Jan. 28, 2003
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Friday Game Information
Match Up: Lafayette (7-11, 1-4) vs. American (8-10, 3-2)
Tip: 7:30 p.m. E.S.T.
Site: Easton, Pa.
Arena: Kirby Sports Center (3,500)
Series: Lafayette leads, 13-10
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
Sunday Game Information
Match Up: Lafayette vs. Navy
Tip: 3:15 p.m. E.S.T.
Site: Easton, Pa.
Arena: Kirby Sports Center (3,500)
Series: Navy leads, 32-17
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: It's the second weekend of conference play using the time-honored Ivy League format of Friday and Sunday contests. American comes to Kirby on Friday and Navy visits on Sunday.
The Leopards are 7-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Lafayette has lost four straight, including an 85-73 loss at Lehigh on Jan. 24 and a 68-48 loss at Bucknell on Superbowl Sunday.
American is 8-10 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The Eagles have won two straight league games, beating Colgate 58-55 on Friday and Holy Cross 72-49 on Sunday, both home victories.
Navy enters the weekend 5-13, 1-4 and plays at Army on Friday. The Mids are coming off losses to Holy Cross (76-61) and Colgate (53-48) last weekend.
IRON MIKE HITS 75: Despite having to deal with the daily physical ups and downs caused by diabetes, junior forward Mike Farrell has never missed a game in his three seasons on College Hill. Farrell played in 28 games and started four as a freshman, played in 29 games and started 28 as a sophomore and has started all 18 games in this, his junior season. His last game was his 75th straight.
DOUBLING UP ON THE BOARDS: For the first time in two years, Lafayette had two players register double figures in rebounding, as Mike Farrell pulled and Rob Dill pulled down 11 and 10, respectively at Lehigh. Lafayette last accomplished the feat on Jan. 27, 2001 when Frank Barr grabbed 12 and Tyson Whitfield 10.
THE STARTING FIVE: The Lafayette starting five has been on the floor significantly more than in recent seasons, playing an average of 31 minutes per game and 32 mpg in league play. Justin DeBerry, Winston Davis, Andrew Pleick, and Mike Farrell have started all 18 games. Center Rob Dill has started all but two games.
COMING UP: After hosting American on Friday at 7:30 p.m., the Leopards will get back to it on Sunday, welcoming Navy at 3:15 p.m. Lafayette remains at home to begin round two of Patriot League play on Feb. 7 at 9 p.m. in the Patriot League TV Game of the Week. The Leopards look to avenge a two-point road loss to Colgate on Jan. 11.
BOMBING AWAY UNDER O'HANLON: Perimeter shooting, specifically from three-point land, has been a hallmark of Fran O'Hanlon's offenses. O'Hanlon squads have hit at least one three-pointer in every one of O'Hanlon's 219 games. In O'Hanlon's first season, Lafayette connected for 201 three-pointers, surpassing the previous team record by 54 three's. Lafayette has since eclipsed the 200-three-pointer plateau in all but one of his eight seasons. The Leopards have set three new season marks, with the top one coming in 1999-00 when Lafayette dialed up long distance 249 times.
ACCURATE THREATS: Lafayette's post players have been deadly accurate this season. Starting center Rob Dill is shooting 57 percent (77-135) from the floor and is third in the Patriot League in that statistical category. Power forward Mike Farrell is shooting 54 percent (61-114) and ranks seventh in field goal percentage.
MOVIN' ON UP: Justin DeBerry continues his ascent up the career three-point charts at Lafayette. He currently has 130 career three's and recently passed Brian Burke '02 (127) and Andy Wescoe '90 (128) to move into fifth place all-time at Lafayette and 20th all-time in the Patriot League. Next on the college list is Craig Kowadla '96 with 147 career threes. 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.
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.
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 117-102, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
ABOUT AMERICAN: American enters tonight's contest with an 8-10 overall record and 3-2 mark in Patriot League play. The Eagles are coming off a 72-49 upset over league preseason favorite Holy Cross on Sunday. American has also defeated Navy (70-53) and Colgate (58-55) while losing to Bucknell (63-52) and Lehigh (57-54).
The Eagles get their major scoring contributions out of their three-guard backcourt. Seniors Glenn Stokes (15.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and Steven Miles (14.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) pose a potent 1-2 threat. Stokes, a preseason All-League pick, ranks fourth in the league in scoring, while Miles is 10th in rebounding.
Junior Andres Rodrigues handles the point guard duties and is dishing off 4.5 assists per game to rank second in the league. Junior forward Jernavis Draughn leads the scoring in the froncourt, averaging 8.2 points to go along with 4.9 rebounds per game. Junior Matej Cresnik (7.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg) occupies the other forward spot.
American is coached by Jeff Jones (Virginia '82) who is in his third season with the Eagles. He has compiled a 33-42 record during his time at American. Jones also spent eight seasons as the head coach at the University of Virginia, where he recorded a 146-104 mark.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: This is Lafayette's 24th all-time meeting with American in the Leopards' 93 seasons of basketball and just the fourth Patriot League meeting between the two. The Leopards are 13-10 all-time versus the Eagles. Lafayette won both regular season meetings in American's first season of Patriot League competition in 2001-02. The Leopards won 57-52 on the road and 77-74 at home. American exacted its revenge in the Patriot League Tournament, winning 66-58 in the semifinals. The first series meeting was Feb. 2, 1962, as the two teams squared off in Washington in a game that American won 84-72. (See complete series breakdown above).
