Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Game Information
Match Up: Lafayette (11-11, 5-4) vs. American (13-9, 7-2)
Tip: 3:15 p.m.
Site: Easton, Pa.
Arena: Kirby Sports Center (3,500)
Series: Lafayette leads, 12-9
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer, Carl Schumacher
Television: Lafayette Sports Network
Commentators: Gary Laubach, John Leone, Dan Mowdy
THE STORY LINE: Lafayette (11-11, 5-4) returns to the friendly confines of Kirby Sports Center for four straight home games, all against conference foes. The Leopards welcome first-place American (13-9, 7-2) which has won three straight games and five out of its last six contests.
NEXT UP: Lafayette hosts Army on Wednesday, as the Leopards look to avenge a 13-point loss to the Black Knights on Jan. 6.
THE LEAGUE STANDINGS: Lafayette is tied with Bucknell for third place in the Patriot League standings. The Leopards are 5-4 behind American (7-2) and Holy Cross (6-3), having beaten each of those teams once this season.
BURKE FROM THE LINE: Brian Burke leads the Patriot League and is 13th in the nation in free throw percentage at 90.2 percent (101-112). Burke, who owns the Patriot League record with 49 consecutive free throws, put together a streak of 34 earlier this season. Burke is Lafayette's career free throw percentage leader at 88.9 percent (262-295). He needs 300 makes to be included among the Patriot League career free throw leaders.
20+ ASSISTS: Lafayette dished out 20 assists on 24 baskets at Holy Cross, the third time this season Lafayette has eclipsed the 20-assist plateau. Previously, the Leopards passed off for 23 at Navy (Jan. 23) and 24 at Drexel (Dec. 5).
CAREER HIGHS AT HOLY CROSS: Justin DeBerry and Andrew Pleick each set new career highs at Holy Cross on Feb. 6. DeBerry dished out a career-best eight assists. Pleick contributed a career-topping eight rebounds.
FARRELL ON TARGET: Mike Farrell is leading the Patriot League in field goal percentage, shooting 56.7 through 22 games. Farrell has scored in double figures in 10 games and is currently third on the team in scoring with 9.6 points per game.
AMERICAN: The Eagles come in with a 13-9 record in 2001-02. American is at the top of the Patriot League standings with a 7-2 mark. The Eagles' only league losses came to Lafayette and Holy Cross.
American posted a 7-20 record in 2000-01 and two starters return from that squad. American picked up two junior college transfers in the offseason in starter Glenn Stokes and reserve Nick Boyd to run the program's total to four JUCO players, a rarity among Patriot League programs.
This season senior center Patrick Doctor leads the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg). Guard Steven Miles is also managing double figures at 11.8 ppg. Stokes (guard), Keith Gray (forward) and Vladimir Buscaglia (forward) round out the starting lineup.
American is coached by Jeff Jones who is in his second season with the Eagles. Jones, a 1982 Virginia graduate, holds a 20-28 record at American.
A FRUITFUL FEBRUARY?: Fran O'Hanlon's teams always seem to hit their stride in the month of February. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 32-12 in February. Lafayette was 5-3 last season with wins over Bucknell, Navy, Albany, Stony Brook and Army and losses to Lehigh, Holy Cross and Colgate. Lafayette was 8-1 in 1999-00, and the Leopards' only loss was at Navy. In 1998-99, the Leopards went 7-1 with their lone February loss coming in a one-point decision at Colgate. In 1997-98, the Leopards were 5-0 in February to close out the regular season. This season, Lafayette faces all seven conference schools in February and is 1-1 so far.
NATIONAL NUMBERS: Lafayette is currently leading the Patriot League in free throw shooting at 74.7 percent and ranks 24th in the nation...Lafayette's season-best 68 percent shooting night at Navy is the 13th best team shooting performance in the nation this season...Lafayette also ranks fourth in the nation for three-pointers in a single game, hitting a school-record 18 three's vs. Howard on Dec. 30.
BURKE IN THE RECORDBOOKS: In addition to his record-setting free throw shooting, Brian Burke is leaving an indelible impression elsewhere in the Lafayette recordbooks. He currently has 288 assists, supplanting Ron Reynolds '87 for 10th place all time. His 112 career three-pointers leave him in seventh place all-time, needing just six to move into the top five all-time.
POSSIBLE STARTERS?: Fran O'Hanlon has used eight different starting lineups this season. The only player who has started every game is power forward Mike Farrell. Nine different players have spent time in opening five.
FARRELL DOING THE GLASSWORK: Forward Mike Farrell is taking the rebounding duties upon himself. He is averaging 5.0 rebounds per game this season, twice setting new career highs, including nine vs. Colgate (Jan. 26).
LEAGUE STATS: Lafayette currently ranks in the top three in 13 Patriot League statistical categories through Feb. 1 games.
STATS RANK OUTPUT STATS RANK OUTPUT Assists (per game) 2nd 15.18 Blocks (per game) 1st 3.50 Assist/Turn. Ratio 2nd 0.98 FG % 1st 46.9 Scoring Offense 3rd 71.7 FG% Defense 3rd 42.1 Scoring Margin 1st +2.0 3FG Made (per game) 1st 7.50 Free Throw % 1st 74.7 3FG % 1st 36.3 Defensive Rebounds 3rd 23.3 3FG % Defense 2nd 32.3 Steals (per game) 2nd 8.00
THE COACH: Head coach Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova '70) is in his seventh season at Lafayette. 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 106-88, including two 20-win seasons.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Seventeen of Lafayette's games have been decided by 10 points or less. Three have ended with a four-point margin, one was decided by three points and one by one point. The Leopards' loss at Holy Cross was a six-point margin. GET THAT SHOT OUT OF HERE: Lafayette continues to lead the Patriot League in blocked shots with 3.5 per game. Lafayette swatted away a season-high nine shots vs. Holy Cross (1/12). FROM THE LINE: Lafayette is shooting 74.7 percent (334-447) from the stripe to lead the Patriot League and rank 24th in the nation. Brian Burke, a career 89 percent free throw shooter, leads the Leopards this season at 90 percent.
