Jan. 31, 2010

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EASTON, Pa. - The 2009-10 college basketball season is the 100th men's basketball season in Lafayette's grand history of intercollegiate athletics. The Leopards' hardwood history, highlighted by twelve 20-win seasons, five postseason appearances and more than 1,200 victories, will be commemorated on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010 at Lafayette's home regular season finale with a day of celebration.

The day-long schedule of events includes many activities exclusively for Leopard basketball alumni, former coaches, and their guests, including brunch from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the Wilson Room in Pfenning Alumni Center. Brunch will be followed by a cocktail reception in the same location until Lafayette tips off against Lehigh at 2 p.m. in Kirby Sports Center.

All attendees to the Lafayette Basketball 100th Season Celebration will be recognized publicly at halftime. Following the contest is the Friends of Lafayette Basketball's annual pig roast on the third floor of Kirby Sports Center.

Prior to the Lafayette-Lehigh game, current Leopard head coach Fran O'Hanlon will be honored for his 200th career victory recorded earlier this season.

For more information on the Lafayette Basketball 100th Season Celebration, please contact former Leopard center Jamie Hughes '05, Assistant Director for Athletic Development at hughesjc@lafayette.edu or (610) 330-5899.

LAFAYETTE BASKETBALL TIMELINE

Jan., 1901 - The student newspaper carried the following editorial: "Dr. S.B. Newton (head football coach) suggests that inter-class basketball games be arranged and one evening of each week be set apart for the different classes out of which a varsity will be selected which will practice on Friday evenings, Saturday evenings being devoted to scheduled games with other teams. Let the various classes organize teams at once. These contests will furnish sports and pleasant pastime during the long evenings of this winter team."

Feb. 1, 1901 - A six-member varsity squad plays its first game versus the Allentown (Pa.) Y.M.C.A. Ed Haldeman scored the first basket after seven minutes and Lafayette went on to win, 12-4. Admission was 25 cents.

Feb. 16, 1901 - Walt Haldeman was the first person to score in double figures with 10 points in Lafayette's 34-7 win over Mauch Chunk Y.M.C.A.

March 6, 1901 - Ed Haldeman scores a basket to give Lafayette an 18-16 win over Princeton in its first overtime game.

1904 - Dr. Updegrove, head of the gymnasium, refuses to let the basketball team practice in the physical education building and the sport is disbanded until 1913.

Nov. 13, 1913 - Lafayette faculty decides that basketball should be inaugurated as a minor sport that must be selfsupporting. Games were to be played at the Easton Armory.

Jan. 23, 1914 - Lafayette basketball was resumed with a 44-13 win over Muhlenberg.

Feb. 6, 1914 - George Troxel scores 21 points (first to top 20 or more points for Lafayette) in Leopards' 26-23 loss to Lehigh.

Feb. 4, 1919 - Bill Anderson hits for 37 points and Lafayette scores its biggest win to date, a 63-20 decision over Albright.

1919 - Bill Anderson becomes Lafayette's first 1,000-point scorer. He finished the season with 1,211 career points.

Jan., 1920 - Bill MacAvoy named Lafayette's first non-student coach. He was a former football and baseball player for the Leopards.

Dec. 6, 1924 - The Lafayette basketball team's first game in Alumni Gym was a 19-4 win over Schuylkill Seminary.

March 7, 1949 - Veteran coach Bill Anderson leads his team to the school's first 20-win season. The Leopards win at Boston University, 43-41, to record their 20th victory.

Jan. 8, 1955 - Leopards record first 100-point game in school history with a 104-63 win over visiting Wilkes in Alumni Gym.

March 12, 1955 - Lafayette plays its first ever postseason game. Coach Butch van Breda Kolff and Leopards lose to Niagara, 83-70, in National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

March 17, 1956 - For the second consecutive year, Lafayette makes an appearance in the N.I.T. The Leopards fall to St. Francis (NY), 85-74, at Madison Square Garden in the first round of the tourney.

March 15-16, 1957 - Lafayette makes its first appearance in the NCAA tournament at the East Regionals held at the Palestra in Philadelphia. The Leopards lose to Syracuse, 75-71, in the first round and drop a 82-76 decision to Canisius in the consolation game.

Feb. 22, 1958 - Leopards record 500th all-time victory in program history with a 67-64 win at Gettysburg.

March 5, 1958 - Bob Mantz reaches 1,000 career points with a 47-point effort in 109-56 rout of Wilkes in the final game of the season. His single-game scoring mark will stand for 41 seasons.

Feb. 8, 1961 - The Leopards lose to Lehigh, 60-58, to snap a 34-game winning streak over the Engineers dating back to March 4, 1944.

March 17, 1972 - Senior Jay Mottola's free throw with :03 remaining gives Lafayette its only post-season victory to date, a 72-71 triumph over Virginia in the first round of the N.I.T. at Madison Square Garden. The Leopards were eliminated from the tournament three days later by Jacksonville University, 87-76.

1972 - Tracy Tripucka caps an outstanding career with 1,973 points in only three years of varsity basketball. He remains the school's leading all-time scorer to this day.

Dec. 1, 1973 - Lafayette celebrates the opening of Allan P. Kirby Field House with a 79-70 win over Gettysburg.

