Nov. 19, 2007
EASTON, Pa. -
Game Notes in PDF Format 
GAME 4 • Nov. 20, 2007
LAFAYETTE vs. UMBC
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Easton, Pa. - Kirby Sports Center
Radio: none
Television: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4, WBPH-60) Gary Laubach (Play-By-Play), John Leone (Color), Dan Mowdy (Sideline)
Internet: Webcast via Lafayette All-Access on www.GoLeopards.com
Series: UMBC leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: UMBC 86, LC 51 Nov. 21, 2006 in Baltimore, Md.
Last Lafayette Win: none
AT A GLANCE: Lafayette (1-2), which is in the midst of a five-game homestand, and UMBC (3-0) square off for just the second time in the history of the programs. The Retrievers handed Lafayette its biggest defeat (86-51) in 2006-07, a slate that included Indiana, Notre Dame, St. Joseph's and Miami. UMBC has already logged road wins over Atlantic 10 foes La Salle and Richmond with a third win coming at home vs. St. Peter's.
LAST TIME OUT: Lafayette pulled the game to within four points seven times in the second half, before succumbing to Fairleigh Dickinson 98-92 on Friday, Nov. 16. Four Leopards registered double digits, including senior Bilal Abdullah and junior Andrew Brown who had 18 points apiece. Freshman Deirunas Visockas finished with 15 points and sophomore Jeff Kari added 10.
DEIRUNAS STEPS UP: Freshman guard Deirunas (pronounced Day-ROO-niss) Visockas enjoyed a breakout game vs. Fairleigh Dickinson. Playing in his second career game, Visockas knocked down four three-pointers and finished with 15 points in 15 minutes.
SENIOR FIVE: Lafayette will go as far as its corps of five seniors takes the squad in 2007-08. Bilal Abdullah, Matt Betley, Paul Cummins, Ted Detmer and Everest Schmidt will all play key roles with three of the five expected to be in the starting lineup vs. Fairleigh Dickinson. As a group, the seniors have played in 419 games with 207 appearances in the starting lineup.
ON THE SIDELINE: The all-time winningest coach in Lafayette history and the second-longest tenured coach in the Patriot League, Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova, '70) is in his 13th season as the Leopards' head coach. A two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year recipient, O'Hanlon has twice led Lafayette's program to the NCAA Tournament and lays claim to three Patriot League regular-season titles among his credentials.
With a 75-71 double-overtime victory over Lehigh on Feb. 18, 2007, O'Hanlon became the winningest coach in Lafayette history and now holds an all-time record of 172-175 on College Hill.
O'Hanlon's overall record does not necessarily tell an accurate story of the job he has done at Lafayette. The Philadelphia native inherited a 2-25 team when he took over in 1995-96 and won 7, 11, 19, 22 and 24 games over the next five seasons. From 1997-2000, Lafayette was 65-24 overall and 31-5 in the conference with two NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1996, the Patriot League, which was originally founded based on the principle of need-based financial aid only, began allowing athletic scholarships. However, it was not until 2006 that Lafayette chose to do so. By no coincidence during that span, Lafayette posted a 79-91 mark and was 38-44 in the league.
LEOPARD LEADERSHIP: Senior forward Matt Betley is serving as the team captain. Betley is the team's top returning scorer (10.9 ppg) and rebounder (4.8 rpg) and has played in 88 games in his career. He scored a team-high 17 points and snatched seven rebounds in 31 minutes of action vs. Wagner (11/9). Betley grabbed a team-high six rebounds at Stony Brook (11/12) and scored 10 points. In his last outing, Betley had eight points, five boards and four assists.
NEXT UP: Lafayette continues its five-game homestand, hosting Central Connecticut State on Sunday at 2 p.m. Penn and NJIT follow until the Leopards travel to face Big East opponent Rutgers on Dec. 5.
ON THE BOARDS: Lafayette is being out-rebounded by an average of 10 rebounds per game. After being out-rebounded 49-41 vs. Wagner and 48-29 vs. Stony Brook, the Leopards closed the gap to three (36-33) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson. Lafayette finished 319th out of 325 teams in Division I in rebounding margin in 2006-07, out-rebounded by an average of 8.1 rebounds per game.
ASSIST/TURNOVER: Despite the loss, the Lafayette coaching staff was likely happy with assist and turnover numbers from the Fairleigh Dicksinson game on Nov. 16. Lafayette dished out 22 assists on 30 baskets while committing 14 turnovers. On the other side of things, FDU committed 22 turnovers while dishing out 13 assists. For the season, Lafayette has handed out 48 assists to 49 turnovers.
