Feb. 15, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - Patriot League fans will get a chance to see all of their teams on television this weekend, with two nationally televised game on the ESPN networks. Holy Cross is at Bucknell on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the League's first ESPN2 appearance of the season. The regular ESPNU package is back on tap on Sunday at Noon when first-place American pays a visit to Colgate. Second place is on the line when Navy goes to Lafayette in a Saturday afternoon contest that will be televised by both CSTV and the Lafayette Sports Network. Army and Lehigh will jockey for position when they meet on Saturday evening in Bethlehem in a contest televised on Service Electric 2 Sports. The Holy Cross/Bucknell contest will also be shown on ESPN360, with Eric Collins and Bucky Waters calling the action. The American/Colgate game will be re-played on ESPNU on Monday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern. All four contests will be critical in positioning for the Patriot League Tournament, with the standings separated by just three games with two weeks left to play. American has earned some breathing room with a game and half lead in first place at 7-3 in the League. A game and a half is all that separates teams in the second through eighth positions. Lafayette and Navy are tied for second at 5-4, with Bucknell at 5-5 in fourth place. Lehigh and Army are in fifth with 4-5 marks, while Colgate and Holy Cross share seventh with 4-6 League records.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 2.15.08

Patriot League Notebook

American Extends First-Place Advantage

American increased its lead in the Patriot League men's basketball race by knocking off Bucknell, 68-64, on Wednesday and getting help with Lafayette's 76-75 home loss to Colgate. Navy moved above .500 by winning at Lehigh, 80-75. On Thursday, Holy Cross won at Army, 64-53. The Eagles got 24 points from Garrison Carr, who set the Patriot League record for three-pointers in a season, and held on after building a 16-point lead early in the second half. Colgate went ahead late in a back and forth game with Lafayette, and held on for the one-point win when Lafayette's Matt Betley missed his final free throw after being fouled on a three-point shot. Navy took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Greg Sprink with 56 seconds remaining, and used a 9-of-10 effort at the foul line by Sprink in the final minute to seal the win over Lehigh. Holy Cross jumped out to a 30-12 lead late in the first half and held on from there for the victory at Army.

Carr Sets Three-Point Record

American guard Garrison Carr has already set the Patriot League record for three-pointers in a season. Carr's five-three pointer effort against Bucknell gave him 103 for the season, breaking the mark of 99 set by Army's Mark Lueking in the 1995-96 campaign. Carr has at least five more games to add to his mark.

Shooting the Lights Out

Carr started the week fifth nationally in three-pointers per game and 18th in three-point percentage, but he isn't the only Patriot Leaguer to appear prominently on the lists. Jarell Brown (Army), Andrew Brown (Lafayette) and Chris Harris (Navy) are also in the top 50 in both categories. Lafayette and Navy are both in the top seven nationally in three-pointers per game, and three teams are in the top 50 on the three-point percentage and foul shooting lists.

Scoring More and More

The proficient shooting has helped Patriot League teams increase their scoring rate in the 2008 campaign. No team averaged more than 65 points per game a year ago, but four are ahead of the mark right now. Navy (76.4 ppg) and Lafayette (75.3) are both more than 10 points per game ahead of the total. The numbers extend to individual players as well. The three-way tie for last year's scoring title was at a 16.9 average, but three players are ahead of that mark right now. Navy's Greg Sprink leads the League with 21.1 ppg after finishing in the three-way tie for first a year ago. Sprink is on pace to be the League's first 20 point per game scorer since Lehigh's Brett Eppenheimer averaged 24.7 ppg in the 1997-98 campaign.

Streak Snappers

American defeated Bucknell on Wednesday to become the 11th team to snap a series losing streak of seven games or more this season, with 10 of those coming against Holy Cross and Bucknell. Army ended three of its seven-game or more losing streaks, while Lafayette, Navy and American have each snapped two.

A 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. There were only three other instances where every team in the League scored nine wins. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East are the only other leagues in the country where every member has at least 10 wins against Division I opponents.

And a League Second

Every team has at least four wins in League play for the second time in history, and the first since the 1993-94 campaign. The Patriot League standings remain the closest in the nation, as it is the only race where every team is within three games of first place and six teams are within two games in the loss column.

The Patriot League Trends

The road teams re-gained the season advantage with a 3-1 mark during mid-week play, taking a 20-18 lead in games played thus far. Five teams are at or above .500 in League road games, and every team has won at least two contests. The continuing trend of a second-half comeback showed up again as well, with Navy and Colgate both overcoming second-half deficits in their victories. With those games, 23 of the 38 winners in Patriot League games have trailed in the second half, with 13 of those comebacks from six points or more down.

