Jan. 16, 2003
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GAME INFORMATION
Match Up: Lafayette (7-7, 1-1) vs. Holy Cross (11-3, 2-0)
Tip: 3:15 p.m. E.S.T.
Site: Easton, Pa.
Arena: Kirby Sports Center (3,500)
Series: Holy Cross leads, 18-11
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer, Carl Schumacher
TV: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4, WBPH-60)
Commentators: Gary Laubach, John Feinstein, Dan Mowdy
THE STORY LINE: After a 73-59 win over Army on Wednesday, the Leopards are all even at 7-7 overall, 1-1 in conference play. Patriot League preseason favorite Holy Cross comes into Kirby Sports Center on Saturday with an 11-3 overall record, 2-0 in league play. Holy Cross is coming off an 86-43 drilling of Colgate in which the Crusaders shot 59 percent and outrebounded Colgate 38-17.
TURNOVERS: Lafayette has been taking care of the ball in its last two games. The Leopards committed just 10 turnovers, five in each half, in their win at Army. Against Colgate, Lafayette turned the ball over nine times in the first half, but did not hand it over at all in the final 20 minutes. The Leopards finished that game with a season-low nine turnovers.
THE HALF OF IT: Getting a strong start from the opening tap has been a key in Lafayette wins in 2002-03. Lafayette is 5-0 when leading at halftime.
ANDREI'S ADDITION: Andrei Capusan has come on as of late for the Leopards. He turned in perhaps his best overall game at Army on Wednesday. Capusan netted 11 points and ripped down nine rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. He has seen increased playing time as the season has progressed, often coming in as a defensive substitution.
FROM THE LINE: Lafayette made 28 of its 39 free throws at Army on Wednesday, both season-high marks. Lafayette is shooting 71 percent from the line in the 2002-03 season.
FEINSTEIN ON THE AIR: John Feinstein, the best-selling author who penned The Last Amateurs about Patriot League basketball, will be the color commentator for today's Lafayette Sports Network game vs. Holy Cross. Feinstein will also help RCN's Gary Laubach call the Bucknell game on Feb. 21. In addition, Feinstein is serving as the color commentator on the eight Patriot League Television Network broadcasts.
ACCURATE THREATS: Lafayette's post players have been deadly accurate this season. Starting center Rob Dill is shooting at a 61 percent (60-98) clip and leads the Patriot League in that statistical category. Power forward Mike Farrell is shooting 56 percent (52-93) and ranks fifth in the league in field goal percentage.
ALL-TIME VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 533 games against the seven members of the Patriot League, and has a 307-226 record in all games against them. In Patriot League play, Lafayette is 68-88 in the regular-season and 9-10 in the Patriot League Tournament. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 53-35 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, 8-6 in 2001-02 and 1-1 this season.
American 13-10; Colgate 30-37; Lehigh 130-66; Army 25-18; Holy Cross 11-18; Navy 17-32; Bucknell 81-47
COMING UP: Lafayette welcomes the Ivy League's best for the final non-conference game of the season when Penn comes to town on Tuesday. The Quakers recently traveled to California and pounded USC 97-56. The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m.
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 117-98, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
ABOUT HOLY CROSS: Holy Cross enters this afternoon's contest with an 11-3 mark, 2-0 in the Patriot League. The Patriot League preseason favorite Crusaders have secured conference victories over Army (61-45) and Colgate (86-43). Senior forward Tim Szatko is one of four players who average double figures for the Crusaders, scoring 12.3 points per game to go along with 6.5 rebounds. A two-time All-Patriot League player, Szatko was voted the league's preseason Player of the Year. Senior center Patrick Whearty (11.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg) joins Szatko in the frontcourt. In the backcourt, senior guard Brian Wilson leads the way with 11.8 ppg and 2.0 apg. Junior point guard Jave Meade contributes 9.7 ppg and a league-leading 6.4 apg. Sophomore Greg Kinsey (5.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg) has started 11 games at the guard position. Two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Kevin Hamilton adds 4.5 ppg and 2.5 rpg off the bench. Holy Cross is coached by Ralph Willard (Holy Cross '67) who is in his fourth season with the Crusaders and 13th as a collegiate head coach. He has compiled a record of 61-44 during his tenure at Holy Cross.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: This is Lafayette's 30th all-time meeting with Holy Cross in the Leopards' 93 seasons of basketball. The Leopards are 11-18 all-time versus the Crusaders...Lafayette has won nine out of the last 11 meetings between the schools, but the two schools have split the last four meetings. The first series meeting was Feb. 4, 1947, as the two teams squared off in Boston in a game that Holy Cross won 50-40.