HACKFEST: Lafayette's game vs. FDU (11/16) was the definition of a "hackfest," as the two teams were whistled for 57 fouls, 33 of which were handed out to Lafayette. Three Lafayette players (Brown, Abdullah, Betley) fouled out while one FDU player was also disqualified. FDU shot 46 free throws while Lafayette had 30 attempts.
PETE CARRIL RETURNS HOME: On Nov. 16 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, National Basketball Hall of Famer and 1952 graduate of Lafayette Pete Carril returned to Lafayette to honor former Lafayette head coach Butch van Breda Kolff who passed away in September. Carril, who was an All-American during his Leopard playing days, went on to coaching stardom at Princeton and recently served as an advisor to the Sacramento Kings.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?: Andrew Brown can distribute the ball. The Littleton, Colo. native led the team in assists his first two seasons on College Hill. Brown dished out 94 assists (3.1 apg) as sophomore and started 27 of 30 games. He had 84 assists as a freshman, starting all but three games. Brown was the first freshman during the Fran O'Hanlon era to lead the team in assists. ...Brown can shoot the ball too. He averaged 9.3 ppg as a freshman when he hit 51 three-pointers. He followed that by scoring 10.4 ppg while netting 69 three-pointers in his second season on College Hill. Brown is solid from the line. He shot 91 percent from the free throw stripe, connecting on 42-of-46 attempts. Brown definitely delivered in the season opener vs. Wagner, knocking down 14 points, snatching six rebounds while doling out seven assists. Brown committed just one turnover in 35 minutes. >ON THE ISLAND Brown led the Leopards with 21 points at Stony Brook, helping the team to a 76-68 overtime victory in the Seawolves' home opener. The junior guard went 7-for-8 at the line with five of those baskets coming in the extra session. VS. FDU Brown scored a team-high 18 points and had four assists despite playing just 25 minutes due to foul trouble.
IN THE CLASSROOM: The Lafayette men's basketball team received the NCAA Public Recognition Award for recording an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate in the top 10 percent of all men's basketball teams. Lafayette College was also recognized by the NCAA for recording an 83 percent graduation rate, 20 percent better than the average federal graduation rates of all student-athletes. The information was collected from students entering Lafayette in 2000. Overall the Division I graduation rate for student-athletes in the fall of 2000 was 63 percent and the Patriot League conference have scored at least 20 percent better than the national average graduation rate for all student-athletes who have entered school from 1997-2000.
MINUTES FOR MINTZ: Rookie Jared Mintz saw the first action of his collegiate career vs. Wagner (11/9). Mintz scored six points and pulled down four rebounds in 18 minutes of action. He matched his playing time on the court at Stony Brook (11/2) and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Mintz had six points and four boards in nine minutes vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (11/17).
JOINING O'HANLON: The assistant coaching staff features two former Lafayette players in top assistant Drew Dawson '03 and third assistant Mike Farrell '04. Pete Schwethelm is the team's second assistant and comes to Lafayette from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) where he was an assistant coach with former Lafayette assistant coach and currently USMMA head coach, John Krikorian. The Lafayette staff is a young one with Dawson (28), Schwethelm (32) and Farrell (25).
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN...BANG: Lafayette made a single-season record 256 three-pointers during the 2006-07 season to finished 25th in the country in three-pointers per game (8.5 per game). The single-season total snapped a seven-year old mark from 1999-2000 when Lafayette hit for 249 trifectas led by Tyson Whitfield's '01 single-season record of 91. This season, Lafayette has hit eight three-pointers vs. Wagner, 10 at Stony Brook and a season-best 14 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.
HELPING HANDS: Lafayette's motion offense has the potential to put up big assist numbers, and the fact that Lafayette finished second in the Patriot League in 2006-07 with 13.7 assists per game bares that out. Lafayette had 20+ assists in three games and a positive assist/turnover ratio four times. Five players finished with 30 or more assists in 2006-07. Lafayette handed out an assist on 65 percent of its baskets in 2006-07 and has nearly equalled that mark this season by resting at 63 percent (76 baskets on 48 assists).
EARLIER AND EARLIER: Lafayette's season opener on Nov. 9 marked the earliest start in program history. This season, Lafayette will have played six games by December 1. By contrast, as recently as 1992, Lafayette did not open the season until Dec. 1.
IN THE COMMUNITY: The Lafayette men's basketball team led by assistant coaches Drew Dawson and Mike Farrell finished first in their support of Juvenile Diabetes Research as they ran (not walked) the Manhattan JDRF Walk last month. Coach Farrell, a type-1 diabetic, made a few calls and the Leopards answered. The entire team participated in the 12K walk through New York City.
