Feb. 28, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - Navy and American will have the top two seeds in the Patriot League Tournament, which begins on Wednesday. After that, it's anyone's guess. What we do know is that the weekend begins when Holy Cross visits Lehigh on Friday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. On Saturday, Navy is at Colgate and Lafayette visits American at 2 p.m., while Bucknell goes to Army at 2:30 p.m.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 2.28.08

The Mids and Eagles still have to decide which team earns the No. 1 spot and which comes in at No. 2 in the seeding, while every other team is still alive for one of the final two spots as a top four seed and a host in Wednesday's Patriot League Quarterfinals. The possibilites for the Mids and Eagles are clear cut, as Navy clinches the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the Patriot League Tournament with a win over Colgate or an American loss to Lafayette. The Eagles need a win and a Navy loss to avoid being relegated to the No. 2 seed. Both teams are guaranteed of hosting through the Patriot League Semifinals.

The remaining teams can all clinch a home game in the quarterfinals. Lehigh, Bucknell, Lafayette and Colgate are all currently tied for third place at 6-7 in League play. While none of those teams completely control their own destiny for a home contest, they would all greatly enhance their chances with a victory. Army and Holy Cross enter the weekend at 5-8 in the Patriot League, and both need a win and plenty of help to host a quarterfinal contest. The Patriot League tiebreaking procedure is listed on the left-hand side of page two of the men's basketball release, and extended seeding scenarios are posted on the front page and men's basketball page at www.patriotleague.com.

Patriot League Notebook

Navy Ties American For First Place

Behind 34 points from Greg Sprink, Navy knocked off American, 83-68, on Wednesday to win its sixth game in a row and pull into a first-place tie with the Eagles in the Patriot League men's basketball race. The top four seeds in the Patriot League Tournament will host quarterfinal games, and every other team still has an opportunity to earn the last two home spots. There is a four-way tie for third place in the standings after Lehigh beat Bucknell, 50-39, Colgate won at Holy Cross, 63-55, and Army knocked off Lafayette, 65-60, on Wednesday. Navy and American share the League lead with 9-4 marks, followed by Lehigh, Bucknell, Lafayette and Colgate at 6-7. Holy Cross and Army are both 5-8 in the League.

Friday Finale on ESPNU

Holy Cross and Lehigh will play in the Patriot League's final appearance on ESPNU on Friday at 9 p.m. at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa. It is the eighth Patriot League men's basketball game broadcast by the network this season, and a rematch of the 60-42 Holy Cross victory that was shown on ESPNU on Feb. 2. The Patriot League season will conclude on the ESPN networks with the League Championship on ESPN2 on March 14 at 4:45 p.m.

Quarterfinal Tickets Available at American and Navy

American and Navy have locked up home games in the Patriot League men's basketball quarterfinals, and both schools have put tickets on sale for the games that will be played on Wednesday. Navy will tip off its quarterfinal contest at 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall, while American will begin at 7:30 p.m at Bender Arena. Both opponents are to be determined. Tickets for all Patriot League quarterfinal games are $12 for adults and $6 for youths and senior citizens. American and Navy have clinched the top two seeds in the League Tournament.

Crowley Announces Retirement

Patriot League and Ivy League Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials Mickey Crowley plans to retire from his post at the completion of the 2008-09 season. A search for his successor will begin in the next few weeks, and the new coordinator will work alongside Crowley next season. The Naismith College Official of the Year as the nation's best in 1990, Crowley was appointed as the Ivy/Patriot Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials in July 2002.

1,000-Point Scorers Keep Coming

Two more players passed the 1,000-point mark in their careers on Wednesday, making it eight active Patriot Leaguers to reach the milestone. Lafayette's Andrew Brown (1,012 points) and Colgate's Kyle Roemer (1,010) became the 62nd and 63rd all-time Patriot League players to reach the mark. Navy's Greg Sprink leads all active players and is in eighth all-time on the League list with 1,729 points.

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, and each squad now has 11 wins. 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 11 wins against Division I opponents. Also, every team has at least five wins in League play for the first time in history, with Army becoming the last team to hit the mark with its win over Lafayette on Wednesday.

The Patriot League Trends

Army and Navy became the latest teams to rally from second-half deficits for wins, making it 31 of the 52 winners in Patriot League games that have trailed in the second half, with 18 of those comebacks from six points or more down after the Black Knights were down seven against Lafayette. 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. The home teams finally took the advantage with a 3-1 record on Wednesday, and are 27-25 for the year. Eleven of the last 14 League contests have been decided by 10 points or less. For the season, 35 of 52 games have come within a 10-point difference, with 18 of those coming down to the wire by five points or less.