PATRIOT LEAGUE STATISTICS: Lafayette has six players who are ranked among the Patriot League's top 10 in statistical categories.
Scoring DeBerry 4th 15.8 ppg Davis 5th 14.3 ppg
Rebounding Farrell 5th 6.8 rpg Dill 8th 5.6 rpg
Assists Pleick 2nd 4.8 apg
Field Goal % Dill 1st 61.2% Farrell 4th 55.9%
Free Throw % Davis 6th 70.9
3-PT FG Per Game DeBerry 3rd 2.8 Davis 7th 1.9 3-PT FG% DeBerry 7th 39.8
Blocked Shots Dill 2nd 1.4 bpg Hughes 3rd 1.1 bpg Davis 9th 0.7 bpg
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 and Massachusetts), CAA (Drexel) and the Ivy League (Princeton).
MOVIN' ON UP: Justin DeBerry's fourth three-pointer at St. Peter's on Dec. 19 was the 100th in his career. He has hit 23 more since and recently passed Larry Spigner '93 to move into seventh place in career three-point field goals with 123. DeBerry needs five more three-pointers to move him into sole possession of sixth place ahead of Brian Burke '02 who has 127. 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 only Tyson Whitfield '01 who had 271 career three-pointers.
PLEICK'S PASSING: Senior point guard Andrew Pleick leads the team and is second in the Patriot League in assists per game. Pleick is averaging 4.8 assists per game and has established new career highs three times this season. His best efforts were nine-assist performances vs. Cornell and Centenary.
SHORT BENCH: In 2002-03, head coach Fran O'Hanlon hasn't had the luxury of a deep bench that he has had in past seasons. The Lafayette bench is averaging just 11.1 of the Leopards' 69.6 points per game. Lafayette did not get any points off the bench in wins over Massachusetts and Albany. For the season, the Lafayette starters have averaged 30.2 minutes per game, while the bench players have averaged 8.8 minutes per game.
FARRELL POUNDING THE BOARDS: Mike Farrell has been doing the bulk of the work on the boards for Lafayette. He has managed to collect seven or more rebounds on eight different occasions this season. The junior set a new career mark versus Drexel (12/3) when he ripped down 14 rebounds, nine defensive and five of the offensive variety. In his last game, Farrell grabbed 11 rebounds and he is currently averaging 6.8 rebounds per game.
DAVIS A SCORING THREAT IN HIS JUNIOR SEASON: Winston Davis has emerged as one of the Leopards' top scorers. After averaging just 4.2 ppg in 2001-02, Davis is now contributing 14.3 ppg and he has led the Leopards in scoring in four games this season.
INJURY REPORT (presented by 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 is wearing a walking boot and is still on crutches. 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.
TRANSITIVE PROPERTY OF BASKETBALL: Beat writers and SIDs often spend time extrapolating unrealistic, but interesting, results from potential matchups based on games played by common opponents. In basketball, like in that painful division of mathematics called Geometry, if A=B and B=C, then A=C. So in the interest of honing math skills: Lafayette beat UMass and UMass beat then No. 24 ranked NC State, then by the transitive property of basketball, Lafayette would come out on top in a matchup vs. NC State. Similarly, but in a more confusing fashion, Lafayette should win potential matchups with Kansas, North Carolina and Stanford. Lafayette beat St. Peter's which beat Manhattan two days later. Manhattan then beat Iona which beat North Carolina, which beat both Kansas and Stanford.
