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Game Notes

GAME 15 • JANUARY 6, 2009

Matchup: Lafayette (4-10) at Holy Cross (5-10)
Tip-off: 3:30 p.m.
Site: Worcester, Mass.
Arena: Hart Center
Television: None
Radio: WSAN-AM Fox 1470
Dick Hammer (Play-By-Play), Phil LaBella (Color Analyst)
Internet: | LSN-Radio

THE MATCHUP: Lafayette travels to Holy Cross for its conference season opener. This is the fourth straight year the Leopards face the Crusaders on opening day. Both teams head into the matchup coming off of losses, Holy Cross to Central Florida (70-57) and Lafayette to Penn (84-70).

LAST TIME OUT: Freshman Ryan Willen led three Leopards in double digits with a career-high 17 points on Tuesday night in an 84-70 loss at Penn. Fellow freshman Nick Petkovich also recorded a career-high nine points, which he scored all in the second half. The pair was joined by Andrew Brown and Michael Gruner, who both scored 12 points. The Quakers' starting five all finished in double figures, led by Tyler Bernardini with 18.

LEOPARD LEADERSHIP: Senior guard Andrew Brown and junior guard Jeff Kari are serving as the team captains. Brown is the lone member of the class of 2009 and is the team's leading scorer (15.1 ppg). He has played in 101 games in his career. Kari played in 30 games in his first season on College Hill after transferring from East Carolina and is one of the most improved players in the league. After averaging 4.0 ppg and 1.7 rpg in 2007-08, he is now averaging 11.8 ppg and 4.0 rpg.

BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: The Leopards have been solid from the free throw line as of late. Lafayette produced season-best outings from the charity stripe in two consecutive games, converting 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) against Penn on Jan. 6 and 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) against Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 2. Lafayette recorded its most makes and attempts from the charity stripe this season against Towson (22-of-32; 68.8 percent) on Dec 28.
Andrew Brown is the team's most consistent free throw shooter at 81.8 percent. Lafayette is shooting a Patriot League best 73.0 percent (197 of 270) from the charity stripe for the season.

NOT TO JINX HIM, BUT...: Freshman Ryan Willen has not missed a free throw since Dec. 17. He has hit a perfect 11-for-11 since that date, including a 4-of-4 performance against Penn on Jan. 6. Junior guard Jeff Kari holds the best streak for the season at 14 straight, which he sank over a period of three games: Stony Brook (4-of-4), Temple (2-of-2) and Rider (8-of-8).

SAY WHAT?: As crazy as it sounds, statistics show that the Leopards are more likely to win when they commit a higher number of turnovers. In the games it has lost this year, Lafayette averages 17.8 turnovers per game. By contrast, Lafayette averages 18.3 turnovers per game in the games it has won.
Assists remain just about even in wins (13.8 apg) and losses (13.4 apg).

IN WINS AND LOSSES: In their four wins, the Leopards have held opponents to 38.6 percent from the field. In losses, however, Lafayette allows opponents to hit 49.6 percent from the floor.

AT THE HALF: The Leopards entered halftime with a 23-21 lead over Princeton on Dec. 30. The combined 44 points were the fewest at halftime of Lafayette's 12 games this season and the fewest since Jan. 13, 2007. On that date, Navy headed into the locker room with a 28-16 lead over the Leopards. The Leopards have lost just one game this season (4-1) when leading at the half, falling to Rider after leading 41-30 at halftime.

LEAGUE OPENERS: The Leopards are 7-11 in Patriot League openers since beginning play in the conference in 1990-91. With their 60-52 win last season at home on Jan. 12, the Leopards are 1-5 when playing Holy Cross to initiate the conference slate.