YOUR ATTENDANCE PLEASE: Lafayette is again leading the Patriot League in attendance with an average of 2,390 fans taking in each home game at Kirby Sports Center. It's nothing new for the Leopards who have led the league in attendance the past four seasons. Lafayette averaged 2,508 fans in 2000-01, 2,474 in 1999-00, 2,864 in 1998-99 and 2,045 in 1997-98.
ALL-TIME VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 524 games against the seven members of the Patriot League, and has a 301-222 record in all games against them. In Patriot League play, Lafayette is 64-85 in the regular-season and 8-9 in the Patriot League Tournament. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 49-32 in Patriot League regular-season play. Lafayette was 10-2 in 1997-98 and 1998-99, 11-1 in 1999-00, 4-8 in 2000-01 and is 5-4 this season.
American 12-9 Colgate 29-35 Lehigh 129-66 Army 24-17 Holy Cross 11-18 Navy 16-32 Bucknell 81-47
INJURY REPORT: Head coach Fran O'Hanlon expects to have his full complement of 14 players available for tonight's game.
LAFAYETTE OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS: Lafayette has outshot its opponent in 17 of 22 games this season. The Leopards are shooting 47 percent from the floor compared to their opponents' 42 percent. Lafayette has shot above 50 percent in seven games, 60 percent in two games including a season-high 68 percent at Navy.
STEPPIN' UP: Senior center Mick Kuberka has stepped into the role of a starter this season. He went from averaging 10.5 minutes per game last season to 22.6 mpg this season. His numbers have drastically improved and he is posting 9.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg. He has set new career-highs for points (21), rebounds (9), blocks (4) and assists (3).
...AND OUT: Kuberka has the green light to launch an occasional three-pointer. He has taken 59 three's this season, making 26. He leads the Patriot League in three-point shooting percentage at 44.1.
TWO FOR THREE FOR FOUR: Mick Kuberka and Ben Saxton are the only players on the Lafayette squad to have hit for four or more three-pointers on three different occasions this season. Kuberka has managed it four times and Saxton three.
THREE FOR FIVE: Lafayette has three of the top five three-point shooters in the league. Mick Kuberka is first (44.1), Ben Saxton fourth (41.7) and Justin DeBerry fifth (40.5) .
SAXTON HELPING WITH THE BOARDS: Sophomore guard Ben Saxton has also been doing his part on the glass. Saxton is the Leopards' top rebounding perimeter player with 3.3 rebounds per game and ranks third on the team behind post players Mike Farrell and Mick Kuberka. Saxton grabbed a career-high nine rebounds at Princeton on Dec. 21.
BURKE SERVING UP A TASTY DISH: Senior Brian Burke is leading the team with 4.9 assists per game. Burke dished off for a career-high 11 assists at Navy on Jan. 23 and 10 at Drexel on Dec. 5. The co-captain led the team in assists last season, despite missing two months of the season with a punctured lung.
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 shooting guard position along with Ben Saxton and Winston Davis who have both started at shooting guard and Mike Farrell who has started every game at power forward. Nine of the 14 players on the Lafayette squad are freshmen or sophomores. Freshman point guard Kenny Grant has started nine games.
LETTING IT FLY: 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 165 of 454 three-point attempts (36 percent).
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 251-108 record in 29 seasons. Twenty-two of those seasons have been winning campaigns. This season, Lafayette is 6-3 with wins over St. Peter's, Cornell, Scranton, Howard, Holy Cross and Bucknell and losses to Marist, Rider and Colgate.
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, Andrew Pleick and Reggie Guy along with forward Mike Farrell or center Mick Kuberka. With Grant or Guy in the lineup, DeBerry moves 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.
LINE CHANGE: For those seeing Lafayette basketball for the first time, Fran O'Hanlon's substitution patterns may more closely resemble hockey than basketball. O'Hanlon frequently substitutes three or four players at a time, often looking for an advantage in offensive and defensive matchups. The frequent substitutions also force opposing coaches and players to be constantly aware of personnel changes.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 92 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1116-963 (.537) that spans back to the first season in 1900-01.
DEEP INTO THE BENCH: Fran O'Hanlon has always gone fairly deep into his bench in his tenure at Lafayette. This season is no exception, as 11 players have participated in every game including Andrew Pleick who has played in every game since the second semester when he became eligible following a transfer.
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 Americans, is home to Brad Anderson. 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. Hammer is joined by Carl Schumacher at home games and by either Scott Morse (Lafayette Director of Athletic Communications) or Phil LaBella (Lafayette Sports Information Coordinator) on the road.
BURKE'S WEEKLY JOURNAL: Brian Burke is chronicling the 2001-02 season through his weekly journal on www.GoLeopards.com. He is in his second season of writing journals and his latest contributions are posted intermittently on the web.
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.
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.
PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League in the preseason coaches and sports information directors' poll. Lafayette was slotted to finish second in 2000-01 and ended tied for fifth.
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.
