Jan. 20, 2003
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GAME INFORMATION
Match Up: Lafayette (7-8) vs. Penn (6-4)
Tip: 7:30 p.m. E.S.T.
Site: Easton, Pa.
Arena: Kirby Sports Center (3,500)
Series: Pennsylvania leads, 33-3
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer, Carl Schumacher
TV: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4, WBPH-60)
Commentators: Gary Laubach, John Leone, Dan Mowdy
THE STORY LINE: Coming off a six-point loss to Patriot League preseason favorite Holy Cross on Saturday, Lafayette hosts Penn for the Leopards' final non-conference game of the season. The Ivy League favorite comes to Kirby Sports Center with a 6-4 record, fresh off a 98-54 pounding of Monmouth.
LAFAYETTE-PENN TIES: Before coming to College Hill, Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon spent six seasons as an assistant coach on Fran Dunphy's staff at Penn. Lafayette assistant coach John Krikorian spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Penn after graduating from Penn in 1996.
DILL ON THE BLOCK: Rob Dill posted a career-best when he swatted away five shots against Holy Cross on Saturday. More impressive than the total was the competition he was facing, the biggest front line in the conference. Holy Cross features a 6-10 center and 6-8 power forward in the starting lineup and brings a 6-11 center and a 7-6 center off the bench.
THE HALF OF IT: Getting a strong start from the opening tap has been a key in Lafayette wins in 2002-03. Lafayette is 5-1 when leading at halftime, the lone loss coming against Holy Cross on Jan. 18 after holding a five-point lead at the intermission.
SHOOTING THE BALL: Lafayette's strong shooting effort against Holy Cross kept the Leopards in the game. The Leopards posted their most accurate night from behind the arc this season with a 61.5 percent (8-13) clip. Lafayette managed its second-best game from the floor vs. Holy Cross at 56.8 percent, despite taking a season-low 44 shots.
ACCURATE THREATS: Lafayette's post players have been deadly accurate this season. Starting center Rob Dill is shooting 59 percent (63-106) from the floor and leads the Patriot League in that statistical category. Power forward Mike Farrell is shooting 57 percent (58-101) and ranks second in the league in field goal percentage.
COMING UP: Lafayette gets back down to Patriot League play on Friday, traveling to Lehigh for a 9 p.m. tip off. The game is the first Patriot League Television Network game of the season and can be seen on DirecTV Channel 611 and locally on WFMZ-69. The Leopards get a whole day off, in the league's new "Ivy League" scheduling format, before venturing across I-80 to face Bucknell on Superbowl Sunday at 3:15 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 117-99, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
ABOUT PENN: Ivy League preseason favorite Penn enters tonight's contest with a 6-4 overall record. The Quakers are riding a three-game winning streak that includes victories over American (66-55), USC (99-61) and most recently Monmouth (98-54). Penn features one of if not the most athletic frontcourts the Leopards face this season. Senior forward Ugonna Onyekwe leads the Penn attack with 15.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Onyekwe was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2001-02. Senior forward Koko Archibong is averaging 11.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg after earning the Big 5's Most Improved Player of the Year award last season.
Senior guard Andrew Toole spearheads the backcourt attack, averaging 12.2 ppg and 3.3 rpg. Junior guard Jeff Schiffner chips in with 10.3 ppg and connects on 45 percent of his three-point attempts. Sophomore Tim Begley (5.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and senior David Klatsky (7.1 ppg, 3.4 apg) also see significant time in the Penn backcourt.
Penn is coached by Fran Dunphy (La Salle '70) who is in his 14th season at the helm of the Quakers. His career record stands at 237-143.
LAFAYETTE VS. THE IVY LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 183 games against the eight members of the Ivy League, and has a 71-112 (.388) record in those contests. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 21-20 (.512) versus the Ivy League. Lafayette went 1-3 against Ivy League competitors in 2001-02. This season, Lafayette plays four games against Ancient Eight foes, facing Princeton (89-75 L), Columbia (61-52 W), Cornell (80-73 L) and Penn (Jan. 21).
Brown 11-8; Columbia 23-10; Cornell 9-6; Dartmouth 3-2; Harvard 2-3; Princeton 14-41; Pennsylvania 3-33; Yale 6-9
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: This is Lafayette's 37th all-time meeting with Penn in the Leopards' 93 seasons of basketball. The Leopards are 3-33 all-time versus the Quakers (see series breakdown above)...Lafayette and Penn have played each other every season since 1988-89. Penn has won the last five meetings, including last year's 73-66 decision at the Palestra (see box score to left). The first series meeting was Feb. 3, 1917, as the two teams squared off in Easton in a game the Quakers won by a touchdown 23-17.
PATRIOT LEAGUE STATISTICS: Lafayette has six players who are ranked among the Patriot League's top 10 in statistical categories.
Scoring
DeBerry 3rd 16.1 ppg
Davis 5th 14.6 ppg
Rebounding
Farrell 4th 6.8 rpg
Dill 9th 5.5 rpg
Assists
Pleick 2nd 4.8 apg
Field Goal %
Dill 1st 59.4%
Farrell 2nd 57.4%
Free Throw %
Davis 8th 67.8
3-PT FG Per Game
DeBerry 2nd 2.8
Davis 5th 2.1
3-PT FG%
DeBerry 5th 40.6
Blocked Shots
Dill 2nd 1.6 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 continues his ascent up the career three-point charts at Lafayette. He dialed up long distance four times vs. Holy Cross to run his career total to 127. He needs just one trifecta to pass Brian Burke '02 and move into sole possession of sixth place and two three-pointers to pass Andy Wescoe '90 who has 128 career three's. 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 10.2 of the Leopards' 69.6 points per game. Lafayette did not get any points off the bench in wins over Massachusetts and Albany or in its loss to Holy Cross. For the season, the Lafayette starters have averaged 30.6 minutes per game, while the bench players have averaged 8.4 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 nine 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 seven 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 14.6 ppg and he has led the Leopards in scoring in four games this 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 258-111 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, Princeton and Holy Cross.
REBOUNDING BY COMMITTEE: Five different players have led the team in rebounding over 15 games. Mike Farrell (6.8 rpg) and Rob Dill (5.5 rpg) have each been the team's top rebounder five times, Jamie Hughes (3.1 rpg) twice and Andrei Capusan (2.3 rpg) once. In the backcourt, Andrew Pleick (3.9 rpg) has led the team in rebounding twice, while Winston Davis (5.1 rpg) has been the team's top rebounder once.
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. He will likely miss the rest of the season. 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.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS FOR TURNOVERS (1/11): Against Colgate, the bad news was that Lafayette committed nine first-half turnovers. The good news, however, came in the second half when Lafayette did not hand it over at all in the final 20 minutes. The Leopards finished that game with a season-low nine turnovers.
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.
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.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 92 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1127-974 (.536). Lafayette's first season of basketball was in 1900-01.
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.
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 Phil LaBella (Lafayette Sports Information Coordinator) on the road.
