Nov. 18, 2004
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Match Up: Lafayette (0-0) at Duquesne (1-2)
Tip: 3 p.m. EST
Site: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Arena: A.J. Palumbo Center (6,200)
Series: Duquesne leads, 2-1
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.goleopards.com Dick Hammer
TV: None
THE STORY LINE: Lafayette opens the 2004-05 campaign on Saturday at Duquesne. The Leopards' Atlantic 10 foe has already played three games in the NABC Classic, holding a 1-2 record. Beyond the traditional four weeks of practice, the men's basketball team has had two preseason scrimmages, traveling to Monmouth on Nov. 7 before hosting St. Joseph's on Nov. 11.
BREAKING THE SEAL: The Lafayette basketball program is 60-34 all-time in season openers, including a 20-21 mark in season opening games on the road. Since Fran O'Hanlon's arrival on College Hill in 1995-96, Lafayette has begun every season on the road. The Leopards have won two of their last four and four out of their last six season-opening games with wins over Dartmouth in 1998-99 (56-41), Columbia in 1999-00 (59-52), Cornell in 2000-01 (72-62) and Albany in 2001-02 (80-72) before dropping their last two at Binghamton in 2002-03 (77-68) and at Rutgers (71-65) in 2003-04.
THE STARTING FIVE: With the graduation of four senior starters who started at least two seasons apiece for Lafayette, the 2004-05 starting lineup is far from solidified. One thing is for certain, it will have a much younger look. Sophomore Marcus Harley will run the show from the point guard position and will be joined in the backcourt by junior Pat Betley. Betley is the Leopards' only returning starter, having played in 25 of Lafayette's 28 games a season ago. Betley and Harley will likely be joined by sophomore Jamaal Hilliard in the Leopards' three-guard motion offense. In the frontcourt, another sophomore, Jamaal Douglas, has cemented himself at one of the forwards and will likely be joined by one of the senior co-captains, Sean Knitter or Jamie Hughes. Knitter has been been hobbled by a back injury during the preseason, but is expected to see significant minutes if healthy.
ON THE SIDELINE: Two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova, 1970) is in his tenth season as the Leopards' mentor. He has twice led Lafayette's non-scholarship program to the NCAA Tournament and lays claim to three Patriot League regular-season titles among his credentials. O'Hanlon's career record stands at 141-117, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
COMING UP: On Tuesday, Lafayette takes a brief trip down Interstate 78 to Jersey City, N.J. where the Leopards will face St. Peter's in the shadow of the Big Apple. Lafayette will look to contain the nation's leading scorer from a year ago, Keydren Clark (26.7 ppg). Lafayette will then wait three more days before christening the newly-renovated Kirby Sports Center hardwood when it hosts Princeton on Nov. 27.
PATRIOT PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette has been picked to finish sixth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Leopards are coming off an 18-10 season in which they finished one game out of first place in the Patriot League standings.
CAPTAIN COMBO: Seniors Jamie Hughes and Sean Knitter have been selected as co-captains for the 2004-05. Knitter was one of the Leopards' top players off the bench last season and Hughes' role has increased steadily with his experience.
COACH "O" MOVES TO NO. 2: Fran O'Hanlon enters the 2004-05 season as the second winningest coach in Lafayette history with 141 victories. He needs just 30 wins to break George Davidson's record of 170 wins at Lafayette. In 2003-04, he surpassed Butch Van Breda Kolff who had 132 career wins.
YES, THEY'RE RELATED: Pat Betley, a junior guard, is being joined on the squad this season by his first cousin Matt Betley, the 2004 South Jersey Player of the Year. Pat is the Leopard's lone returning starter, and averaged 6.6 points per game last season.
THE EUROPEAN CONNECTION: Freshman Paul Cummins hails from Ireland and is the next player in a long line of European standouts recruited by Fran O'Hanlon. The list includes 1998 Patriot League Player of the Year Stefan Ciosici, Lafayette's All-Time leading shot blocker Rob Dill, and current Leopard Andrei Capusan.
SUMMER SEASONING: Sophomore forward Jamaal Douglas and junior Andrei Capusan spent their summers playing for their home countries. Douglas played with the Bahamas National Under-21 team and Capusan competed with the Romanian Senior National team.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Jamie Hughes enters the 2004-05 season ranked 15th in career blocks at Lafayette. Hughes needs just eight blocks to crack the top ten.