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 258-110 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 4-2, having beaten Albany, Ursinus, Columbia and Centenary while losing to Drexel and Princeton.
REBOUNDING BY COMMITTEE: Five different players have led the team in rebounding over 14 games. Mike Farrell (6.8 rpg) and Rob Dill (5.6 rpg) have each been the team's top rebounder four times, Jamie Hughes (3.3 rpg) twice and Andrei Capusan (2.4 rpg) once. In the backcourt, Andrew Pleick (4.0 rpg) has led the team in rebounding twice, while Winston Davis (5.0 rpg) has been the team's top rebounder once.
A NEAR RECORD-BREAKING WIN (1/7): Lafayette's 55-point win over Centenary was the second largest margin of victory in Lafayette history, behind a 57-point defeat of Swarthmore on Dec. 10, 1997. The game also marked the first time since Jan. 17, 1996 that Lafayette had six players score in double digits.
BENCH ABBERATION (1/7): Lafayette received 53 points off the bench vs. Centenary, a departure from the norm caused by a runaway game. Andrei Capusan contributed 17 points followed by Jamie Hughes (15), Chris Saunders (12) and Pat Betley (9). The Lafayette starters played less than half (89) of the 200 minutes 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 1127-973 (.536). Lafayette's first season of basketball was in 1900-01.
DOUBLE FIGURES FOR ALL FIVE (12/30): Lafayette's starting five of Mike Farrell, Rob Dill, Justin DeBerry, Andrew Pleick and Winston Davis all managed to score in double figures in Lafayette's 83-75 win over Albany on Dec. 30. It was the first time since Feb. 7, 1998 at Bucknell that Lafayette managed the feat.
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.
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.
A HELPING HAND (12/30): Lafayette dished out a season-high 23 assists against Albany, topping its previous best by three. The Leopards had 13 assists in the first half for their 17 field goals. The crisp passing led to easy buckets for Lafayette in the opening session, as 32 of Lafayette's 37 points came in the paint.
DILL TURNS IN CAREER NIGHT (12/30): Junior center Rob Dill had a career night against Albany, scoring 24 points while grabbing 15 rebounds for the Leopards' first double-double performance of the season. It was also the first 15+ rebounding performance for a Lafayette player since Dec. 6, 2000. Dill was nearly unstoppable in the first 20 minutes when he scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
DeBERRY PLAYER OF THE WEEK (12/23): Justin DeBerry was named Patriot League Player of the Week for Dec. 23. DeBerry won the award for the first time in his career after averaging 20.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals in three Lafayette victories. He registered a game-high 20-point performance in the Leopards' win over Massachusetts. He hit four three-pointers, dished off five assists and did not commit a turnover in 38 minutes. DeBerry had 19 points in a 64-53 road win vs. St. Peter's and scored a career-high 22 points in an 87-70 home victory over Ursinus. For the week, DeBerry shot slightly better from three-point land (13-for-28, 46.4%) than his overall field goal percentage (22-for-48, 45.8%).
DEFENSIVE DELIGHT (12/19): Lafayette's defense held the then No. 2 scorer in the nation in check at St. Peter's on Dec. 19. 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. Pleick did more than play defense, as he ripped down a career-high 11 rebounds and doled out six assists.
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.
DAWSON SETS CAREER BEST (12/7): Senior Drew Dawson turned in a career-night vs. Princeton. 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.
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.
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. This season, Farrell is shooting 58 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.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the fifth-straight season, Lafayette features the most expansive television package in the Patriot League. The Leopards have 13 games televised with the possible addition of three more television contests in the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will air 10 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 contests and by either Scott Morse (Lafayette Director of Athletic Communications) or Phil LaBella (Lafayette Sports Information Coordinator) on the road.