Non-League Success

The regular-season non-League schedule is complete, and Patriot League teams set a record with 62 non-League victories. The 62-55 mark is the best-ever non-League record in the regular season, and breaks the mark of 60 wins which was set just last year. It is the third winning record in non-League regular-season games, and second winning mark overall. The .530 winning percentage is also the best regular-season mark. Earlier in the year, the Patriot League became the first Division I conference to have every one of its teams record a road victory and the second to have all of its members beat a Division I opponent.

Rising RPI

The Patriot League has solidified its 16th-place position in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI rating. The League has a .4874 weighted RPI, which gives it a .0015 edge on the 17th-place Southland Conference. American leads all League teams at No. 107 in the RPI rating, with Holy Cross checking in at No. 141 as of Wednesday's games. 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.

Beltway Stars

American guard Garrison Carr has set a Patriot League record with 115 three-pointers, and is on pace to shatter the former mark of 99. Navy's Greg Sprink is averaging 21.3 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.

2008 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament

The 2008 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament will be played entirely at home sites, with the quarterfinals tipping off on Wednesday. The semifinals will be held on March 9, with the League Championship on ESPN2 at 4:45 p.m. on March 14. The top four seeds at the end of the regular season will host games in the quarterfinals. American and Navy have already clinched positions as quarterfinal hosts.

Patriot League Games

Holy Cross (15-12, 5-8) at Lehigh (13-14, 6-7), Friday, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)

Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.

Series: Holy Cross, 31-10 Streak: HC, Five Wins Last Meeting: HC, 60-42 (2.2.08)

Holy Cross The Crusaders dropped their second consecutive League game with a 63-55 loss at home to Colgate on Wednesday...Holy Cross had won the last five meetings in Worcester...The Crusaders finish with a 2-5 mark in Patriot League home games this season...They are tied for seventh place with Army, but still have an outside shot for a top four seed in the Patriot League Tournament...They will finish with a losing mark in League play for the first time since 1999-00...Holy Cross had a 10-point lead early in the contest, but saw Colgate come back to tie it at the half and go up by 14 mid-way through the second half...The Crusaders got that deficit all the way down to two in the final minute, but did not have a shot to tie or take the lead...The Crusaders held a 35-29 advantage on the boards...Tim Clifford had 14 points in his final regular-season home game...The Crusaders go for their sixth consecutive win over Lehigh on Friday on ESPNU...They notched a 60-42 win in the first meeting, which was also on ESPNU.

Lehigh Lehigh swept Bucknell for the first time since the 2002-03 season with a 50-39 win at home on Wednesday...The Mountain Hawks held the Bison to 33 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers, and the 39 points scored by Bucknell were the second fewest allowed by Lehigh in its Patriot League history...Bucknell scored the first basket of the game, but Lehigh responded with the next eight points and led for the rest of the contest...The Mountain Hawks scored the last seven points of the first half to take a 26-17 lead at the break, and posted an 8-0 run early in the second half to pull away with a 36-21 advantage...Lehigh led by as many as 20 points...Rob Keefer scored a career-high 17 points for the Mountain Hawks, while Marquis Hall had 12 and Zahir Carrington added 11...Lehigh matched Bucknell in overall and three-point field goals, but a 17-of-24 performance from the line made the difference...The Mountain Hawks will try to earn their second series split the last three years with Holy Cross, and stay in good shape for a home game in the Patriot League quarterfinals with a win.

Navy (16-12, 9-4) at Colgate (15-13, 6-7), Saturday, 2 p.m.

Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.

Series: Colgate, 21-20 Streak: Colgate, Six Wins Last Meeting: Colgate, 84-77 (2.2.08)

Navy The Mids won for the sixth consecutive time and now control their own destiny for the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament with an 83-68 win over American on Wednesday...They swept the Eagles for the first time as a Patriot League member, and first overall since 1986-87...Greg Sprink scored 34 points in the win, and tallied 70 points in two games against American...The Mids led most of the way, but did fall behind, 58-55, with just over seven minutes to play...They closed the game by outscoring the Eagles, 28-10, and took the lead for good on a Sprink layup with 6:05 remaining...Sprink hit a three-pointer to give the Mids a four-point lead with 4:02 left, and they closed the game with a 15-3 run in the last 2:13...Sprink scored 13 of his 34 points in the decisive final seven minutes...He went over 1,700 points for his career, becoming the third Navy player to do so...The Mids finished with 18 assists and only eight turnovers...Navy will try to earn its first Patriot League regular-season crown since the 1999-00 season on Saturday....They clinch the No. 1 seed with a win or an American loss...The Mids also try to end a six-game losing streak against Colgate, which includes an 84-77 loss earlier in the year.