VISOCKAS RETURNS: Sophomore Deirunas Visockas, who underwent knee surgery in the off season, saw his first minutes of the season against Penn on Jan. 6. He grabbed two boards and attempted one shot in nine minutes of playing time. Visockas averaged 3.1 points in 8.5 minutes in 23 games his freshman year.
1,200 CLUB: When senior Andrew Brown sank a free throw with 14 seconds remaining against Towson to secure a 70-63 win, the guard tallied his 1,200th career point. As a result, Brown became the 18th player in school history to achieve the feat and has since upped that total to 1,242.
The most recent player to score at least 1,200 points in his career was Bilal Abdullah '08, who finished with 1,253 to rank as the 13th leading scorer in program history.
In a related note, Lafayette's win over Princeton on Dec. 30 was the program's 1200th in 99 seasons.

BLOCK PARTY: Stay out of Marek Koltun's way. The junior center has 14 blocks on the season, surpassing his career total from his previous two seasons combined. With 27 stuffs to his name, he needs three more rejections to break into Lafayette's top 25 leading blockers in records dating back to 1977-78.

WELCOME TO COLLEGE: Head coach Fran O'Hanlon hasn't been afraid to use the seven members of his freshman class this season. Ryan Willen has played in all 14 games, while Nick Petkovich, Jim Mower and Alex Orchowski have played in 13, and Rob Delaney (with one start), Andy Moore and J.D. Pelham eight apiece.
Willen continues to lead the team in rebounding with 4.6 per game while also contributing 7.7 ppg in 21 minutes per game off the bench. Willen's clutch free throw shooting helped secure Lafayette's win at Wagner. In the last four minutes, the Seahawks went on an 8-3 run, closing in on Lafayette's lead 70-67, before fouling Willen with 11.4 seconds remaining. The rookie sank both free throws, making it a two-possession game. Willen finished with seven points and three rebounds.

ABOUT LAFAYETTE COLLEGE: Located in Easton, Pa. (70 miles west of New York City and 60 miles north of Philadelphia) on the banks of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, Lafayette is a small liberal arts school with a renowned engineering program. Lafayette, which has 23 Division I sports with a student body of 2,382 undergraduates, competes in the Patriot League with Army, Navy, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Colgate, American and Lehigh. Lafayette is the alma mater of Pete Carril and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon.

NEXT UP: The Leopards play back-to-back conference games at home against Colgate (Jan. 14)at 7 p.m. and Navy (Jan. 17) at 1 p.m.

THRIVING WITH THIRTY: Andrew Brown's 30-point production against Robert Morris was the fourth such game of his career. Brown first drained 30 points as a sophomore on Jan. 20, 2007, at archrival Lehigh. He accomplished the feat twice as a junior, scoring 32 at Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 21, 2007, before notching his career high against Army (34 points) on Jan 30, 2008.

WELCOME BACK, GRUNER: Since returning from his six-game layoff due to injury, junior guard Michael Gruner is back to his old self. He has tallied double digits in scoring in five of Lafayette's last seven games, recently posting a career-high 15 points against Princeton on Dec. 30. Gruner, who sat out six games from Nov. 18 to Dec. 4 with a thigh contusion, returned to the court with a five-minute stint at Fordham on Dec. 8.
Gruner was a mainstay in the starting lineup in 2007-08 and proved to be Lafayette's steadiest ballhandler, dishing out 72 assists to 46 turnovers for a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio. Gruner is a Marquis Scholar, the most prestigious academic scholarship awarded to Lafayette students.

BEHIND THE ARC: Lafayette is averaging a shade below nine three-pointers per game (8.6), good enough to place the Leopards 28th in the nation through games of Jan 4. In 2007-08 Lafayette ranked fifth in the nation with 10.0 three-pointers made per game. Individually this season, Andrew Brown leads the team with 39 three-pointers (2.8 per game) and made a season-high seven vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 17. He is ranked 61st in the nation in three-pointers per game.
Brown and junior Jeff Kari rank in the top 10 in the Patriot League for their three-pointers per game average. Brown's 2.85 is third while Kari's 1.69 sits at ninth.

PRESEASON ALL-PATRIOT FOR BROWN: Senior guard Andrew Brown was selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team in late October. Brown was an All-Patriot League Second-Team pick at the end of the 2007-08 season after leading the Leopards in scoring 14 times and averaging a team-best 15.9 ppg. He also led the team in assists (85).