BOMBS AWAY: Since taking over the Lafayette basketball program in 1995-96, Fran O'Hanlon has coached eight of the top ten three point shooters in school history. The latest addition to the O'Hanlon monopoly on the list is Marcus Harley, who needs to make just eight three's to break into the top 20 during his sophomore season. Harley also is a career 42.4 percent shooter from beyond the arc, which is the fourth highest percentage in Lafayette history.
DEFENDING THEIR TURF In the friendly confines of Kirby SportsCenter, Lafayette cruised to an 11-2 record at home last season. Throughout the O'Hanlon regime, the Leopards sport a home record of 93-29. This year, the Leopards have 13 home contests.
THE PATRIOT LEAGUE SLATE: The 2004-05 Patriot League schedule again features a new format. The latest incarnation disposes of men's and women's doubleheaders, which were common at many of the Patriot League schools in years past, in favor of split sites. Thus, when the Lafayette men's face Army in Easton, Pa., the Lafayette women will face the Army women in West Point, N.Y. The other major schedule change comes in the Patriot League Tournament when the top two seeds will host two mini tournaments on their home floors. The winners will advance to the championship game at the site of the highest seed.
ABOUT DUQUESNE: Duquesne comes into today's game with a 1-2 record, fresh off an appearance in the NABC Classic. The Dukes lost their season opener vs. Santa Clara (74-65) on Nov. 12, despite having four players score in double figures. They rebounded and beat North Carolina A&T 82-69 behind 17-point efforts from Kieron Achara and Bryant McCallister. Against host New Mexico, Jack Higgins and Martin Osimani joined Achara and McCallister in double figures, but Duquesne lost an 82-74 decision. Duquesne has utilized three different lineups this season. McAllister and Higgins, both juniors, have started all three games in the backcourt, while Osimani has started the last two. McAllister leads the team in scoring with 14.7 ppg. In the frontcourt, Achara has been impressive at forward, collecting 7.7 rebounds per game while contributing 12.7 ppg. Junior forward Keith Gayden (7.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) will likely join him in the lineup. Duquesne is coached by Danny Nee (St. Mary's of the Plains '71) who is in his fourth season at the helm of the Dukes' program. Nee has posted a 32-58 record at Duquesne and a 400-337 mark overall in a career that has included head coaching stints at Ohio, Nebraska and Robert Morris.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: This is just the fourth time that Lafayette and Duquesne have faced off on the hardwood. Duquesne holds a 2-1 advantage. The two team last met on February 4, 1947, a 48-36 Duquesne win. The Leopards'only win in the brief series is a 37-30 victory in Pittsburgh on Jan. 13, 1921. The first series game came on Jan. 6, 1916, a matchup that Duquesne claimed a 26-24 victory.
LAFAYETTE vs. ATLANTIC 10: Lafayette has played 159 games against the 12 current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference, and has a 44-115 (.383) record in those contests. Under Coach O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 2-6 versus A-10 team, beating Massachusetts in 2002 and La Salle in 2003. Today's game is Lafayette's only regular-season game versus an Atlantic 10 foe in 2004-05. This season, Lafayette will play one team each from the A-10, ACC (Georgia Tech) and Conference USA (Louisville).
Dayton 0-0 La Salle 11-32 St. Joseph's 8-31Duquesne 1-2 Massachusetts 1-0 St. Bonaventure 0-1Fordham 14-13 Rhode Island 0-2 Temple 7-31Geo. Wash. 2-0 Richmond 0-3 Xavier 0-0
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 274-115 record (.704) in 30 seasons. Twenty-three of those seasons have been winning campaigns. In 2003-04, Lafayette began its home campaign at 11-0, but finished 11-2.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 95 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1151-992 (.538). Lafayette's first season of basketball was in 1900-01.
ON THE RADIO: Today's game can be heard live on WEST-AM 1400, the 69th year of broadcasting Lafayette Athletics. Dick Hammer is in his 38th year of calling the play-by-play for Lafayette men's basketball. Hammer is joined by Carl Schumacher at home games and most road contests by Phil LaBella (Lafayette SID).
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.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the eighth-straight season, Lafayette features the most expansive television package in the Patriot League. The Leopards have 13 games televised and have the possibility of adding three more televised contests in the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will air 12 games to more than 9.1 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono region, 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. Several of Lafayette's games that appear on the Lafayette Sports Network will also be picked up by Empire Sports Network which reaches more than 19.5 million viewers in Upstate and Western New York as well as more than 60 million potential viewers on DIRECTV (626) and Dish Network (432). Lafayette will have two games televised on the Patriot League Television Network on Feb. 6 vs. Colgate and Feb. 26 vs. Lehigh. Both of those games will be carried by nationally by College Sports Television (CSTV).
