November 22, 2014
|
LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette never cooled off in an offensively-powered win over Princeton in the home opener on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center, 83-66. The Lafayette starters were an offensive juggernaut throughout the night as they went a combined 26-for-41 from the floor (63.4%), all tallying double figures. Senior Joey Ptasinski led the way with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 5-of-7 marksmanship from behind the three-point arc.
Classmate Seth Hinrichs added 19 points, while sophomore Nick Lindner chipped in with 17, missing just two shots out of his 12 attempted on the night, going 7-for-8 from the floor, 1-for-1 from three and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe. Senior Dan Trist and junior Bryce Scott added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
SCOUTING PENN
Penn, looking to improve upon a 8-20 record a season ago, has struggled to open the year, falling to Delaware State in the opener in overtime, 77-75, and backing that up with a loss to Rider, 73-57. The Quakers are led by Tony Hicks, averaging 21.0 points per game to start the year, going 14-for-31 from the field (45.2%) and 6-for-16 from three-point range (37.5%). Darien Henry-Nelson controls the glass with 5.5 boards per contest, leading to Penn's 36-34 rebound advantage over opponents to begin the season. The Quakers get just 27.1 percent of their scoring from beyond the arc.
ALL DECIDED BUT THE FINAL STATS
In Lafayette's first three games of the 2014-15 season, the game has essentially been decided going into the final four-minute media timeout. The Leopards pulled out a 27-point win over Robert Morris in the opener and West Virginia pulled away for a 83-56 win over the Maroon and White in game two. Lafayette returned home and routed Princeton by 17 in the home opener on Wednesday.
MANNING THE BENCH
Lafayette's Fran O'Hanlon has posted 271 wins in his career in his 20th season on the sideline for the Leopards, while Penn's Jerome Allen is in his sixth year, holding a career overall mark of 56-87, all with the Tigers. O'Hanlon served as an assistant coach with the Quakers under Fran Dunphy from 1989-95.
LAFAYETTE VS. THE IVY LEAGUE
Penn is the second of three straight Ivy League opponents the Leopards will face over the next week, traveling to Penn today and Yale on Wednesday. All-time, Lafayette is 87-132 against Ivy League opponents, holding winning records over Brown (11-8), Cornell (11-7), Dartmouth (3-2) and Columbia (27-14).
STARTING WITH A BANG
Coach O'Hanlon's bunch has never turned away from a challenge and the Lafayette schedule is certainly that to start the 2014-15 campaign. The Leopards' first three opponents went a combined 60-39 a season ago and all advanced to a postseason tournament. Robert Morris finished 2013-14 at 22-14 overall and fell in the second round of the NIT to Belmont, West Virginia went 17-16 on the season and dropped its opening-round game in the NIT to Georgetown, and Princeton went 21-9 and ended its season with a second-round loss in the CBI to Fresno State. So far, the Leopards have gone 1-1 through the opening-weekend gauntlet, dropping Robert Morris on Friday, 77-50 and falling to West Virginia on Sunday, 83-56.
