Dec. 17, 2004
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Match Up: Lafayette (2-6) vs. Moravian (3-6)
Tip: 7:00 EST
Site: Easton, Pa.
Arena: Kirby Sports Center (3,500)
Series: Lafayette leads 48-8
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.goleopards.com
Dick Hammer, Carl Schumacher
TV: none
THE STORY LINE: The Leopards will see their first game action in nine days when they host Moravian on Dec. 22. It will mark the first time in the Fran O'Hanlon era that Lafayette has played a Lehigh Valley college other than Lehigh. Lafayette students begin finals on Dec. 14 and those run through Dec. 21. After the Moravian game, Lafayette will then break for the holidays before traveling to face current No. 3 Georgia Tech on Dec. 28.
LAST TIME OUT: Lafayette snapped a six-game losing skid, which included three losses by four points or less, with a 95-89 overtime win vs. Cal State Northridge. The victory was an important one for the youthful Leopards as it came against a CSUN team that beat Lafayette by 23 points just a year ago when Lafayette's starting lineup then featured four seniors. Bilal Abdullah further showcased his tremendous potential, falling one assist short of a triple-double while registering 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and shooting 12-of-13 from the line. Jamaal Douglas also finished with his second straight double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) as one of six players who managed double figures for Lafayette. Jamaal Hilliard closed the door on the Matadors in overtime, nailing a three at 1:32 and then converting an old-fashion three-point play with 48 seconds left to give Lafayette a 92-83 lead and on to the 95-89 win.
THE STARTING FIVE: With the graduation of four senior starters who started at least two seasons apiece for Lafayette, the 2004-05 starting lineup has a much younger look. Head coach Fran O'Hanlon has gone with six unique starting lineups in the season's first eight games. The five on the floor in the last two contests were senior center Jamie Hughes and sophomore forward Jamaal Douglas in the frontcourt, sophomore Marcus Harley and freshmen Bilal Abdullah and Matt Betley at the guard spots. Pat Betley, who started the first three games and is the only returning starter from 2003-04, is sidelined until late December with a shin injury. Harley is the only Leopard to start in each game, while Douglas and Hughes and have garnered seven starts each. O'Hanlon has given nine players at least two starts each.
AMAZING NUMBERS FROM MONDAY: Plenty of numbers stood out from the box score from Monday's win over Cal State Northridge. Lafayette scored a season-high 95 points in a very up-tempo game. CSUN managed to fire off 91 shots from the floor...The Leopards turned the ball over 31 times and forced 18 turnovers...Lafayette went to the free throw line 39 times, converting 29 for 74 percent.
ON THE SIDELINE: Two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova, '70) 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 143-123, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
CAREER-HIGH BOARD WORK: Andrei Capusan and Jamaal Douglas each established new rebound career highs at Marist with 15 and 11 caroms, respectively. Both posted double-doubles in the game as Capusan added 13 points and Douglas netted 12.
FIVE FOR 10 OR MORE: Lafayette had five players score in double figures at Marist on Dec. 10. Sean Knitter led the way with a team-high 14 followed by 13 apiece from Marcus Harley and Andrei Capusan and 12 points each from Jamaal Douglas and Matt Betley. It was the first time since Feb. 28, 2004 that Lafayette had five players manage 10-plus points.
DO I HEAR SIX?: Lafayette followed the Marist game by placing six players in double figures.Bilal Abdullah led the way with 21 points followed by 15 points from Jamaal Hilliard and 14 by Sean Knitter. Marcus Harley, Jamaal Douglas and Matt Betley chipped in with 12, 11 and 10, respectively.
THREE VS. TWO: At Louisville, Lafayette connected on more three-point field goals than two-point buckets. The Leopards made 10 three-pointers vs. Louisville and nine two-point field goals. The Leopards took a season-high 39 three-pointers at Louisville.
AGAINST NATIONALLY-RANKED OPPONENTS: Lafayette faced Louisville which was ranked 17th in the nation when the two teams played. The Leopards also play defending 2004 national runner up and current Top 10 team Georgia Tech on Dec. 28. Prior to this season, the last time Lafayette faced a nationally-ranked opponent was March 17, 2000 against No. 5 Temple in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Lafayette, the 15th seed in the East Region, lost to the Owls 73-47 in Buffalo, N.Y.
TURNOVER TRIALS: Not surprising for a young team, turnovers have been an issue for the Leopards in 2004-05. Lafayette is averaging 18.8 turnovers per game and forcing an average of 12.5 for a difference of 6.3. In the Leopards' last games, they handed it over a season-high 31 times. In 2003-04 Lafayette committed 15.3 and forced 13.5 for a difference of 1.8 turnovers per game.
DEFENDING THEIR TURF: In the friendly confines of Kirby Sports Center, Lafayette cruised to an 11-2 record at home last season. Throughout the O'Hanlon regime, the Leopards sport a home record of 94-31. This year, the Leopards have 13 home contests, and have started the season 1-2 at Kirby.
FROM THE LINE: Lafayette is shooting 76 percent from the free throw stripe this season, good enough to rank the Leopards in the top 25 in the nation. Lafayette opened the season by hitting 26-32 free throws at Duquesne (81 percent). Jamaal Hilliard did the bulk of the work in that game with a perfect 10-for-10 day at the line. At Cornell, the Leopards shot a season-best 88 percent hitting 22 of 25 attempts. Against Cal State Northridge, Lafayette went to the line a season-high 39 times, making 29 (74 percent). Bilal Abdullah accounted for 12 of the 29 makes, shotting 12-for-13.
CAPTAIN COMBO: Seniors Jamie Hughes and Sean Knitter are serving as the team's co-captains in 2004-05. Knitter is currently leading the team in scoring, while Hughes has been a minstay in the starting lineup.
COACH "O" MOVES TO NO. 2: Fran O'Hanlon is the second winningest coach in Lafayette history with 143 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.
INJURY REPORT: Junior Pat Betley, the Leopards' only returning starter, has not played since Nov. 27 due to severe shin splits. He is not expected to return until the end of December.
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 275-117 record (.701) 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.
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. Matt is averaging 11.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game over the last five contests.
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: Senior Jamie Hughes is ranked 13th in career blocks at Lafayette. Hughes has 40 career blocks and needs just five blocks to crack the top 10.
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 moved into the top 20 with two three-pointers at Louisville. He now has 56 three-pointers and ranks 16th all-time at Lafayette. Harley has hit a three in all but one game this season.
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.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 95 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1153-998 (.536). Lafayette's first season of basketball was in 1900-01.
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.
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 12 games televised and have the possibility of adding three more televised contests in the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will air 11 games to more than 9.1 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono region, Philadelphia, central New Jersey and New York City. 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).