Colgate The Raiders won their third game in a row, and second in League play, with a 63-55 triumph at Holy Cross...Colgate swept the Crusaders for the first time since the 2001-02 season, and won in Worcester for the first time since that campaign...They were down by 10 points early, but rallied to tie it at halftime and took a 14-point lead in the second half...After Holy Cross cut the deficit to 57-55 in the final minute, Colgate got a layup from Kendall Chones and four foul shots to put the game away...Kyle Roemer had 20 points in the game, and went over 1,000 for his career...Chones had 18 in the contest...He is also over 1,000 points in his career, and is one field goal away from qualifying for the Patriot League top 10 in career field goal percentage...Mike Venezia had 15 points with a 4-for-4 night from three-point range...The Raiders will try to sweep the Mids for the third year in a row and win their seventh straight in the series...A win would also help Colgate's chances at a Patriot League quarterfinal home game.

Lafayette (15-13, 6-7) at American (17-11, 9-4), Saturday, 2 p.m.

Bender Arena, Washington, D.C.

Series: American, 20-16 Streak: American, Six Wins Last Meeting: AU, 87-76 (2.2.08)

Lafayette The Leopards could not hold a seven-point second-half lead and lost at Army, 65-60, on Wednesday...Lafayette has split all six of its completed series so far...They held a 28-23 advantage at halftime, and scored the first basket of the second half before the Black Knights rallied...The game went back and forth from there, with the Leopards rallying from a seven-point deficit to tie the contest at 57 with 1:08 left...Army scored with 34 seconds left on the other end, and Lafayette turned the ball over with a chance to tie or go ahead...Lafayette was held to 33 percent shooting, and hit 9-of-31 shots from three-point range... Andrew Brown led the Leopards with 17 points, while Matt Betley had 16 and Bilal Abdullah added 12...Brown went over 1,000 career points in the contest, and now stands with 1,012...The Leopards try to split another series when they go to American on Saturday...They lost to the Eagles, 87-76, in the first meeting and have dropped the last six overall...A victory would also put Lafayette in strong position to host a Patriot League quarterfinal game.

American The Eagles fell into a first-place tie with Navy with an 83-68 loss to the Mids on Wednesday...They were swept in the season series by Navy for the first time as a Patriot League member...American's six-game winning streak also came to an end...The Eagles rallied from an eight-point hole with a 10-0 run to claim a 53-51 lead with 9:10 to play, and stretched the advantage to 58-55 before Navy held a 28-10 edge in the final seven minutes...Garrison Carr led American with 20 points, followed by Travis Lay with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Derrick Mercer with 11 points...The Eagles held a 39-30 advantage on the boards...American can claim a share of the Patriot League regular-season title for the first time since the 2003-04 season with a win over Lafayette...The Eagles claim the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament with a win and a Navy loss...American has won six straight contests against Lafayette, and goes for its third consecutive sweep of the season series.

Bucknell (11-17, 6-7) at Army (12-15, 5-8), Saturday, 2:30 p.m.

Christl Arena, West Point, N.Y.

Series: Bucknell, 37-15 Streak: Army, One Win Last Meeting: Army, 68-52 (2.3.08)

Bucknell The Bison fell at Lehigh, 50-39, on Wednesday night...They missed an opportunity to clinch a home game in the Patriot League quarterfinals, and were swept in the season series by the Mountain Hawks...Bucknell shot 33 percent for the game, and committed 17 turnovers...It did not lead after scoring the first two points of the contest...No Bucknell player scored more than eight points, with Todd O'Brien putting together six points and a team-high nine rebounds...In addition to a tough night from the floor, the Bison were hurt by a 6-of-14 effort at the foul line...Bucknell was held to its lowest point total since a 68-27 loss to Princeton on Dec. 9, 1998...The Bison will try to keep their hopes alive for a home contest in the Patriot League quarterfinals with a win at Army...The Bison are eliminated from contention for a top four seed with a loss...They had a 15-game win streak against the Black Knights snapped in the first meeting, and will try for the first series split since 2000-01.

Army The Black Knights ended their four-game losing streak with a 65-60 victory over Lafayette on Wednesday...They split the season series with Lafayette for the second straight year, and won the home matchup for the second year in a row...Army scored 11 consecutive points to claim a 34-30 lead early in the second half, and later scored 10 points in a row to open a 49-42 advantage...Lafayette came back to tie the score at 57, but Army went ahead for good when Cleveland Richard scored on a runner in the lane with the shot clock winding down for a 59-57 advantage with 34 seconds to play...Army sealed the win with a 6-for-6 performance at the foul line in the last 13 seconds...Marcus Nelson posted a career-high 15 points for the Black Knights...They shot 49 percent from the floor and made 12-of-15 foul shots...Army nailed 14-of-25 field goals in the second half...Army has defeated five different League members in a season for the first time in Patriot League action...It has five Patriot League wins in a season for the first time since 2001-02 and just the second time in the League's history...The Black Knights go for their first-ever season sweep of Bucknell...They also need a win and help to have a shot to host a Patriot League quarterfinal game.