Nov. 16, 2001
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Game Information
Match Up: Lafayette (0-0) at Albany (0-0)
Tip: 3:00 p.m.
Site: Albany, N.Y.
Arena: Recreation and Convocation Center
Series: Lafayette leads 2-0
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer
Television: None
THE STORYLINE: Coming off a 12-16 campaign, the Leopards open their regular-season slate tonight in Albany, N.Y. This is also the first regular-season game for Albany which finished 6-22 in 2000-01. Lafayette chose to forego exhibition games, instead playing in scrimmages vs. Yale and Monmouth to prepare for the season.
FOR OPENERS: Lafayette holds a 59-32 (.648) record in season openers, including an 19-19 (.500) mark in season openers on the road. The Leopards have won three straight season openers on the road with a 72-62 victory at Cornell last season, a 59-52 victory over Columbia in 1999-00 and a 56-41 win over Dartmouth in 1998-99. In 91 seasons on College Hill, Lafayette has never played Albany to open the season.
THE COACH: Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova '70) is in his seventh season. O'Hanlon has garnered two Patriot League Coach of the Year honors, while restoring the Lafayette program to a championship level. He guided the Leopards to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 1998-99 and 1999-00. O'Hanlon's career record stands at 95-77, including two 20-win seasons.
ON THE RADIO: Tonight's game can be heard live on WEST-AM 1400, the 66th year of broadcasting Lafayette Athletics. Dick Hammer enters his 35th year of calling the play-by-play for Lafayette men's basketball.
THE ROAD AHEAD: The road will not get any easier for Lafayette after today's season opener at Albany. Lafayette will continue a three-game road swing, traveling to Penn State on Wednesday and off to Florida to face Miami on Saturday. It's the second straight season that Lafayette has opened with three road games. 2000-01, however, was the first time since 1956-57 that the Leopards played three in a row on the road to begin a season. SOPHOMORE STARTERS: Three of the players in Lafayette's staring lineup are members of the sophomore class. Justin DeBerry is holding down the point guard position along with Ben Saxton at shooting guard and Mike Farrell at power forward. Nine of the 15 players on Fran O'Hanlon's squad are members of either the freshman or sophomore class. SENIOR C0-CAPTAINS: Seniors Brian Burke and Rob Worthington will serve as the team captains for the 2001-02 season. Burke is the top returning scorer for Lafayette, having averaged 14.0 points per game. Worthington is the team's top returning rebounder and started 32 games in his sophomore and junior seasons. Burke and Worthington were selected as co-captains by head coach Fran O'Hanlon. The two have been roommates since their freshman year and are both English majors. INJURY REPORT: Projected starting guard Ben Saxton has been battling back problems, including stiffness in his lower back. The sophomore's health will determine whether he starts today's game. Freshman Brad Anderson has been hit hard by the injury bug in the preseason. Anderson first broke a bone in his hand which forced him to miss significant practice time at the start of the season. Recently, he fractured his nose and had surgery to place splints in it. He is out indefinitely while it heals.
THEY'RE NOT SHY: Fran O'Hanlon's Lafayette teams have been known to hoist it up from the perimeter. Lafayette has hit 200 or more three-pointers in each of the last four seasons, recording 225 in 2000-01, 249 in 1999-00, 238 in 1998-99 and 207 in 1997-98.
PLAYING ABROAD: Freshman Kenny Grant spent some time playing basketball not with sophomore teammate Rob Dill, but rather against him this summer. Grant played for the Swedish Junior National Under-20 team and participated in tournaments across Europe. Grant's team faced off against Dill's German squad in a scrimmage. The Swedish squad faced national teams from Spain, Iceland, Estonia, Denmark and Russia. Grant had his best game against Russia when he scored 18 points. Both are expected to see significant playing time this season. PAtRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette has been picked to finish seventh out of eight teams in the Patriot League in the preseason coaches and sports information directors' poll.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 91 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1105-952 (.537) that spans back to the first season in 1900-01.
