lueking (1996)...The Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak to Lehigh with a 71-54 win in Bethlehem on Jan. 12...Carr had 26 points in the game...The Eagles have lost four straight to the Mountain Hawks at home, though the 2005 contest later became a forfeited win....Other than the forfeit win in 2005, the last American season sweep of the series came in 2001-02.