Feb. 18, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - Wednesday's four-pack of games all have significant implications in the race for seeding and home court advantage in the Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament beginning on March 5. American, which has already clinched a winning record in League play, has a chance to lock up a first-round home game when it hosts Army. The Eagles can guarantee at least a share of the regular-season title if they win and second-place Navy loses in its matchup at home against Holy Cross. Lehigh and Lafayette are tied for third in the race, and will battle for positioning. The Mountain Hawks go to Colgate, while Lafayette is at Bucknell. Every team is still in the race for a top four seed and home-court advantage in the first round. American leads the way at 8-3 in the League, followed by Navy at 6-4, Lehigh and Lafayette at 5-5, Bucknell and Holy Cross at 5-6, Army at 4-6 and Colgate at 4-7.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 2.18.08

Anaconda Player of the Week (Feb. 11-17)

Garrison Carr, American Jr., G, 5'11, 165, Bellevue, Wash./Issaquah

Carr wins Patriot League/Anaconda Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week and third time this season after leading the first-place Eagles to wins against Bucknell on Wednesday and Colgate on Sunday. Carr scored 24 points in each of the contests, and also averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals for the week. He helped American overcome a nine-point halftime deficit against Colgate by scoring 18 of his 24 points in the second half. He shot 7-of-15 from the floor in both contests for a 14-of-30 (46.7 percent) effort, and was even better from long range with an 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) performance from three during the week. He set the Patriot League record for three-pointers in a season during the win over Bucknell, and extended the mark to 109 by hitting six threes against Colgate. Carr is now just 16 three-pointers from breaking into the NCAA all-time top-25 for single-season three-pointers made. He is averaging 22.3 ppg in League play, while shooting 46.8 percent from both the field and from behind the arc. Carr has scored at least 22 points in eight of 11 Patriot League games thus far, and has hit for 22 points or more in every contest during American's five-game winning streak.

Patriot League Anaconda Rookie of the Week (Feb. 11-17)

Mike Venezia, Colgate Fr., G, 6'1, 180, Westfield, N.J./Westfield

Venezia helped Colgate split a pair of games last week, scoring 10 points in a victory over Lafayette on Wednesday and adding eight in a loss to American on Sunday. He connected on 4-of-7 shots in the win over the Leopards, scoring all 10 of his points in the second half as the Raiders notched a 76-75 victory. Venezia made 3-of-6 shots, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, in the loss to the Eagles. He pulled down a pair of rebounds in each of the contests for averages of nine points and two rebounds per game for the week. Venezia earns Patriot League/Anaconda Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season, and second time in the last three weeks.

Patriot League Notebook

American Wins Fifth Consecutive Game

In the weekend's results, first-place American came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to earn its fifth win in a row with a 68-60 triumph at Colgate on Sunday. In Saturday's action, Navy got a shot from Clif Colbert with 0.4 seconds left to beat Lafayette, 82-80, Holy Cross won at Bucknell, 63-53, in an ESPN2-televised contest, and Lehigh held off Army, 58-53.

Fun On Road Trips

The road teams posted a 3-1 mark over the weekend, and the visitors now have wins in six of the last eight League games to take a 23-19 advantage 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. American and Navy have combined for a 9-2 record in League road contests. The Patriot League is one of only two conferences nationally where road teams have a winning record in League play.

Beltway Stars

A pair of players from the two Southern-most schools in the League are making waves this season. American guard Garrison Carr has set a Patriot League record with 109 three-pointers, and is on pace to shatter the former mark of 99. Navy's Greg Sprink is averaging 21.2 points per contest, and has a chance 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. Sprink moved into eighth place in all-time scoring in League history with 1,662 points, passing 2007 graduates Andre Ingram (American) and Keith Simmons (Holy Cross). Sprink is averaging 24.3 ppg in League play, while Carr is at 22.3.

History-Making Win Totals

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. Every team has at least four wins in League play for the second time in history, and the first time since 1993-94.

The Patriot League Trends

The continuing trend of a second-half comeback showed up again over the weekend, with Navy, Holy Cross and American all overcoming second-half deficits in their victories. With those games, 26 of the 42 winners in Patriot League games have trailed in the second half, with 14 of those comebacks from six points or more down after the Eagles rallied from a nine-point deficit. There were no long series streaks snapped over the weekend. Eleven series losing streaks of seven games or more have come to an end in the Patriot League 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.