MOVING UP THE SCORING CHARTS: Brown is climbing the all-time career scoring list. This season his 211 points have catapulted him from 35th to 15th among career scoring leaders, and he now has 1,242 career points. He recently surpassed 'Craig White 92 (1,241 pts.) and needs seven points to catch Tyson Whitfield '01 (1,249) in 14th place.

ASCENDING THE ASSISTS LIST: Brown is also moving up the career assists list. With three assists against Penn, Brown increased his total to 51 for the season and 314 for his career to pass Brian Burke '02 (308) and claim seventh place. He needs 58 more to tie Bob Falconiero '80 (372) the sixth spot on the list.

FROM DOWNTOWN: Brown's hot hand from behind the arc last year helped him cement his name in the Lafayette record books. Brown owns the school record for most three-pointers in a game (nine), most three-point field goal attempts in a season (247) and most treys made in a season (99). After sinking 39 treys this season, he now has 258 three-pointers to his name and needs 14 more to break the career record held by Tyson Whitfield '01.

LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: The Leopards have 15 games televised at home. Fourteen telecasts will be produced by the Lafayette Sports Network (LSN). The Leopards garnered national exposure on
ESPNU when they visited Penn State on Dec. 21 and will again when they travel to Lehigh in late February. Emmy-nominated local sports broadcaster Gary Laubach will handle all of LSN's play-by-play duties for the 12th straight season. Former Lafayette men's basketball coach John Leone will provide color analysis for the 11th season and will be joined by Dan Mowdy on the sidelines.

ON THE SIDELINE: The all-time winningest coach in Lafayette history and the longest tenured coach in the Patriot League, Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova, '70) is in his 14th 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 190-198 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.

KEEP IT UP, KARI: Junior guard Jeff Kari never seems satisfied with his career highs. He has either set or tied his career high in points in five games this season. He set his career high with 15 points in the season opener at Wagner. He reset his career high against Stony Brook with 16 points, and again hit for 16 points against Temple. He then bested that mark with a 21-point performance against Rider.
Kari isn't just a scoring threat. He tied his career high in assists (seven) against Hartford and grabbed a career high in rebounds (nine) against Rider. In the Rider and Temple games, he led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.
Kari is averaging 11.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and is second on the team in both categories.

LOTS OF THREE BALLS AT HARTFORD (12/4): Lafayette made a season-high 15 three-pointers at Hartford on Dec. 4. It was the first time since Jan. 2, 2008 at Pittsburgh when they made 15 or more. Those 17 treys at Pitt were the most allowed by a Panther opponent in the program's history.
In a related note, Lafayette's 21 assists at Hartford also marked the first time the team dished out 20+ assists since it recorded 21 assists against Army on Jan. 30, 2008.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?: Andrew Brown can distribute the ball. The Littleton, Colo. native led the team in assists his first three years on College Hill. Brown dished out 94 assists (3.1 apg) as a sophomore and started 27 of 30 games. He had 84 assists as a freshman, starting all but three games, and was the first freshman during the Fran O'Hanlon era to lead the team in assists. Brown finished his junior year with a team-high 85 assists in 30 games (2.8 apg), despite taking a more active scoring role. This season, Brown has 51 assists through 14 games (3.6 apg).
Brown can shoot the ball too. He averaged 9.3 ppg as a freshman when he hit 51 three-pointers and followed that by scoring 10.4 ppg while netting 69 three-pointers in his second season on College Hill. In 2007-08, Brown led the Leopards in scoring 14 times and has continued that trend seven times this season, averaging 15.1 ppg.
Brown is stellar from the line. In his sophomore year, he shot 91 percent from the charity stripe, connecting on 42-of-46 attempts. Last season, Brown went to the line 82 times and hit for 83 percent. He reached the line a career-high 10 times in the season opener, connecting on eight, and is shooting 81.8 percent this season in 66 attempts.
Brown makes big shots. Last year at Stony Brook, Brown went 7-for-8 at the line with five of those makes coming in overtime. Brown was responsible for the tying baskets that sent the Stony Brook and UMBC games to overtime. At Mount St. Mary's, Brown's ninth three-pointer of the game came in overtime and gave Lafayette a 76-72 win. With 48 seconds left in overtime at Navy, a Brown three claimed the lead for the Leopards (97-94) before they went on to win it 103-99.