Five 1,000-Point Scorers

Bucknell's John Griffin became the fifth active Patriot Leaguer, and 60th of all-time, to go over 1,000 points in his career. Grffin stands at 1,010 points and in 60th place on the list. Navy's Greg Sprink is in the top 10 with 1,638 points, followed among active players by Army's Jarell Brown (1,343 points/28th), Lafayette's Bilal Abdullah (1,149/42nd) and Holy Cross' Tim Clifford (1,106/45th.

Rising RPI

The Patriot League has moved into 16th place in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI rating. The League has a .4827 weighted RPI, which comes in just ahead of the Southland, Southern, Western Athletic and Big West Conferences. American leads all League teams at No. 129 in the RPI rating.

Patriot League Games

Navy (12-12, 5-4) at Lafayette (14-10, 5-4), Saturday, 2 p.m.

Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.

Series: Navy, 38-22 Streak: Lafayette, One Win Last Meeting: Laf, 103-99 (OT) (1.19.08)

Navy The Mids won their third consecutive game against Lehigh with an 80-75 triumph in Bethlehem on Wednesday...They have won two consecutive Patriot League games for the first time this year, and also moved over .500 in League play for the first time since January 2002...They swept the series with Lehigh for the first time since 2001-02, other than a forfeit in 2005...The lead changed hands 12 times in the contest, and there were nine ties...Navy finally went ahead for good on a pair of free throws by Greg Sprink with 56 seconds remaining...Sprink sealed the win with a 9-of-10 effort at the foul line in the final minute...Kaleo Kina led the Mids with 22 points, while Sprink had 18 and Chris Harris added 12...Navy only shot 36.4 percent from the floor, but made up for it with a 25-for-29 effort at the foul line and a 47-38 advantage on the glass...The Mids pulled in 17 offensive rebounds and had a 23-6 advantage in second chance points...Navy will try to move into sole possession of second place when it plays at Lafayette on Saturday...The Leopards won the first meeting, 103-99, in overtime...That loss snapped a three-game Navy series win streak...The Mids are trying to split the season series for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

Lafayette The Leopards dropped their third consecutive contest with a 76-75 loss at home to Colgate on Wednesday...The teams split the season series, with Lafayette winning by one point at Colgate...Lafayette opened up a 43-36 lead with an 11-0 run to start the second half, but Colgate came back to take an eight-point lead...Lafayette fought back to lead at 69-68, but Colgate took the lead for good with 2:46 to play...The Leopards had one last chance when Matt Betley was fouled on a three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left and the score at 76-73...Betley sank the first two free throws, but the tying attempt rimmed out...Betley had 15 to lead Lafayette, which was just 6-of-21 from three-point range...The Leopards are in search of their first series sweep against the Mids since the 2001-02 campaign....They rallied from 15 points down in the second half to win at Navy, 103-99, in overtime on Jan. 19...Bilal Abdullah had 34 points in the contest, including the game-tying three-point play with 18.5 seconds left in regulation.

Holy Cross (13-10, 4-6) at Bucknell (10-14, 5-5), Saturday, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.

Series: Bucknell, 26-20 Streak: Bucknell, One Win Last Meeting: Bucknell, 73-65 (1.18.08)

Holy Cross The Crusaders posted their first two-game win streak in League play after a 64-53 win at Army on Thursday...They won for the sixth straight time at Christl Arena, and split the season series with the Black Knights...They took a lead they would never relinquish less than three minutes into the game, and used a 13-0 first-half run to take command with a 30-12 advantage with three minutes left in the period...Army closed within four in the second half, but Holy Cross answered with a 7-2 run...The Crusaders scored the last six points to put the game away...Tim Clifford led the way with 17 points...The Crusaders had a 35-19 advantage on the boards to overcome 19 turnovers...They connected on 21-of-38 shots from the field, including a stifling 14-of-18 (77 percent) effort in the first half...They also hit 21-of-26 free throws...Holy Cross will try to earn a split with Bucknell for the second year in a row. when they meet in Saturday's ESPN2-televised contest..The Bison won the first contest, 73-65, at Holy Cross...The Crusaders have lost five straight trips to Sojka Pavilion, last winning there in the 2003 season.