Rising RPI

The Patriot League has solidified its 16th place position in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI rating. The League has a .4847 weighted RPI, which gives it a .0014 edge on the 17th-place Western Athletic Conference. American leads all League teams at No. 109 in the RPI rating, with Holy Cross checking in at No. 130. The Patriot League is one of only eight conferences in the nation to place all of its teams in the top 250, and one of just two Mid-Major leagues to accomplish the feat.

Patriot League Games

Holy Cross (14-10, 5-6) at Navy (13-12, 6-4), Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Alumni Hall, Annapolis Md.

Series: Holy Cross, 29-15 Streak: Navy, One Win Last Meeting: Navy, 85-74 (1.23.08)

Holy Cross The Crusaders won their third consecutive contest with a 63-53 triumph at Bucknell in an ESPN2-televised game...The teams split the season series for the second year in a row, and Holy Cross ended its five-game losing streak at Bucknell, winning there for the first time since 2003...Neither team led by more than six points until the final minute, and there were 10 lead changes and six ties in the contest...The Crusaders went ahead for good on a shot by Alex Vander Baan with 4:19 to play...The Crusaders sealed the win on a three-pointer by Colin Cunningham to make it 57-52 with 2:15 remaining...Tim Clifford had 18 points and six rebounds, while Kyle Cruze had 16 points and six boards and Vander Baan added 14 points and five rebounds...The Crusaders connected on 27-of-33 foul shots, and held a 28-21 advantage on the glass...Clifford has led the team in scoring in 10 straight games...Clifford made all 13 of his free throw attempts on the week , with a 6-of-6 effort against Bucknell...The Crusaders have split all four of their completed series so far...Holy Cross had a 17-game winning streak against Navy end in an 85-74 home loss on Jan. 23...They will try to split the series for the first time since 1995-96.

Navy The Mids won their third straight game and moved into sole possession of second place with an 82-80 win at Lafayette on Saturday...The teams split the season series for the fifth time in the last six seasons...The win was Navy's third in a row, its longest streak in League play since Jan. 12-19, 2002...It was also Navy's fourth straight League road win, which is the longest stretch since Jan. 23 to Feb. 26, 2000...The Mids are off to their best record through 10 games in League play since 2000-01...Navy beat Lafayette on a shot by Clif Colbert with 0.4 seconds remaining...The Mids had taken the second half lead with an 11-2 run that ended with 11:09 left, and led by as many as eight points before Lafayette rallied to tie the score...Colbert took a pass from Greg Sprink to drain the game-winning jumper from eight feet out...Sprink had 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Chris Harris had 22 points and shot 7-of-10 from three-point range...Colbert came off the bench to score 18 points with four steals...Sprink is now eighth in Patriot League history with 1,662 career points...Harris has tied the school record with 76 threes for the year...Navy tries to sweep the season series with Holy Cross for the first time since 1999-00...They snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Crusaders with an 85-74 win on Jan. 23...Harris had 29 points in that contest, while Sprink scored 28.

Lafayette (14-11, 5-5) at Bucknell (10-15, 5-6), Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.

Series: Lafayette, 83-57 Streak: Lafayette, One Win Last Meeting: Lafayette, 80-68 (1.23.08)

Lafayette The Leopards lost for a fourth straight time, falling to Navy, 82-80, on Wednesday...The teams split the season series as the Leopards fell when Navy's Clif Colbert hit the game-winning shot with 0.4 seconds left...Lafayette took a 57-52 lead early in the second half, but saw Navy rally to claim an eight-point advantage...The Leopards fought back to tie the score at 80 on Matt Betley's three-pointer with 34 seconds left, setting up Navy's final bucket...Betley led Lafayette with 15 points, while Andrew Brown and Bilal Abdullah each had 14...The lead changed hands 10 times in the game, while there were seven ties...Lafayette goes for a series sweep over Bucknell for the first time since the 1999-00 season...The Leopards won the first contest by 12 points after leading by as many as 25...Andrew Brown had 28 points in the game.

Bucknell The Bison dropped their third consecutive game with a 63-53 loss at home against Holy Cross on Saturday on ESPN2...The teams split the season series, and Bucknell saw its five-game home winning streak against the Crusaders come to an end...Bucknell had a two-point lead with 6:57 left in the game, but the Crusaders went up for good with 4:19 to play...The Bison closed to within one with 3:22 left on a Rob Thomas three, but could not tie or take the lead...Justin Castleberry led Bucknell with 13 points in the contest, while Stephen Tyree had 11 points and six assists...Bucknell will honor seniors John Griffin, Darren Mastropaolo and Thomas before its final home game of the year against Lafayette...The Bison will try to split the season series for the first time since the 2003-04 season after having their eight-game series win streak snapped in an 80-68 loss at Lafayette on Jan. 23.