ABOUT NAVY: Navy entered the weekend with a 5-13 overall mark and 1-4 record in Patriot League play. The Mids battled on the road against archrival Army on Friday. Going into the weekend, Navy's lone Patriot League victory came over Bucknell (66-53) with losses to Lehigh (76-59), American (70-53), Holy Cross (76-61) and Colgate (53-48).
Navy features a senior-laden frontcourt led by forward Scott Long. Long is averaging 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Joining Long at forward is Francis Ebong, who averages 10.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg. Senior Mitch Moore mans the middle and contributes 6.3 ppg to go along with 3.8 rpg.
In the backcourt, senior guard Jason Jeanpierre averages 10.9 ppg and 3.1 apg. He also leads the team with 32 steals. Junior Jason Fernandez has started the last three games for the Midshipmen and is averaging 1.9 ppg.
Navy is coached by Don DeVoe (Ohio State '64) who is in his 11th season at the helm of the Midshipmen. He has guided Navy to a 176-131 record during his tenure. DeVoe has posted a 504-359 during his 30 seasons of collegiate coaching.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: This is Lafayette's 50th all-time meeting with Navy in the Leopards' 93 seasons of basketball. The Leopards are 17-32 all-time versus the Midshipmen. Lafayette won both regular-season meetings in 2001-02, winning 92-79 at Navy and 80-72 at home. The first series meeting was Jan. 10, 1920, as the two teams squared off in Annapolis in a game the Mids won 30-23. (See complete series breakdown above).
RATING THE OPPONENTS: Lafayette, American and Holy Cross stand apart from the rest of the Patriot League when it comes to the strength of their non-conference opponents. Holy Cross has played three non-conference teams with a current RPI rating of 150 or above, while Lafayette and American have each played four. The RPI Ratings are though Jan. 27 courtesy of Collegiate Basketball News.
Non-league Opponents Average RPI (No. of Opponents with RPI of 150+)
1. Holy Cross 173 (3)
2. American 177 (4)
3. Lafayette 186 (4)
4. Bucknell 196 (2)
5. Colgate 199 (3)
6. Navy 202 (3)
7. Lehigh 219 (4)
8. Army 225 (1)
BENCH SCORING?: 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 10.3 points per game of the Leopards' 68.4 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.
DILL"Y" FROM THE BLOCK: Rob Dill swatted away a career-best five shots against Holy Cross on Jan. 18. More impressive than the total was the competition he was facing, the biggest front line in the conference, featuring a 6-10 center and 6-8 power forward in the starting lineup and 6-11 and 7-6 centers off the bench. He is currently averaging 1.6 blocks per game, second best in the conference.
ALL-TIME VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 536 games against the seven members of the Patriot League, and has a 307-229 record in all games against them. In Patriot League play, Lafayette is 68-91 in the regular season and 9-10 in the Patriot League Tournament. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 53-38 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 is 1-4 this season.
American 13-10; Colgate 30-37; Lehigh 130-67; Army 25-18; Holy Cross 11-19; Navy 17-32; Bucknell 81-48
PATRIOT LEAGUE STATISTICS: Lafayette has six players who are ranked among the Patriot League's top 10 in statistical categories.
Scoring
DeBerry 3rd 15.7 ppg
Davis 6th 14.3 ppg
Rebounding
Farrell 5th 6.6 rpg
Dill 7th 5.7 rpg
Assists
Pleick 3nd 4.4 apg
Assist/Turnover Ratio
Pleick 5th 1.40
Steals
Pleick 8th 1.4 spg
DeBerry 8th 1.4 spg
Field Goal %
Dill 3rd 57.0%
Farrell 7th 53.5%
3-PT FG%
Davis 7th 39.2
DeBerry 9th 38.0
Pleick 10th 37.7
3-PT FG Per Game
DeBerry 4th 2.6
Davis 6th 2.1
Blocked Shots
Dill 2nd 1.6 bpg
Hughes 5th 1.0 bpg
Davis 9th 0.7 bpg
PLAYING UP: Lafayette has faced some formidable competition on its non-conference slate 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 (Penn and Princeton).
PLEICK'S PASSING: Senior point guard Andrew Pleick leads the team and is third in the Patriot League in assists per game. Pleick is averaging 4.4 assists per game and has established new career highs three times this season. His best efforts were nine-assist performances vs. Cornell and Centenary.
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 10 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. Farrell is currently averaging 6.6 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.
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 258-112 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, Holy Cross and Penn.
REBOUNDING BY COMMITTEE: Five different players have led the team in rebounding over 18 games. Rob Dill (5.7 rpg) and Mike Farrell (6.6 rpg) have each been the team's top rebounder six times, Jamie Hughes (2.8 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 (4.7 rpg) and Justin DeBerry (3.1 rpg) have each led the team 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.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 92 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1127-977 (.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.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Fran O'Hanlon used nine different starting lineups in 2001-02 and 10 different players spent time in the opening five. By contrast, O'Hanlon has used just two starting lineups with only six different players occupying starting positions. He has not made a starting lineup change in 13 games. (see chart to right)
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.
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.
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 54 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 by Phil LaBella (Lafayette Sports Information Coordinator) on the road.
