December 30, 2014

	Lafayette at Army Wednesday, Dec. 31 | 3 p.m. West Point, N.Y. | Christl Arena Game Notes

LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Nick Lindner did not miss from the free-throw line down the stretch, knocking down all eight of his foul shots in the final minute to help the Leopards to a 76-71 victory inside Kirby Sports Center.

The win completes the first unbeaten home non-conference slate since 2003-04 for the Leopards (8-3) and is just the third time since entering the Patriot League in 1990-91 that Lafayette has gone undefeated at home entering league play. Coupling with the 4-0 start for the women's side, Sunday's win marks the first season since entering the league where both teams have begun Patriot League action with no losses at home.

Senior captain Seth Hinrichs led four Leopards in double-figure scoring with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and four steals. Classmate Dan Trist dropped in 17 points, while senior Joey Ptasinski and Lindner added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Lafayette went 25-for-55 from the floor (45.5%), 6-for-19 from beyond the arc (31.6%) and 20-of-23 from the charity stripe (87.0%).

NJIT's Damon Lynn led the offense with 24 points, while Tim Coleman tallied 14 and Ky Howard added 11. The Highlanders (5-9) shot 41.7 percent from the field (25-of-60) and just 19.2 percent from three-point range (5-for-26).

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Army, looking to improve upon a 15-16 record a season ago when it went 10-8 in league play, is the first conference opponent the Leopards will face this season. The Knights have opened the season red hot with a 9-2 record, including an overtime win at USC (85-77) on Dec. 13. Army is led by a trio of double-figure scorers in Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Kyle Wilson (21.0 ppg), Tanner Plomb (13.8 ppg) and Kevin Ferguson (10.4 ppg). Ferguson paces Army on the glass with 6.0 boards per game. The Knights, averaging 79.5 points per game to start the year, are the league's top offense this season, shooting 47 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from three-point territory. Army gets 25.9 percent of its scoring from beyond the arc is tenacious defensively, holding a +2.5 turnover margin.

FAMILIAR FOES
Lafayette has played 721 games against current Patriot League members, holding a 388-333 overall record. In Patriot League play, Lafayette is 141-188 in the regular season and 18-22 in the Patriot League Tournament. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 128-131 in conference regular-season play. Below are Lafayette's all-time records against current Patriot League schools.

American, 19-32 Army, 40-26 Boston U., 4-5 Bucknell, 87-69
Colgate, 46-48 HC, 24-34 Lehigh, 140-79 Loyola, 3-2
Navy, 31-42

LAST MEETING
Army used a 19-5 run early in the second half to break the game open and began Patriot League play with an 85-66 win over Lafayette at Kirby Sports Center on March 1, 2014. Tanner Plomb scored a game-high 24 points in the victory for Army.

Plomb scored 17 points after halftime for the Black Knights (5-7, 1-0), who made 31-of-57 from the floor in the win. Joining Plomb in double figures were Kyle Wilson (24 points) and Tanner Omlid (14 points). Lafayette had three players reach double digits in the scoring column as Dan Trist and Bryce Scott each scored 13 and Zach Rufer posted 10 points.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Leopards hold a 40-26 lead in the all-time series with the Knights that dates back to 1926. Army swept the season series a year ago with an 85-66 win in Easton and an 87-84 victory in West Point. The last Lafayette win came on Feb. 8, 2012, a 90-74 win at Christl Arena.

JOEY P FOR THREE
Senior Joey Ptasinski has been on fire from three-point range in his senior campaign. Ptasinski went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc in the win over NJIT and is 35-for-64 on the year (54.7%), good enough for third in the national rankings and first in the Patriot League. Additionally, the sharpshooter sits atop the league table in threes per game at 3.2 per contest and is fifth in overall field-goal percentage (57.5%).

HERE COMES HINRICHS
Senior captain Seth Hinrichs has hit his stride entering Patriot League playing, tallying double-figure scoring performances in each of his last five games. The Clara City, Minn. has begun to cut back on turnovers that plagued him earlier in the year with just nine in his last four games compared to 21 in the first seven. Additionally, Hinrichs is filling up the stat sheet, sitting in the top-ten in the league rankings in free-throw percentage (86.7%), scoring (13.3 ppg), three-point field-goal percentage (40.0%), steals (1.5 spg), three-point field-goals made (1.8 pg), rebounding (5.2 rpg), field-goal percentage (48.5%) and assists (2.7 apg).