OPENING TIP
- Lafayette heads back to the road looking to snap a two-game skid at American on Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C. The Leopards have fallen to Holy Cross and Navy since picking up their first conference victory over Loyola on Jan. 9. On the other side, American is 2-3 in Patriot League action, boasting wins over Boston U. and Navy. 

- Under head coach Fran O'Hanlon, Lafayette has been traditionally strong from beyond the arc through the years, but the Leopards are relying on outside shooting for an even greater majority of their scoring in 2018-19. 37.4 percent of Lafayette's offense has come from the three-point line this season, and that number increases to 46.1 percent in Patriot League contests.

- The Leopards remain on the road this week, traveling to Colgate on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tilt.

LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette went into the break with a two-point edge on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center, but Navy came out a different team, scoring 53 points in the second 20 minutes to down the Leopards by a score of 85-77. The loss snapped a string of six straight home Patriot League victories for the Maroon and White with their last loss coming against Boston U. on Jan. 24, 2018. 

Cold stretches were the downfall for the Leopards as they went more than four minutes without a bucket midway through the second half, allowing Navy's lead to stretch to seven and putting the Mids in control to the final stretch. After shooting 40.7 percent from the field in the opening half, Navy improved to 57.1 percent in the second 20 minutes, making 16 of its 28 shoots, including 5-of-9 from three-point range in the second stanza.

Lafayette went 27-for-61 overall (44.3%) and 10-of-28 from three-point range (35.7%), but made just 4-of-13 from distance in the second half. Sophomore Justin Jaworski led all scorers with 20 points on 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, while senior co-captain Paulius Zalys and sophomore Alex Petrie chipped in with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

THE SKINNY ON THE EAGLES
American, returning all five starters from a year ago, has seen marked improvement in the 2018-19 campaign, sitting at 8-8 overall heading into Saturday's showdown with the Leopards. The Eagles have gone 2-3 in Patriot League play, boasting victories over Navy and Boston U., both at Bender Arena.

Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year Sa'eed Nelson has lived up to that honor in his junior season, leading the Eagles in scoring at 19.5 points per night. Sam Iorio and Mark Gasperini round out American's double-figure scorers at 15.1 and 10.7 points per game, respectively, while Iorio paces the Eagles on the glass at 6.9 boards per contest.
 
LAST MEETING
The offense was clicking on Feb. 27, 2018 in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament as Lafayette earned a 93-86 win over American at Kirby Sports Center. The Leopards tied their largest scoring output of the 2017-18 season with 93 points, a Lafayette postseason record, breaking the previously-held mark of 89 points against Colgate on March 8, 2003, and versus Boston U. on March 5, 2015. Additionally, it was the most points scored by a team in the Patriot League First Round since its inception in the 2013-14 season, breaking a mark already held by the Leopards in an 84-71 win over Loyola in 2014.

The Maroon and White moved their home tournament record to 11-0, going 30-of-59 from the floor (50.8%) and 12-of-19 from three-point range (63.2%). Matt Klinewski '18 led four players in double-figure scoring with 23 points, while Justin Jaworski, Alex Petrie, and Eric Stafford '18 rounded it out with 20, 17 and 12 points, respectively. Additionally, Jaworski added five assists, the biggest coming in the final minutes.

The final five were tightly contested with Sa'eed Nelson's layup at 2:34 making it 83-80. After a pair of stops on either end, Stafford came through with the biggest shot of the game as Jaworski found him open in the left corner and he drained the triple to push it out to six with 1:25 to play. From there, it turned into foul shooting, one of Lafayette's strengths, as it was able to close out the victory.

Lukas Jarrett had one of his better games of the season, ripping down eight boards to go along with five points, two assists, a block and a steal. Paulius Zalys also produced on the glass with eight rebounds, accompanying five points, three assists, a block and a steal as well.

On the other side, Lafayette could do very little to slow down Nelson, who finished with a game-high and career-high 41 points on the night. Nelson hit 14-of-20 from the field, 4-of-6 from three-point range and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Sam Iorio added 17 points and four rebounds for the Eagles, while Larry Motuzis rounded out the major offensive sources with 13 points.

BLOCK PARTY
Lafayette's nine team blocks in the last outing against Navy were the most for the Leopards since Feb. 12, 2014, a nine-block effort against Loyola. Sophomore Dylan Hastings swatted a career-high four shots against the Mids, while junior Lukas Jarrett added a pair and senior co-captain Paulius Zalys, sophomore Alex Petrie and freshman Sean Good each chipped in with one. As a unit, the Leopards are third in the Patriot League in blocks, protecting the rim to the tune of 3.6 send-back's per game.