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GAME INFORMATION
Match Up: Lafayette (2-5) at Massachusetts (2-5)
Tip: 1:00 p.m. E.S.T.
Site: Springfield, Mass.
Arena: Springfield Civic Center (8,000)
Series: First Meeting
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer
THE STORY LINE: Lafayette has managed to post two back-to-back wins for the first time this season, coming off victories over Urinsus on Tuesday and St. Peter's on Thursday. Today's tilt with Massachusetts pits two 2-5 squads and is the Leopards' last game before breaking for the holidays.
DEFENSIVE DELIGHT: Lafayette's defense held the No. 2 scorer in the nation in check on Thursday at St. Peter's. The Leopards' Andrew Pleick, aided by frequent double teams, stifled freshman phenom Keydren Clark, who was averaging 29.3 ppg, to just 12 points and only two in the second half.
PLAYING UP: Lafayette has faced some formidable competition this season. The Leopards have played teams from the Pac-10 (Arizona St.), Atlantic 10 (La Salle), CAA (Drexel) and Ivy (Princeton). Lafayette faces its second Atlantic 10 opponent in Massachusetts.
PLEICK STEPS FORWARD: Point guard Andrew Pleick did it all for the Leopards at St. Peter's. In addition to his defensive effort, he ripped down a career-high 11 rebounds and doled out six assists.
REBOUNDING BY COMMITTEE: Five different players have led the team in rebounding over seven games. Mike Farrell (7.4 rpg) has been the team's top rebounder in three games, while centers Rob Dill and Jamie Hughes have each taken a turn. Winston Davis (5.4 rpg) is currently the Patriot League's top rebounding guard and he has led the team once. Fellow guard Andrew Pleick has also led the team in rebounding and is also contributing 5.1 rpg to the cause.
HOT SHOOTING: Lafayette recovered from a slow shooting start in the first half of Thursday's game at St. Peter's. The Leopards shot just 35 percent from the floor in the first half, but hit for 60 percent in the second half. The 60 percent performance was the team's best shooting half of the season by over eight percent.
COMING UP: Following the holiday break, Lafayette returns to action on Dec. 30. The Leopards host Albany at 7:30 p.m. at Kirby Sports Center. Lafayette then hosts Columbia on Jan. 2 to ring in 2003 before taking to the road for three games, the final two of which are conference action.
INJURY REPORT (presented by Asst. Athletic Trainer Stephanie Conley): Freshman forward Miran Omanovic injured his ankle in practice on Dec. 1 in Arizona. X-rays revealed no fractures, but he was diagnosed with a severe sprain and had also suffered bone bruises. Omanovic has not practiced since and will be out for a month before being re-evaluated. Sophomore guard Eric Mugavero, who was expected to see increased playing time this season, has been hobbled by severe lower back pain. He has been unable to practice since the season began and is out indefinitely.
ON THE SIDELINE: Head coach Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova, 1970) is in his eighth season as the Leopards' mentor. He has twice been named Patriot League Coach of the Year of Lafayette's non-scholarship program and lists two NCAA Tournament appearances and three Patriot League regular-season titles among his credentials. O'Hanlon's career record stands at 112-96, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS: The Minutemen enter today's contest with a 2-5 record and are coming off a 67-62 win over Florida International. UMass opened the season with losses to No. 22 Indiana and Utah before defeating Chaminade, 69-55, in the Maui Classic. The Minutemen then lost three straight to Central Conn. State, Boston College and No. 9 Connecticut. UMass led UConn 30-9 at the half, but could not hold on. Senior forward Jackie Rogers leads the UMass scoring attack with 10.7 ppg to go along with 5.7 rpg. Joining him in the frontcourt are senior Micah Brand (8.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and junior Raheim Lamb (5.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg). In the UMass backcourt is the team's second-leading scorer Anthony Andersen (10.1 ppg), who was named to the preseason All-Atlantic 10 squad. Junior guard Marcus Cox averages 6.0 points a game and freshman Michael Lasme, a preseason Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team selection, is contributing 7.6 points off the bench. UMass is coached by former Villanova head man Steve Lappas, who is in his second season. A 1977 graduate of CCNY, Lappas is 15-21 during his stint at UMass and is 245-193 overall.
100 AND RISING: Justin DeBerry's fourth and final three-pointer at St. Peter's on Thursday was the 100th in his career and his ninth in the last two games. He currently ranks ninth in career three-point field goals and needs nine more to surpass Mike Homer '00 for eighth place. Entering the season, DeBerry ranked sixth in career three-point percentage (.398). If he keeps on pace, DeBerry could move as high as second all-time, and would trail Tyson Whitfield '01 who had 271 career three-pointers.
DAVIS EMERGING AS A SCORER: In his junior season, Winston Davis has emerged as the Leopards' top scorer. He is averaging 14.7 points per game, contributing 16 at Binghamton, 18 at La Salle, 14 at Arizona State, 14 vs. Drexel, 12 vs. Princeton, 20 vs. Ursinus and nine at St. Peter's. He has led the Leopards in scoring in four games this season.
