Nov. 30, 2001
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Game Information
Match Up: Lafayette (2-3) at Columbia (3-2)
Tip: 7:30 p.m.
Site: New York, N.Y.
Arena: Levien Gymnasium (3,500)
Series: Lafayette leads, 22-9
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer
Television: None
SCOUTING COLUMBIA: The Lions come into the game with a 3-2 record in 2001-02. Columbia's three wins have been against Northeastern (66-54 on Nov. 16), Haverford (52-37 on Nov. 20) and Lehigh (53-47 on Nov. 27). Columbia's losses came at the hands of Marist (60-59) and Providence (68-54).
All five starters return from a 12-15 campaign in 2000-01. This season, senior forward Craig Austin is averaging 15.4 ppg to lead the offense. Senior guard Treg Duerksen (9.4), junior center Chris Weidemann (9.3) and senior forwards Mike McBrien (7.6) and Joe Case (7.2) are averaging above 7.0 points per game. Weidemann leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 boards per game.
Columbia is coached by Armond Hill who is in his seventh season as the Lions' head coach. Hill, a 1985 Princeton graduate, holds a 62-101 record.
THE STORY LINE: Lafayette opens the month of December on the road at Columbia. The Leopards are coming off an 86-80 home loss to Marist on Thursday. Columbia enters with a 3-2 record, last beating Lehigh 53-47.
LOOKING AHEAD: Lafayette is back in action on Wednesday at Drexel. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Leopards return to Kirby Sports Center one week from today, hosting Cornell at 3:15 p.m.
RECENT SUCCESS VS. COLUMBIA: Lafayette has won the last 11 meetings with Columbia. The winning streak began Dec. 6, 1988 with a 73-50 victory in Easton and continued through last season with a 60-50 win over the Lions on Nov. 29.
KUBERKA FILLING HOLE AT CENTER: Senior Mick Kuberka has been charged with holding down the center position in the Lafayette lineup. Prior to 2001-02, his strength was outside of the painted area, but this season he has taken his game inside. Kuberka is averaging 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds over the first five games. The 6-10 Kuberka has already set new career-highs for points (16), rebounds (8), blocks (4) and assists (3). He is averaging 25.4 minutes per game compared to 10.5 last season.
DOUBLE FIGURES: Guards Brian Burke and Justin DeBerry have scored in double figures in all of Lafayette's five games. DeBerry, whose playing time has increased dramatically in his second season, managed double figures in four games games last season. Burke, who missed 13 games due to injury in 2000-01, reached double figures in 11 of 15 games he played in.
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 97-80, including two 20-win seasons.
O'HANLON NEARING 100-WIN PLATEAU: Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon needs three wins to reach 100 victories for his career. O'Hanlon started the season with 95 wins and moved to 97 against Albany and St. Peter's. He has twice been named Patriot League Coach of the Year.
LAFAYETTE VS. THE IVY LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 176 games against the eight members of the Ivy League, and has a 69-107 (.394) record in those contests. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 19-16 (.543) versus the Ivy League. Lafayette is 10-3 vs. the Ivies the last three seasons with Penn accounting for all three losses. Lafayette went 3-1 against Ivy League competitors in 2000-01. This season will also face Cornell, Princeton and Penn in 2001-02. Lafayette vs. the Ivy League:
Brown 11-8 Cornell 8-5 Harvard 2-3 Princeton 14-39 Columbia 22-9 Dartmouth 3-2 Pennsylvania 3-32 Yale 6-9
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. This season, Lafayette has made 39 of 99 three-point attempts.
EVERYBODY NOW: It's not just Lafayette's guards who have fired up three-pointers in Fran O'Hanlon's seven seasons on the Hill. The Leopards' big men seem to have the green light on occasion when it fits into the rhythm of Lafayette's motion offense. Starting center Mick Kuberka has taken 11 three's this season after attempting a combined 70 (20-70) in his sophomore and junior seasons. Kuberka went 4-for-5 from long-range against Marist. Starting power forward Mike Farrell has taken four this season and made 6-of-24 in 2001-02.