SEEING DOUBLE: Freshman Ryan Willen seems to be adjusting to college just fine. The Cape Girardeau, Mo. native posted a double-double against Stony Brook (11/18), tallying 15 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the first double-double performance since Feb. 23, 2008, when Bilal Abdullah '08 tallied 19 points and 13 rebounds against Lehigh. Willen's performance was the first double-double by a freshman since Abdullah achieved the feat on Jan. 13, 2005, posting 21 points and 10 rebounds. Two games later against Rider, he nearly tallied another double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Willen leads the team in rebounding with 4.6 boards per game and is the fourth-leading scorer with 7.7 points per game.

LOOKING BACK: The last time Lafayette started off the season with a 2-0 record was in 1998-99. In that season, the Leopards defeated Dartmouth, 56-41, and Princeton, 63-47. Lafayette went on to earn a 22-8 record, including a 10-2 record in the Patriot League, and secured a berth to the NCAA Tournament after winning its first Patriot League championship (against Bucknell).
Even more impressive, Lafayette achieved all that success despite losing the preseason Player of the Year Stefan Ciosici for the entire season and the 1997-98 Rookie of the Year Tyson Whitfield for seven games in the middle of the conference schedule.

D.C. DANDIES: Though players from 11 states and three countries are represented on Lafayette's roster, the Leopards do have a preference for the D.C. area. Prior to arriving on College Hill, three of Lafayette's guards attended schools within 25 miles of the nation's capital. Michael Gruner shined at Walt Whitman High School, where he led his team to a state championship. Sophomore Ben Wheeler played at Chantilly where he garnered first team all-district and second team all-region accolades his senior year. Freshman Nick Petkovich is the most recent addition from the D.C. area, an All-IAC Conference First-Team selection from Bullis Prep.

THE PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette was picked eighth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll voted on by the conference head coaches and sports information directors. Defending champion American was selected to repeat followed by Lehigh, Holy Cross, Colgate, Bucknell, Navy and Army.

WORKING OVERTIME IN 2007-08: The Leopards set an NCAA single-season record with five overtime wins on the road (at Navy -- 103-99 on Jan. 19, at Colgate 69-68 on Jan. 16, at Princeton -- 76-71 on Jan. 9, at Towson -- 79-69 on Dec. 19 and at Stony Brook -- 78-67 on Nov. 12) in 2007-08. The lone win at home in overtime came Nov. 20 vs. UMBC (87-84) to give the team a total of six overtime victories and tie the NCAA team record for overtime victories in a season. Wake Forest (6-1 in 1988-89) and Chattanooga (6-0 in 1983-84) share the mark. Fran O'Hanlon is 16-10 in overtime.

IN THE RANKS: Seven of Lafayette's non-conference opponents were picked to finish within the top five of their respective leagues in the pre-season polls. At No. 1, Mount St. Mary's is the highest ranked non-conference opponent the Leopards will face. Lafayette will tip off against five opponents from the Northeast Conference -- the most of any one conference on the Leopards' schedule.

BASKETBALL IQ: Lafayette placed a program-best five student-athletes on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll during the 2007-08 season. The distinction recognizes those who have earned a varsity letter and maintained a 3.2 GPA during the spring semester. Junior Michael Gruner and sophomores Deirunas Visockas and Ben Wheeler along with graduated players Matt Betley and Paul Cummins earned the nod.

ON THE RADIO: The entire 2008-09 Lafayette men's basketball season will air on WSAN-AM 1470 "The Fox." Entering his 42nd season as the radio voice of Lafayette athletics, Dick Hammer will continue to call the play-by-play action. Joining Hammer courtside will be Lafayette Sports Information Director Phil LaBella.