Lehigh (12-12, 5-5) at Colgate (12-13, 4-7), Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Cotterell Court; Hamilton, N.Y.

Series: Colgate, 43-26 Streak: Lehigh, Six Wins Last Meeting: Lehigh, 63-60 (1.23.08)

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks pulled into a third-place tie in the League and snapped a three-game losing skid with a 58-53 win over Army on Saturday ...The Mountain Hawks swept the Black Knights for the second time in the last three year, winning both contests by five points...They made an early hold up after going ahead 34-27 at halftime and 43-27 in the opening minutes of the second half...Army cut the deficit all the way down to one with 2:28 left, but the Mountain Hawks pushed the lead back to three on Zahir Carrington's shot with 58 seconds remaining...Bryan White sealed the Lehigh victory by making all four of his foul shots in the final 30 seconds...Carrington had 19 points to lead the Mountain Hawks, while Marquis Hall scored 15 for his sixth straight game in double figures...The Mountain Hawks held on despite shooting just 28.6 percent in the second half...They improved their League-best home record to 9-3 overall...Lehigh tries for the season sweep of Colgate for the third year in a row...The Mountain Hawks rallied from a nine-point deficit for a 63-60 win over the Raiders on Jan. 23...Prentice Small had a career-high 19 points in the game.

Colgate The Raiders fell to 4-7 in the Patriot League with a 68-60 home loss to American on Sunday...They dropped their seventh consecutive game against American, and were swept in the season series for the third year in a row....Colgate closed the first half with a 19-4 run to take a 34-25 lead into the break...They surrendered the advantage for good when American posted a 14-0 surge in the second half...Kyle Roemer led Colgate with 20 points, while Kendall Chones added 10...Chones now has 985 points in his career...The Raiders shot just 33 percent in the second half after a 54 percent showing in the first stanza...Colgate will try to snap a six-game losing streak against Lehigh and split the series for the first time since 2004-05...The Raiders lost at Lehigh, 63-60, on Jan. 23...Roemer and Chones combined for 34 points and 19 rebounds in that contest.

Army (11-13, 4-6) at American (16-10, 8-3), Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

Bender Arena; Washington, D.C.

Series: American, 13-2 Streak: American, Two Wins Last Meeting: American, 66-53 (1.23.08)

Army The Black Knights were swept in the season series with Lehigh after losing, 58-53, in Bethlehem on Saturday....They lost both contests by five points...Army fell behind by 16 early in the second half, but closed the gap with a 15-2 run to come within three with 9:05 left...They got as close as one on Cleveland Richard's shot with 2:28 to play, but were never able to tie or take the lead...Jarell Brown led the way with 19 points, while Richard added 14 and Josh Miller had 11..The Black Knights were just 1-of-8 from three-point range in the contest...Army has lost two in a row...The Black Knights have not had a three-game losing streak yet this year, and the last time they went an entire year without a three-game skid was 1976-77...The Eagles won the first meeting, 66-53, on Jan. 23...Army will try to split the series for the second year in a row.

American The Eagles became the first Patriot League team to win five consecutive League contests with a 68-60 win at Colgate on Sunday...They maintain a game and a half lead for first place in the standings, and have clinched a winning League record for the first time since 2004-05...They earned a season sweep of Colgate for the third year in a row, and extended their winning streak against the Raiders to seven games...American improved to 5-1 on the road in League play, and 10-6 on the road overall...They fell behind, 34-25, at halftime, but took over the game with a 14-0 run in the second half to extend to a 50-40 advantage with 8:59 to play...They took the lead for good on a Garrison Carr three-pointer with 13:21 left...American held at least a six-point edge the rest of the way...Carr led American with 24 points, connecting on 6-of-12 three-point shots to extend his Patriot League single-season record to 109...Derrick Mercer also finished in double figures with 18 points...The Eagles shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, and hit 7-of-10 three-point shots in the period...They trailed at halftime for only the fourth time this season...American goes for the season sweep against Army...The Eagles have swept the series in five of six seasons since joining the Patriot League...They won the first contest, 66-53, at Army on Jan. 23.