PATRIOT LEAGUE STATISTICS: Lafayette has several players ranked among the Patriot League leaders at this point in the season. Winston Davis (14.7 ppg) and Justin DeBerry (13.9 ppg) are ranked fifth and eighth, respectively, in scoring. Andrew Pleick is third in assists per game (4.4 apg). Fellow co-captain Mike Farrell is currently the second-best rebounder in the Patriot league with 7.4 rpg. Winston Davis sits third in the conference in free throw shooting (82.6%).
FARRELL GRABS CAREER HIGH REBOUNDS: Mike Farrell has been a constant performer in the Lafayette lineup this season and his rebounding is a reflection of it. The junior set a new career mark versus Drexel (12/3). He ripped down 14 rebounds, nine defensive and five of the offensive variety. His previous career high was nine, which he managed in the Leopards' first game of the season at Binghamton and once last season vs. Lehigh. He is averaging 7.4 rebounds per game.
DAWSON SETS CAREER BEST: Senior Drew Dawson turned in a career-night vs. Princeton (12/7). The frequent defensive sub off the Lafayette bench contributed a career-high eight points and passed off for two assists in 26 minutes. Dawson hit two three-pointers at crucial points in the game.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 92 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1122-971 (.536). Lafayette's first season of basketball was in 1900-01.
CO-CAPTAINS: Senior Andrew Pleick and junior Mike Farrell are serving as team captains for the 2002-03 season. Farrell is the first non-senior to serve as a captain since the 1997-98 season.
IN THE HOUSE THAT THE KIRBYS BUILT: Lafayette has enjoyed plenty of success in Kirby Sports Center. Since the building's inaugural season in 1973-74, the Leopards have posted a 255-110 record in 30 seasons. Twenty-three of those seasons have been winning campaigns. In 2001-02, Lafayette went 9-4 at Kirby. This season, Lafayette is 1-2, having beaten Ursinus while losing to Drexel and Princeton.
INTERNATIONAL FEEL: Lafayette has three players from foreign countries on the roster. Junior Rob Dill hails from Isernhagen, Germany. Freshman Andrei Capusan comes from Bucharest, Romania, home country of 2000 graduate Stefan Ciosici who was from Timisoara. Freshman Miran Omanovic is originally from Mostar, Bosnia. Both he and Capusan spent the 2001-02 academic year attending schools in the United States.
MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENDANCE PLEASE?: The Lafayette men's basketball program has led the Patriot League in home attendance the past five seasons. In 2001-02, Lafayette averaged 2,563 fans per home contest, welcoming nearly 300 more fans than any other school in the Patriot League.
PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette has been picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The poll, which is voted on by the conference coaches and men's basketball sports information directors, picked the Leopards to finish seventh in 2001-02 when Lafayette ended in a tie for third.
TOURNAMENT TIME?: The 2002-03 season marks the second in a row that Lafayette will not participate in an in-season tournament. Prior to the 2001-02 season, Lafayette had competed in an in-season tournament every season since 1993-94.
SHARP SHOOTERS: In 2001-02, Lafayette led the Patriot League in every shooting category, including field goal percentage (.464), free throw percentage (.747) and three-point shooting percentage (.358).
LAFAYETTE ATHLETICS ON THE WEB: The quickest and most comprehensive source for information on Lafayette athletics is the world wide web. Go to www.lafayette.edu and click on "Sports." The athletics site is continuously updated with gameday press releases, schedules and results, rosters, statistics, player features, photos and more. On gameday, you can listen to the radio broadcast of all of Lafayette's men's basketball games and watch a live stats feed of home games.
POWER FORWARD TRANSFERS TO LAFAYETTE: Sean Knitter, who played two seasons at the University of Delaware, will join the Lafayette men's basketball program for the 2003-04 season. NCAA rules require that he sit out one season after transferring. The 6-8, 260-pound forward played in 23 games in 2001-02 and averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game on a 14-16 squad. As a freshman, Knitter played in 27 games (3.3 pts., 1.6 reb.) on a 20-10 squad. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining when he joins the team.
FARRELL ON TARGET: Mike Farrell was the Leopards' most solid inside player in 2001-02 and his shooting was evidence of that. The 6-8 power forward finished second in the Patriot League in field goal percentage in 2001-02, shooting at a 57 percent clip. Farrell was 3-for-4 from the floor at Binghamton. This season Farrell is shooting 50 percent from the floor.
FARRELL ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: Mike Farrell is chronicling the 2002-03 season in his weekly journal on www.GoLeopards.com. Farrell runs down the season and gives insight into the life of a student-athlete.
POSSIBLE STARTERS?: Fran O'Hanlon used nine different starting lineups in 2001-02. Ten different players spent time in the opening five. This season, with a short bench, O'Hanlon has used just two starting lineups. (see chart to right)
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Twenty-three of Lafayette's games in 2001-02 were decided by 10 points or less. Three ended with a four-point margin, three were decided by three points and one by one point. This season, two of Lafayette's losses have been by less than 10 points, including one four-point loss.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the fifth-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 14 games to more than 9.1 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 appears on the Patriot League Television Network on Jan. 24 at Lehigh and on Feb. 7 vs. Colgate. Locally, those games will be broadcasted on WFMZ-TV 69. They will also be carried on DirecTV.
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. Hammer is joined by Carl Schumacher at home games and select road contest and by either Scott Morse (Lafayette Director of Athletic Communications) or Phil LaBella (Lafayette Sports Information Coordinator) on the road.