SUMMER CAMP: Sophomore Mike Farrell worked the camp circuit this summer. He finished up his tour at NBA player Chris Dudley's camp in Portland, Ore. Farrell, a diabetic himself, worked with diabetic youngsters at the camp. Mick Kuberka worked on Wall Street with a Lafayette alumnus. Brian Burke was an intern at the PGA Tour in Jacksonville, Fla. Ben Saxton was a sales intern in his hometown of Walker Valley, N.Y. FROM THE LINE: Lafayette shot 73 percent from the free throw line as a team in 2000-01. Brian Burke, a career 88 percent free throw shooter, made 87 percent of of his attempts to lead the Leopards. Burke also holds the Patriot League record for consecutive free throws with 49, a mark he set in 1999-00. LEADING THE LEAGUE IN ATTENDANCE: The Lafayette men's basketball program has led the Patriot League in home attendance the last four seasons. In 2000-01, Lafayette averaged over 2,500 fans per home game in its 3,500-seat arena. Over 30,000 fans came through the Kirby Sports Center gates to watch Lafayette's 12 home games. Lafayette beat out Navy, which averaged nearly 150 fewer fans per game (2,356), in the regular-season. Lafayette had four home games with over 3,000 people in attendance in 2000-01: Princeton (3,154 on Dec. 6), Lehigh (3,128 on Jan. 10), Army (3,026 on Jan. 27) and Colgate (3,192 on Feb. 24). The Leopards' last regular-season game, vs. Colgate, proved to be the largest home crowd of the season...In 1999-2000, Lafayette averaged 2,474 fans per home contest. The highwater mark came vs. Navy in the Patriot League Finals with over 4,000 people in attendance for the 87-61 victory (3/10/00). The Leopards also drew over 16,000 fans for the Patriot League Tournament, the second highest attendance in league history. In 1998-99, six games garnered 3,000 or more fans, as the Leopards drew an average of 2,864 fans per home meeting...The 1997-98 season brought in an average of 2,045 people per home game, the first season ever that Lafayette led the Patriot League in attendance. Bucknell drew the biggest crowd of the season (2/7/98) with 3,174 fans.
MEDAL OF HONOR: Following the 2000-01 season, Brian Burke was selected as one of four 2000-01 recipients of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Award of Valor. It is awarded annually to ECAC student-athletes whose courage, motivation and relentless determination serve as an inspiration to all. The recipients of the Award of Valor exemplify strength of character, perseverance, and most importantly, accomplishment deserving recognition as being truly triumphant. Burke led the team in assists and finished third on the team in scoring despite missing 13 games after suffering a punctured lung in a game at Fordham on Dec. 11. Burke was playing the best game of his career, having scored a career-high 24 points, including five three-pointers. With five minutes left in the game, Burke's night came to an end as he was removed from the arena on a stretcher after complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath.
The junior suffered severe internal bleeding and was later diagnosed with a punctured lung, losing one third of his blood supply. After an initial 10-day hospital stay, Burke suffered another setback as he was preparing to return home. On Dec. 21 when the doctors removed the chest tubes, Burke's lung collapsed and prolonged his hospital stay. Burke's recovery was slow but determined and he returned to classes in late January. The coaches and doctors planned on Burke missing the remainder of the season and concerns arose that he may never play competitive basketball again. On February 11, exactly two months after a punctured lung left his career and health in jeopardy, Burke returned to the court, scoring a game-high 23 points, just one point shy of his career-high. His effort helped lead Lafayette to an 87-78 win over Navy. Burke went on to play in Lafayette's six remaining games. He was presented with the award two weeks before the start of the 2001-02 season.
HANDLING THE BALL: A hallmark of Fran O'Hanlon's basketball programs has consistently been adept ballhandling. The Leopards displayed that last season holding a 1.4 assist/turnover ratio. The Leopards dished out 434 assist compared to 418 turnovers. Brian Burke lead the team in assist/turnover ratio with a 2.18 mark. Of the nine returning players who played 20 or more games in 2000-01, seven have a positive assist/turnover ratio.
LAFAYETTE ON THE WEB: The best source for information on the Lafayette basketball program is on the web. Click on "Sports" at www.lafayette.edu. The site is continuously updated with press releases, game notes, schedules, rosters, statistics, players features, photos and more. This season, all games will be broadcasted through the site.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the fourth-straight season, Lafayette features the most expansive television package in the Patriot League. The Leopards will have 14 games televised, with the possible addition of three more television contests in the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will air 12 games to more than 5.2 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono region and Philadelphia, central New Jersey, New York City and Boston. Locally the telecasts can be seen on RCN Cable channels 4 and 60, Service Electric Cable channel 51, Blue Ridge Cable channel 5 and broadcast channel 60. Lafayette will also be seen on the Patriot League Television Network at Colgate. Locally, that game will be broadcasted on WFMZ-TV 69. The Lafayette at Lehigh game on Feb. 20 can be seen on Service Electric TV-2.
BURKE'S WEEKLY JOURNAL: Brian Burke will chronicle the 2001-02 season through his weekly journal on www.GoLeopards.com. Burke is coming off his debut season of his weekly journal entries.