BURKE SERVING UP A TASTY DISH: Senior Brian Burke is leading the team with 5.0 assists per game. Burke dished off for six assists versus Albany, seven against Penn State, five against Miami and five versus St. Peter's. The co-captain led the team in assists last season, despite missing two months of the season with a punctured lung.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: (Lafayette leads, 22-9) Tonight's game marks the 32nd meeting between Lafayette College and Columbia University. The last meeting between the two teams was just over a year ago on Nov. 29, 2000 in Easton. Lafayette secured a 60-50 victory. The last Columbia win came 13 years ago, a 64-63 decision on Dec. 9, 1987 at Columbia. The first series meeting dates back to the year after World War II ended. Columbia secured a 48-46 home win on Feb. 6, 1946.
FOUR-GUARD SET: Many teams employ a three-guard set, but few rarely play four guards on the floor at a time. Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon has been using combinations of Justin DeBerry, Brian Burke, Winston Davis, Kenny Grant, Ben Saxton and Reggie Guy along with power forward Mike Farrell or center Mick Kuberka. Offensively, it gives Lafayette better ballhandling in addition to quickness. With Grant in the lineup, DeBerry can move to shooting guard, his true position. Defensively, the Leopards cope by having their tallest guards, Davis (6-6), Burke (6-5) and Saxton (6-5), guard post players. SOPHOMORE STARTERS: Four of the players who have been in the Lafayette starting lineup are members of the sophomore class. Justin DeBerry is holding down the point guard position along with Winston Davis and Ben Saxton who have both started at shooting guard and Mike Farrell who has started every game at power forward. MORE ABOUT THE YOUTH OF AMERICA: Nine of the 14 players on Fran O'Hanlon's squad are either freshmen or sophomores. INJURY REPORT: Freshman Brad Anderson fractured his nose in practice and had to have surgery to reconstruct it. He has recently been cleared to practice with a face shield.
GEOGRAPHY FOR $300 PLEASE, ALEX: The 14 members of the Lafayette basketball team hail from eight states and three countries. In the Leopards' starting lineup, Justin DeBerry is from Arizona, Winston Davis and Mike Farrell from Florida, Mick Kuberka from New York and Brian Burke is from Pennsylvania. On the remainder of the roster, Minnesota (Rob Worthington), California (Andrew Pleick), New Jersey (Eric Mugavero) and Virginia (Jamie Hughes) are represented. Canada, often called the "51st state" by chauvinistic U.S. citizens, is home to Brad Anderson while Rob Dill resides in Germany.
ON THE RADIO: Today's game can be heard live on WEST-AM 1400, the 66th year of broadcasting Lafayette Athletics. Dick Hammer is in his 35th year of calling the play-by-play for Lafayette men's basketball.
PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League in the preseason coaches and sports information directors' poll. Lafayette, which was slotted to finish second in 2000-01 and ended tied for fifth, is looking for just the opposite to happen this season on College Hill.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 91 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1106-956 (.537) that spans back to the first season in 1900-01.
FROM THE LINE: Lafayette shot 73 percent from the free throw line as a team in 2000-01. This season, Lafayette is shooting 60 percent (22-35) from the stripe. Brian Burke, a career 88 percent free throw shooter, leads the Leopards this season with a 83 percent clip. Burke holds the Patriot League record for consecutive free throws with 49, a mark he set in 1999-00.
SENIOR C0-CAPTAINS: Seniors Brian Burke and Rob Worthington are serving as the team captains for the 2001-02 season. Burke is the top returning scorer for Lafayette, having averaged 14.0 points per game in 2000-01. Worthington is the team's top returning rebounder and started 32 games in his sophomore and junior seasons. Burke and Worthington were selected co-captains by head coach Fran O'Hanlon. The two have been roommates since their freshman years and are both English majors.
DAVIS, FARRELL SHINE IN SUNSHINE STATE: Tampa, Fla. native Winston Davis scored a career-high 15 points in his first-ever collegiate game in his home state of Florida. Davis went 5-6 from the floor and was a perfect 4-4 from three-point land vs. Miami. Not to be outdone, DeLand, Fla. native Mike Farrell scored a then-career-high 11 points and added five rebounds and a block.
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. His first journal debuted on Nov. 21 and subsequent journals will be posted intermittently.
DAWSON LEAVES TEAM: Junior guard Drew Dawson is no longer a member of the Lafayette basketball program. Dawson informed the coaching staff of his desire to leave the team, citing personal reasons. 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 on Feb. 7, 1998, with 3,174 fans.
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 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.
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.