REPRESENTING IRELAND: Senior Paul Cummins had the opportunity to represent his home country of Ireland this summer. He traded in his Maroon and White for the green of the Emerald Isle. Cummins competed with talented players from several different leagues around the world against other European teams. Ireland's squad went on to a third-place finish in the qualifying tournament after facing several teams with multiple NBA players.
HI, MY NAME IS...: Jeff Kari, who maintains sophomore eligibility after transferring from East Carolina University, is new on the Lafayette roster. Kari, who formerly went by Jeff Robinson, changed his name in 2007. Kari, one of the Leopards' top on-the-ball defenders, has already jumped into the backcourt mix most recently contributing 10 points four rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (11/16).
DETMER ON DEFENSE: Senior Ted Detmer has led Lafayette in steals the past two seasons, registering 34 in 2006-07 and 47 in 2005-06. He also finished with a career-high 23 blocks last season to lead the team and finish fifth in the Patriot League. Detmer had two steals and a block in his last outing.
BAND OF THIEVES: Lafayette had three players rank in the top 15 in the Patriot League in steals. Ted Detmer (1.13 spg), Matt Betley (1.10 spg) and Bilal Abdullah (1.07 spg) all managed to pick their opponents for at least 30 steals. As a team, Lafayette ranked third in the Patriot League in steals in 2006-07 with 7.3 per game.
In the season opener vs. Wagner, Lafayette managed just six steals, including two by Jeff Kari. Stealing six again, this time at Stony Brook, the Leopards were led by Michael Gruner grabbing three. Against Fairleigh Dickinson, Lafayette had a season-best nine steals, including three players (Betley, Abdullah, Detmer) with two apiece.
DOUBLING UP IN 2006-07: Matt Betley recorded three double-doubles in 2006-07. The Mount Laurel, N.J. native scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in Lafayette's 75-71 double overtime victory over Lehigh (2/18/07). He also produced big numbers against Navy, notching a double-double in each game against the Mids. Betley scored 16 points and ripped down 10 boards on Feb. 10, 2007 while scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the first meeting (1/13/07). Ted Detmer also got into the act on Feb. 7, 2007 when he registered his first career double-double, a 12-point, 12-rebound effort against Colgate.
THE PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette was chosen to finish eighth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The poll is voted on by the conference head coaches and sports information directors. Holy Cross was selected first in the poll followed by Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh, American, Army and Navy.
OUT OF CONFERENCE: Lafayette is playing 15 non-conference games in 2007-08. Of that group, eight of the teams are picked to finish in the top five of their conference while one of Lafayette's opponents (NJIT) has no conference affiliation. Pittsburgh is currently ranked 17th in both the top 25 in the Associated Press Poll and the ESPN/Coaches Poll.
MAKING THE TEAM GO IN 2006-07?: It may be an oversimplification of Lafayette's play in 2006-07, but there was at least some correlation between Andrew Brown's play and the team's success. In Lafayette's nine wins, Brown averaged 13.1 points and 4.2 assists per game. By contrast, in Lafayette's 21 losses, he averaged 9.2 points and 2.5 assists per game.
LAFAYETTE VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 609 games against the seven members of the Patriot League, and has a 336-273 record in all games against them. In Patriot League play, Lafayette is 95-129 in the regular season and 10-15 in the Patriot League Tournament. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 80-77 in Patriot League regular-season play.
American 16-19 Colgate 37-41 Navy 21-38 Army 33-19 Holy Cross 13-27 Bucknell 82-57 Lehigh 135-71
HALF WAY THERE: Lafayette was 8-2 when holding a lead at halftime in 2006-07. The two exceptions were a 67-61 loss to Bucknell (1/20) when the Leopards were leading 29-27 at halftime and a 44-42 loss to Princeton (11/28) when Lafayette led 22-19 at the intermission. Lafayette was 1-19 when trailing at halftime. Lafayette has trailed at halftime every game this season.
THE GARBAGE MAN: Senior forward Matt Betley spends a lot of time cleaning the glass, diving for loose balls and occasionally even picking up a "garbage" basket in the paint. Betley is certainly willing to get his hands and body a little dirty by diving on the court, but it's nothing compared to his summer job in 2006. Betley collected garbage on a garbage truck in his hometown of Mount Laurel, N.J. As one of the scrappiest players in the Patriot League, Betley has determined that he is also one of the most hated opponents because of his style of play.
IN THE PAINT: Seniors Ted Detmer and Everest Schmidt are going to be called on to patrol the lane for the Leopards. Both played in all 30 games as a juniors with Schmidt getting the starting nod in 26 games while Detmer was used as a spark off the bench and is usually in the game during crunch time. Classmate Matt Betley will again be looked to for scoring in the post. Marek Koltun will see increased minutes in his sophomore season while freshmen Jared Mintz (6-8, 230) and Darion Benbow (6-6, 195) will try to garner some playing time.
