Dec. 30, 2004
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Match Up: Lafayette (3-7) vs. Columbia (6-3)
Tip: 3:15 p.m. EST
Site: Easton, Pa.
Arena: Kirby Sports Center (3,500)
Series: Lafayette leads, 24-10
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.goleopards.com
Dick Hammer, Carl Schumacher
TV: Lafayette Sports Network
Gary Laubach, John Leone, Dan Mowdy
THE STORY LINE: The Leopards open the new year with a Sunday afternoon game against Ivy League opponent Columbia. Lafayette holds a 24-10 advantage in the series and has won 13 of the last 14 meetings. The Leopards had won their last two games after a 1-6 start before playing No. 9 Georgia Tech, while Columbia started 6-1. The Lions lost to No. 16 North Carolina State, 84-74, at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 28. They are scheduled to play Canisius in the Holiday Festival on Dec. 30.
LAST TIME OUT: Lafayette trailed 49-43 with 13:14 left at No. 9 Georgia Tech before a 27-3 surge by the Yellow Jackets put a stop to any Leopard upset hopes. Freshmen Anthony Morrow (20 points) and Ra'Sean Dickey (15 points) led Tech to a 92-58 win. Bilal Abdullah, also a freshman, led Lafayette with 12 points, while senior Sean Knitter had 11.
ECONOMICS 101 WITH DR. HILLIARD: Jamaal Hilliard has been extremely efficient in Lafayette's three wins. The sophomore economics major has scored in double-figures in each victory and missed just one shot, combined, in those games. At Duquesne, Hilliard was 2-of-2 from the field, including a three, and was perfect in 10 attempts from the foul line for 15 points. He also scored 15 against Cal State Northridge (5-of-6 from the floor, 2-of-2 from three, and 3-for-3 from the line). Hilliard hit all three of his shots, all from long distance, against Moravian and converted a pair of free throws to finish with 11 points. He is shooting 48 percent, including 44 percent from three-point range, and has made 25 of his 27 free throws this season.
THE STARTING FIVE: With the graduation of four senior starters who started at least two seasons apiece, the 2004-05 Lafayette starting lineup has a much younger look. Head coach Fran O'Hanlon has gone with seven unique starting lineups in the season's first 10 games. Four of the starting five on the floor in the last four contests were senior center Jamie Hughes, sophomore point guard Marcus Harley and freshmen Bilal Abdullah and Matt Betley at the other two guard positions. The power forward spot has featured junior Andrei Capusan in the last two games, but sophomore Jamaal Douglas has started seven of 10 games at that position. Pat Betley, who is the only returning starter from 2003-04, recently returned from a shin injury after missing five games. Harley is the only Leopard to start in each game, while Hughes has garnered nine starts. O'Hanlon has given nine players at least two starts each. Senior forward Sean Knitter is Lafayette's leading scorer, at 11.4 points per game, coming off the bench.
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 144-124, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
AGAINST NATIONALLY-RANKED OPPONENTS: Lafayette faced two teams ranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 this season. The Leopards trailed No. 9 Georgia Tech 49-43 with 13:14 remaining before the Yellow Jackets pulled away with a 27-3 surge, and won 92-58. Lafayette traveled to Louisville on Dec. 4 when the Cardinals were ranked 17th in the nation. 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.
ABDULLAH - PATRIOT LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman guard Bilal Abdullah earned the first league recognition of his career when he finished an assist shy of a triple-double in a win over Cal State Northridge on Dec. 13. Abdullah collected 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, all career highs, on his way to Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 20.
A FAMILY AFFAIR: In Lafayette's game vs. Moravian on Dec. 22, three members of the Betley family spent time on the Kirby Sports Center hardwood. Lafayette's Matt Betley and his brother, Chris, a junior guard for Moravian, guarded each other for a stretch of several minutes in the first half. Cousin Pat Betley, also a junior guard, returned to the Leopards' rotation after missing five games due to injury. All three scored in the game; Matt had seven points, while Chris and Pat each had two.
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN: A pair of Leopards made their first career three-pointers at Georgia Tech. Senior 7-0 center Jamie Hughes caught a pass at the top of the key, stared down Jackets' center Luke Schenscher, and dropped a three on his first attempt in four seasons to put the Leopards ahead 7-5 3:09 into the game. Hughes finished with a season-high nine points. Sophomore Kerry Kenny hit a triple for his first career points with 56 seconds remaining in the contest, a shot he banked in from the top of the arc.
TURNOVER TRIALS: Not surprising for a young team, turnovers have been an issue for the Leopards in 2004-05. Lafayette is averaging 19.0 turnovers per game and forcing an average of 12.9 for a margin of 6.1, and has yet to win the turnover battle in any game this season. The Leopards handed it over 21 times against Georgia Tech, but also forced 16 turnovers. In 2003-04 Lafayette committed 15.3 and forced 13.5 for a difference of 1.8 turnovers per game.
THEFT ON THE RISE: Lafayette was ranked 319th in the nation in steals, with 4.5 per game through Dec. 20, but Bilal Abdullah is emerging as a threat on the defensive end. The freshman guard has at least three steals in each of the last four games, including four versus Moravian and Georgia Tech. He leads the team with 17 steals on the season, and also paces the squad with 32 assists.
NUMBERS AGAINST NORTHRIDGE: Several stats stood out from Lafayette's the win over Cal State Northridge on Dec. 13. Lafayette scored a season-high 95 points in an 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.
CAREER-HIGH BOARD WORK: Andrei Capusan and Jamaal Douglas each established new career rebounding highs at Marist with 15 and 11 caroms, respectively. Both posted double-doubles in the game as Capusan had 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 scored a team-high 14, followed by 13 from Marcus Harley and Andrei Capusan and 12 points from Jamaal Douglas and Matt Betley.
DO I HEAR SIX?: Lafayette followed the Marist game by placing six players in double figures against Cal State Northridge. 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.
INJURY REPORT: Senior Sean Knitter, the Leopards' leading scorer, did not dress for the Moravian game as he was affected by his chronic back problems, but did play at Georgia Tech. Junior Pat Betley, the Leopards' lone returning starter, has played in the last two games after missing five contests with a shin injury.
FROM THE LINE: Lafayette is shooting 74 percent from the free throw stripe this season, good enough to rank the Leopards 18th in the nation. Jamaal Hilliard and Sean Knitter both rank in the top 20 nationally at more than 90 percent from the line. Lafayette opened the season by hitting 26-32 free throws at Duquesne (81 percent). 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 was 12-for-13 and scored 21 points.
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 95-31. This year, the Leopards have 13 home contests, and have started the season 2-2 at Kirby.
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 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
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 with 11.4 ppg, while Hughes has started all but one contest.
COACH "O" MOVES TO NO. 2: Fran O'Hanlon is the second winningest coach in Lafayette history with 144 victories. He needs just 27 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. 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 276-117 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.
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 12th in career blocks at Lafayette. Hughes has 42 career blocks and needs just two blocks to crack the top 10.
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 1154-999 (.536). Lafayette's first season of basketball was in 1900-01.
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).
