Feb. 17, 2011

Complete Release in PDF Format

EASTON, Pa.- Lafayette and Lehigh meet for the 215th time on Sunday amid the drab Brown of Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa. The Leopards are looking for the series split with their archrivals after losing a 79-62 decision at Kirby in January. The teams have identical 5-6 records in conference play.

Lafayette rests at 5-6 in the Patriot League standings in a third-place tie with Lehigh and Holy Cross. The Leopards trail Bucknell (10-1) and American (8-3) and are a game ahead of Navy and Colgate, while Army sits alone at 3-8. Sunday's game has obvious Patriot League Tournament seeding implications, as only the top four teams host a Patriot League quarterfinal.

Sunday's game can be seen live on CBS College Sports and then re-played on Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., on Feb. 21 at 2 a.m., 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. and on Feb. 22 at 4 a.m. Bob Socci and John Feinstein call the action.

Over the last 10 meetings with Lehigh, Lafayette holds a 4-6 mark. The average point differential is 10.3. Lafayette's 18-point win Feb. 23, 2008 is the largest margin in the span. Lafayette holds a definite advantage against their most frequent rival, owning a 138-76 mark against Lehigh.

Like the Leopards, the Mountain Hawks come into Sunday's game fresh off an overtime loss, falling 94-90 on Wednesday at home vs. Colgate. Lehigh is 2-2 in the second round of conference play (beating Navy and Army while losing to American and Colgate) after going through the first seven games with a 3-4 clip.

Sophomore guard C.J. McCollum represents 30 percent of Lehigh's offense, averaging a conference-best 22.3 ppg. He also leads the team and is second in the Patriot League in rebounding at 8.2 per game. In conference action, McCollum's numbers are 24.8 ppg and 9.9 rpg.

Senior Michael Ojo and freshman Mackey McKnight occupy spots in the starting five. Ojo is averaging 12.2 points per game. McKnight leads the team with 4.0 assists per game while chipping in 7.8 ppg.

Up front, sophomore forward Gabe Knutson is one of three players on the team to average double figures (12.2 ppg) while adding 5.9 rpg in 26 starts. Junior Jordan Hamilton (4.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg), sophomore Holden Greiner (6.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and senior David Safstrom (1.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg) also have spent time in the starting lineup.