THE O'HANLON SHUFFLE: The scorer's table has been a busy place during Fran O'Hanlon's 13 seasons at Lafayette. O'Hanlon will frequently shuffle in players to keep them fresh while also looking for the best matchups on both ends of the court. The moves also force the opponents to spend a great deal of time figuring out their own defensive matchups. O'Hanlon will often play "offense-defense" at the end of the first half and in the final minutes of the game whenever there is a stoppage of play and a chance to substitute. The Leopards have consistently gone 10 deep early in the season.
...IN A RELATED NOTE: In 2006-07, O'Hanlon used 13 different starting lineups.
BENCH SCORING?: Lafayette received 63 percent (41.1 of the Leopards' 65.0 points per game) of its scoring from the starting five and 36 percent from the bench in 2006-07. In 2007-08, Lafayette is receiving 42.7 of its 79.3 points per game from the starting five, a 54 percent clip.
FROM THE LINE: Lafayette ranked 67th in the nation in free throw percentage in 2006-07, shooting 72.4 percent. Lafayette is shooting just 65 percent this season.
INSIDE-OUTSIDE: Senior Matt Betley made the move from guard to forward for the 2006-07 season to bolster the team's rebounding efforts, but was still certainly comfortable outside. With Fran O'Hanlon's motion offense, Betley often finds himself with open three-point looks and mid-range jumpers against larger post players who will back off into the lane. With 33 three-pointers, Betley was one of five Lafayette players who made 30 or more three-pointers in 2006-07.
RANKED OPPONENTS: Since 1948-49, Lafayette has played 39 games against ranked opponents, coming away with a 3-36 record. Lafayette hosted Bucknell, ranked No. 24 in both the ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press top-25 polls on Feb. 25, 2006. Prior to that, the last time Lafayette hosted a ranked opponent was January 14, 1987 when No. 19 Navy came to Kirby Sports Center and escaped with a 75-71 win. The last time Lafayette beat a ranked opponent was Dec. 2, 1978 when Lafayette topped No. 16 Rutgers, 77-70. In 2004-05, Lafayette faced Louisville (17) and Georgia Tech (9) on the road.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: Lafayette features four players from foreign countries. Senior Paul Cummins comes from Kildare, Ireland. Cummins spent two years at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, N.C. before spending a post-grad year at South Kent School in Connecticut. Sophomore Marek Koltun hails from Krakow, Poland and spent a year in Bear, Del. at Caravel Academy. Freshmen Jared Mintz is from Toronto, Canada while Deirunas Visockas is originally from Kaunas, Lithuania and currently resides in Los Angeles.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 98 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1182-1050 (.529). Lafayette's first basketball season was in 1900-01 when the team had a winning record of 4-3.
NOTABLE NAMES FROM LAFAYETTE BASKETBALL: Some recognizable names in college basketball have been part of the Lafayette men's basketball program. Pete Carril '52 was an All-American at Lafayette before going on to coach Princeton to national prominence and recently serving as a Sacramento Kings' assistant coach. Tom Davis, former Iowa and Drake head coach, served the Lafayette's head coach from 1971-77. During that span, Lafayette made three NIT appearances and accumulated a record of 116-44. Current Maryland head coach Gary Williams served as Davis' assistant basketball coach and also spent time as the head men's soccer coach from 1971-76.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the 11th 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 televised games during the three rounds of the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will produce 12 of the 13 games that will air. Each of those broadcasts will air live regionally to more than 10 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono region and all of Philadelphia on RCN-4 and WBPH-60. CSTV, Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and MASN will continue as LSN national distribution partners, airing three telecasts. Emmy-nominated broadcaster Gary Laubach handles all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties, while former Lafayette men's basketball coach John Leone provides color commentary. Additionally, RCN's Dan Mowdy will provide sideline reports.
The Leopards will also garner national exposure on ESPNU when they battle Pittsburgh in January and on SportsNet NY vs. Rutgers.
ON THE WEB: As an element of Lafayette's long-term agreement with CSTV, all LSN telecasts are streamed live on the internet an available world-wide through LSN All-Access on www.GoLeopards.com .
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."
ON THE RADIO: The 2007-08 Lafayette men's basketball season will air on two of the top-rated AM stations in the Lehigh Valley, WGPA-AM 1100 and WSAN-AM 1470. Entering his 41st season as the radio voice of Lafayette athletics, Dick Hammer will continue to call the play-by-play action. Joining Hammer courtside for most road contests will be Lafayette Sports Information Director Phil LaBella.
WSAN 1470 will broadcast 18 games, including seven of the team's first eight, while WGPA 1100 will handle six contests.
