OPENING TIP
* Lafayette begins its 25th season under the direction of head coach Fran O'Hanlon on Tuesday night. O'Hanlon is just the fifth coach in Division I to be at the helm of the same program since the beginning of the 1995-96 season.
* The 2019-20 season will be the 110th in Lafayette history and the Leopards have gone 65-45 in season openers all-time. 
* Sophomore Justin Jaworski enters his junior campaign having racked up 48 straight games with a three, the second-longest streak in the nation. Jaworski wa second in the country in three-point efficiency last season, knocking down triples at a 48.9 percent clip, a mark that made him the single-season record holder in program history, passing the 46.5 percent clip set by Jim Mower '12 during the 2009-10 season. Jaworski was selected to the All-Patriot League Third Team in 2018-19, the first all-conference honor of his career.

LEADING OFF
The Leopards start the season at home for just the fourth time in head coach Fran O'Hanlon's 25 seasons at the helm. During his tenure, Lafayette is 9-15 overall on opening night, 1-2 in season openers at home and 15-8 in home openers overall. Last season the Leopards opened up on the road at Saint Peter's, falling by a 93-86 score in Jersey City, New Jersey. Lafayette opens the season at home for the first time since the 2012-13 season, a 76-65 loss to St. Francis Brooklyn on Nov. 9, 2012.

KNOCKING OFF THE RUST
Lafayette took part in a pair of preseason scrimmages in preparation for the 2019-20 season. The Leopards hosted East Stroudsburg on Nov. 1 and traveled to Mount St. Mary's on Oct. 27.

LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette closed the book on its 2018-19 season on March 5 at Kirby Sports Center, falling in the Patriot League Tournament First Round to Holy Cross by a 79-74 score.

Alex Petrie and Justin Jaworski were outstanding with 23 and 22 points, respectively, but Holy Cross' Jehyve Floyd and Jacob Grandison had stellar nights of their own to put the visitors on top. Floyd netted 24 points on 9-of-13 from the floor, while Grandison tallied 22 points and 16 rebounds in his best game of the season. The loss finished the 2018-19 year with an overall record of 10-20, going 7-11 in Patriot League action. 

Lukas Jarrett registered a double-double of his own for the Maroon and White, scoring 10 points and adding 12 rebounds. That being said, the Leopards would have loved for 13 on the scoreboard from Jarrett as his three from the corner to tie it with less than three seconds remaining went halfway down, but could not find the bottom of the net in defeat.

Lafayette shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26-of-56) and 9-of-22 from three-point range (40.9%). Holy Cross was impressive on the offensive end in the second half, missing just 11 of its 29 shots from the field, a 62.1 percent mark with 50 of its 79 points coming from inside the painted area.

The game was the finale for Auston Evans '19 and Paulius Zalys '19.. Zalys posted eight points, three assists and three rebounds in his final game.

THE SKINNY ON THE LIONS
Columbia brings back four starters from a team that finished the 2018-19 slate at 10-18 overall, going 5-9 in Ivy League action. The Lions were just 4-9 on the road last season, but tallied impressive wins away from home at Penn (79-77 (OT)) and at Yale (83-75) during conference play. Jim Engles, a coach the Leopards are familiar with from his time at NJIT, begins his fourth season in New York, looking for his first winning season with the program.

The Lions boasted a trio of double-figure scorers a year ago in Gabe Stefanini, Quinton Adlesh and Patrick Tape at 13.8, 13.5 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Stefanini is the only returner of the three, however, as the Lions will look for more offensive production from other areas in 2019-20. Stefanini also paces Columbia on the glass, ripping down 5.3 boards per outing a year ago, and added 4.1 assists per game to fill out the stat sheet.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
Six different Leopards stamped their names in the Lafayette program record books a year ago, with Justin Jaworski, Lukas Jarrett, Dylan Hastings, Sean Good, Alex Petrie and Kyle Stout all making appearances. 

Jaworski set the Lafayette single-season three-point percentage record a year ago at 48.9 percent from deep, while also holding the fourth spots in career three-point percentage (46.2%) and single-season three's made (85 in 2018-19). Jarrett sits in fifth in career blocks (93) and his 48 swats a year ago were the sixth-best all-time, while Hastings' 37 career blocks are 25th all-time and Good's 26 send-backs in his rookie year ranked 16th. Petrie occupies the 11th spot in career three-point percentage (40.2%) and 17th spot in career three's made (133), with last year's 65 made three's at a 39.9 percent clip ranked 17th and 18th, respectively. Finally, Stout hit his 100th career three against Boston U. on Feb. 6 to move into 26th on the career three's list.