Jan. 3, 2005
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Match Up: Lafayette (4-7) at St. Francis, N.Y. (3-5)
Tip: 7:00 pm EST
Site: Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.
Arena: Pope Physical Education Center (1,200)
Series: Lafayette leads 2-1
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.goleopards.com
Dick Hammer, Phil LaBella
TV: None
THE STORY LINE: Lafayette and St. Francis (N.Y.) will play their last last non-conference tuneup before both teams jump into conference play later this week. The Leopards have won three of their last four contests with the lone exception a loss at No. 9 Georgia Tech on Dec. 28. St. Francis has not played since Dec. 28 when the Terriers registered a 70-63 win at Cornell. Lafayette and St. Francis (N.Y.) have not met on the basketball hardwood since Nov. 30, 1984, a game Lafayette won 67-42 in the Lapchick Tournament in Jamaica, N.Y.
COMING UP: Saturday brings the first day of Patriot League competition, as all eight conference teams will be in action. Lafayette hosts Navy at 1 p.m. at Kirby Sports Center. Lafayette will have three days off from game competition before traveling to Lehigh on Jan. 12. Tip off is slated for 8 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: Lafayette collected a quality victory over one of the hottest teams in the Ivy League with a 65-62 decision against Columbia on Sunday. Sean Knitter's offensive rebound and putback with 26.4 seconds left gave Lafayette a one-point lead, and Columbia's Dragutin Kravic missed a three-pointer with four seconds remaining that would have won the game. Knitter was one of three Lafayette players to score 11 points, joining Marcus Harley and Bilal Abdullah.
ABDULLAH EARNS SECOND ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONOR: Freshman Bilal Abdullah used a pair of dougle-figure scoring games to earn his second Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor in 2004-05. Abdullah scored 12 points and registered a career-high four steals against the No. 9 team in the country, Georgia Tech, helping to keep the Leopards in the game until the 13-minute mark of the second half when Lafayette trailed by six. Against a 7-3 Columbia team, Abdullah scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished off two assists while leading the Leopards in scoring. Abdullah was previously named Rookie of the Week on Dec. 20.
THREE-POINT BUZZER-BEATERS: Perhaps having a freshman hit a halftime buzzer-beater is the key to winning this season for Lafayettte. The Leopards have hit from long range in three of their four wins. At Duquesne, Matt Betley dialed up long distance as the clock wound down to give the Leopards a 44-34 lead. Against Moravian, Bilal Abdullah followed suit by hitting a buzzer-beating trifecta from the half-court offense. Against Columbia, Ted Detmer did his best Christian Laettner impression, reeling in a pass at mid-court, dribbling twice and firing up a three as time expired to bring Lafayette within 36-34.
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 145-124, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
SCOUTING REPORT: St. Francis, N.Y. will have to shake off some rust in Tuesday's game. The Terriers have not played since Dec. 28 when they beat Cornell 70-63. St. Francis enters with a 3-5 record with its other wins coming over St. John's (53-52) and Army (78-64). The Terriers' five losses came at the hands of Fordham (83-62), Binghamton (71-63), Seton Hall (57-56), Columbia (65-57) and St. Peter's (70-58). St. Francis receives the bulk of its offense from the backcourt tandem of senior Tory Cavalieri and junior Tristan Smith. Cavalieri leads the team with 12.9 points per game and is on the floor nearly the entire game, averaging 36.5 minutes per outing. Smith has come off the bench in five games and is managing 11.0 ppg. Sophomore Allan Sheppard (8.3 ppg) and freshman Nick Jones (6.9 ppg) have started all eight games along with Cavalieri. Up front senior Devon Neckles leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 rpg and is third on the team in scoring (8.9 ppg). He is joined by freshman James St. Robert (5.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) who, like Neckles, has started every game. St. Francis is coached by Ron Ganulin who is in his 14th season at the school where he has a 177-197 mark. He has a 204-220 overall record in 16 seasons.
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 11 games. Sophomore point guard Marcus Harley is the only player who has been in the starting lineup every game (11 games) and he has been joined by Jamaal Hilliard (6 starts), Bilal Abdullah (6 starts), Matt Betley (5 starts), Pat Betley (3 starts) and Paul Cummins (2 starts). In the frontcourt, senior center Jamie Hughes has started 10 games while sophomore Jamaal Douglas (8 starts) and junior Andrei Capusan (4 starts) have split time at power forward. 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.
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 four of the last five 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.
FROM THE LINE: Lafayette is shooting 73 percent from the free throw stripe this season. 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.
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 (12/20): Freshman guard Bilal Abdullah earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 20. 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.
INJURY REPORT: Assistant athletic trainer Stephanie Conley has reported that junior Andrei Capusan has been slowed by retro calcaneal bursitis that has been accompanied by achilles tendonitis. The ailment has caused pain for Capusan when he runs and jumps. Capusan, who was listed as doubtful for the Columbia game but managed nine points and five rebounds in 20 minutes, is again listed as doubtful for Tuesday's contest.
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.
DEEP SHOTS FROM A DEEP BENCH: 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 left in the game, 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 18.9 turnovers per game and forcing an average of 13.2 for a margin of 5.7, and has yet to win the turnover battle in any game this season. The Leopards handed it over 18 times against Columbia, but only five times in the second half, and forced 16 turnovers. In 2003-04 Lafayette committed 15.3 and forced 13.5 for a difference of 1.8 turnovers per game.
NUMBERS AGAINST NORTHRIDGE (12/13): Several stats stood out from Lafayette's 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 (12/10): 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 (12/10): 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? (12/13): 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.
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 3-2 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 7.5 points and 4.5 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 145 victories. He needs just 26 wins to reach 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 277-117 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 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 1155-999 (.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. Those games will be carried by nationally by CSTV.