Bucknell The Bison saw their eight-game winning streak against American come to an end with a 68-64 loss in Washington on Wednesday...It is the first time since the 2004-05 season that they did not sweep the season series with the Eagles....Bucknell was down by 16 early in the second half, but used a 12-0 run to close within four with 14:28 to play...American built the lead back to 10 in the final minute, but Bucknell came as close as three points with 18 seconds to play...John Griffin led the Bison with 24 points, connecting on 8-of-12 three-pointers...He became the 60th Patriot Leaguer to go over 1,000 career points in the contest, and is at 1,010 for his career...Bucknell is in search of its second season sweep of Holy Cross in the last three seasons...The Bison won at Holy Cross, 73-65, on Jan. 18...They used a 10-2 run in the second half to pull away in that contest...The Bison have won the last five meetings with Holy Cross at Sojka Pavilion, including a 48-45 triumph a year ago.

Army (11-12, 4-5) at Lehigh (11-12, 4-5), Saturday, 7 p.m.

Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.

Series: Army, 56-27 Streak: Lehigh, One Win Last Meeting: Lehigh, 57-52 (1.20.08)

Army The Black Knights saw their two-game win streak come to an end with a 64-53 loss at home against Holy Cross on Thursday...They split the season series with Holy Cross for the first time since 2001-02, but failed in their chance for the first-ever season sweep of the Crusaders...They also missed a chance to match their longest-ever win streak in Patriot League play...Army fell behind by 18 points in the first half, but rallied to a 47-43 deficit with 6:58 left...They fell behind by nine from there, but came as close as five with just over a minute to play...Jarell Brown led the team with 21 points, connecting on 9-of-16 from the floor...Josh Miller added 13...The Black Knights forced 19 Holy Cross turnovers...Army will try to split its season series with Lehigh for the second year in a row....They broke a five-game losing streak in Bethlehem with a 47-46 victory in last year's Patriot League quarterfinals...Army dropped the first meeting with Lehigh, 57-52, on Jan. 20.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks lost their third straight game in an 80-75 defeat at home against Navy on Wednesday...They were swept in the season series by the Mids...Lehigh had a 69-68 lead and was tied at 71 in the back and forth game, but fell behind for good with 56 seconds left...Lehigh had its chances to tie the contest, but Marquis Hall missed a three-pointer with 23 seconds left and Rob Keefer missed a three with just seconds remaining...Hall scored a game-high 25 points, including 22 in the second half, to lead the Mountain Hawks. Zahir Carrington finished with 17 for Lehigh...The Mountain Hawks are going for the season sweep against Army....They overcame an early 15-point deficit and a nine-point second half hole to win at West Point, 57-52, on Jan. 20...Lehigh scored the gamewinning basket on a layup by Rob Keefer with 1:21 to play....They have won the last five regular-season home games against Army, but fell, 47-46, in the Patriot League quarterfinals last year.

American (15-10, 7-3) at Colgate (12-12, 4-6), Sunday, Noon (ESPNU)

Cotterell Court; Hamilton, N.Y.

Series: American, 13-3 Streak: American, Six Wins Last Meeting: Amer, 65-57 (1.19.08)

American The Eagles tied a Patriot League season-high with their fourth consecutive League win, a 68-64 triumph over Bucknell on Wednesday...They ended an eight-game losing streak against Bucknell, and also moved a game and a half up for first place in the League...They split the series with Bucknell for the first time since 2004-05...Garrison Carr made five three-pointers and set the Patriot League single season record with 103 treys for the year...The Eagles carried an 11-point lead into the break, and extended it to 16 before Bucknell scored 12 points in a row...American built the lead back to nine after a pair of threes by Carr, and was still up 64-54 with 38 seconds left before Bucknell came as close as three points...Carr led the Eagles with 24 points, while Derrick Mercer had 12 and Bryce Simon scored 10...The Eagles hit 25-of-30 shots from the foul line, and forced 18 turnovers...American will go for the season sweep of Colgate when they meet on Sunday...The Eagles have swept the series the last two seasons, and have a six-game winning streak against the Raiders...They won at home, 65-57, on Jan. 19...American has won three of the last four in Hamilton.

Colgate The Raiders earned payback for a one-point loss at home against Lafayette by beating the Leopards, 76-75, in Eason on Wednesday...The teams split the season series for the second year in a row, with the road team winning every contest in that span....Colgate also snapped a two-game losing skid where both losses had come in overtime...The Raiders trailed Lafayette, 43-36, before using a 19-4 run to claim a 55-47 advantage with 10:08 to play...Lafayette came back to take a one-point lead, but Colgate went ahead for good on a Tim Pounds layup with 2:46 remaining...Colgate survived when Lafayette missed a foul shot with 0.7 seconds remaining...Colgate placed five players in double figures, led by Pounds with 18 and Kendall Chones with 17...The Raiders shot 51.9 percent from the field in the contest...The Raiders will try to snap a six-game losing skid against American on Sunday...They lost last year's home game, 64-58, in overtime...They are trying to split the season series for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.