March 15, 1975 - Coach Tom Davis directs his team to its fourth N.I.T. bid, but loses at Madison Square Garden to St. John's, 94-76, in the first round.

March 5, 1980 - Head coach Roy Chipman leads the Leopards to their sixth post-season appearance, but loses in the first round of the N.I.T. to Virginia, 67-56, in Charlottesville, Va.

Nov. 24, 1984 - For the start of the 1984-85 season, Butch van Breda Kolff returns to Lafayette 29 years after he first coached at the school from 1951- 55. He will move on to Hofstra after the 1987-88 season.

Jan. 4, 1988 - Junior Otis Ellis scores a career-high 35 points and grabs 10 rebounds to lead the Leopards to a nationally- televised 83-68 upset of eventual NCAA Tournament participant Notre Dame.

March 7, 1989 - In his first season as head coach, John Leone leads his club to the title game of the East Coast Conference Tournament in Towson, Md., only to lose to Bucknell, 71-65 and narrowly miss an automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Senior Otis Ellis finishes his career in second place on the school's all-time scoring list, 103 points behind Tracy Tripucka.

Nov. 25, 1989 - Sophomore forward Craig White executes three slam dunks in a span of only 0:09 as the Leopards wallop Colgate University, 97-71, in the season opener at Kirby Field House.

Dec. 10, 1990 - Sophomore guard Larry Spigner drops in a 45-foot shot at the final buzzer to give Lafayette a 71-68 win over Drexel University at Kirby Field House.

Jan. 10, 1991 - Lafayette plays its first official league contest as a member of the Patriot League in Worcester, Mass., losing to Holy Cross, 92-83.

Jan. 14, 1991 - Playing at Miami Arena, senior guard Tom Kresge sinks 7- of-8 shots from three-point range as the Leopards roll over the Miami Hurricanes by a 73-57 count.

Dec. 1, 1992 - Lafayette plays Princeton in its first game on its new maple hardwood basketball floor after playing 19 seasons on a Tartan surface in Kirby Field House.

Dec. 7, 1993 - The Leopards notch their 1,000th men's basketball victory in the 84th season of the program with a 70-53 win over visiting Columbia University at Kirby Field House.

Dec. 28, 1993 - Trailing by 20 points at halftime, the Leopards storm back led by senior guard Keith Brazzo who finishes the night with a career-high 32 points to stun Iona, hosts of their own tournament, 88-80.

March 3-4, 1994 - No. 7-seeded Lafayette wins its first league tournament game since 1989 by easily defeating No. 2-seeded Fordham, 83-65, in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament in Annapolis, Md. The next day, the Leopards play a classic battle with No. 3-seeded Colgate--in a game that features 23 lead changes--before seeing Craig Kowadla's potential game-tying 3-point shot bounce off the iron at the final buzzer en route to a 76-73 loss.

Feb. 27, 1998 - Lafayette posted the most wins for the program (19) in 10 years, en route to winning a share of its first regular season Patriot League crown. At the league tournament banquet, Lafayette becomes the first team, men's or women's, to sweep the major postseason awards. Stefan Ciosici is named the Player of the Year, Tyson Whitfield earns league Rookie of the Year, while Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon is chosen the Coach of the Year.

March 5, 1998 - After earning the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time in school history, Lafayette advances to the Patriot League Championship Game against Navy. The Leopards battled back from a 23-point deficit to tie the game in the second half in the final two minutes, but still fell to Mids, 93-85.

Feb. 21, 1999 - In front of a packed Kirby Field House, Lafayette claims its first outright Patriot League regular-season title. In his last regular-season game at home, senior Ted Cole explodes for a career-high 27 points to lead Lafayette to the win.

March 5, 1999 - Nearly two weeks after claiming the Patriot League regular--season title, Lafayette adds a Patriot League Tournament title to its list of accolades. Tyson Whitfield gave the overflow Kirby Field House crowd and ESPN's national television audience an extraordinary moment, hitting a three-quarter court shot to end the first half. All-Patriot League Tournament Team member Tim Bieg and Patriot League Tournament MVP Brian Ehlers each make a pair of free throws under 20 seconds left to seal the 67-63 win. A frenzied celebration follows the final buzzer, as the Zoo Crew joins the players and coaches in celebration of an NCAA Tournament berth.

March 12, 1999 - Lafayette makes its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 1956-57 season, snapping the second-longest drought in the nation between NCAA Tournament appearances. The Leopards face off with No. 2 seeded Miami, Fla. at the FleetCenter in Boston, Mass. Lafayette loses the game 75-54.

March 10, 2000 - Lafayette wins back to back Patriot League Tournaments with a convincing 87-61 win over Navy in the finals. An overflow crowd of 4,021 and millions of viewers on ESPN see the Leopards set a new school record with its 24th win. Player of the Year Brian Ehlers scores 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

March 17, 2000 - Lafayette makes its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Leopards square-off with No. 2 seeded Temple at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. Lafayette loses the game 73-47.

March 9, 2006 - The Lafayette trustees unanimously approved a plan to offer athletic scholarships in men's basketball beginning with the Class of 2010, revising a financial aid policy that had previously assigned aid based solely on need.