OPENING TIP
- Lafayette aims to salvage a split in the season series with Holy Cross when the Crusaders invade Kirby Sports Center on Sunday afternoon. The game is the second nationally-televised contest for the Leopards this season, being produced by CBS Sports Network. The Leopards were featured on ESPNU earlier this season in a matchup with UConn on Dec. 5, 2018.

- Lafayette is looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this season, coming off a 79-72 victory at Boston U. on Wednesday night. The Leopards used four double-figure scorers, led by 20 from sophomore Alex Petrie, to propel them to their third win of the league campaign 

- Senior Paulius Zalys is bidding to become the 45th player in Lafayette history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. Zalys currently sits at 964 career points.

LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette righted the ship on the road on Wednesday evening, using 54.4 percent shooting to take care of Boston U. by a 79-72 score.

In the longest road trip of the season for the Maroon and White at approximately 300 miles from Kirby Sports Center, the Leopards made Case Gymnasium feel like home. Lafayette broke a 65-65 tie with less than five minutes to play by scoring 14 of the game's final 21 points off the hands of five different players to seal it.

The win snaps a four-game skid and improves the Maroon and White to 6-16 on the year overall and 3-8 in conference action. Boston U., coming off back-to-back league victories, including handing Colgate its first home loss of the year the last time out, falls to 4-7 in Patriot League play and 11-13 in total.

Sophomore Alex Petrie netted his second 20-point game of the league slate to lead four Leopards in double-figure scoring on 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. Junior Lukas Jarrett, sophomore Justin Jaworski and junior Kyle Stout rounded out the major sources of offense with 13, 12 and 11, respectively. Stout, making his first start since the season moved to the conference portion, scored eight of his 11 in the opening half of play, adding four rebounds and an assist to his stat line in 19 minutes of action.

Boston U.'s Tyler Scanlon was the only significant offensive contributor for a Terrier team that shot 43.3 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three. Scanlon tallied a game-high 28 points to go along with seven boards, making 10 of his 17 shots from the floor and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Alex Vilarino and Max Mahoney added 11 and 10 points each.

THE SKINNY ON THE CRUSADERS
With Holy Cross, scoring points has always been tough and this year's edition is no exception, allowing just 67.7 points per game, ranking atop the Patriot League in scoring defense. Despite that number, Crusader scoring has been their downfall since the start of Patriot League play as they sit ninth in the league in points at 66.9 per outing, leading to a 4-7 conference mark despite a 13-11 overall record. The visitors have won two of their last four, however, including a slugfest with Army the last time out, a 56-42 victory on Wednesday. 

The Crusaders feature balanced scoring from their top performers with four players averaging in double figures. Jacob Grandison leads the way at 14.1 points per outing, while Austin Butler, Jehyve Floyd and Caleb Green each chip in with 13.2, 11.3 and 11.0 per night, respectively. Floyd leads the Patriot League in blocks at 2.3 per game this season and also paces Holy Cross on the glass with 5.8 boards per contest.

LAST MEETING
The Leopards had their three-point shooting on display at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts on Jan. 12, 2019, but Holy Cross still proved too tough in a 77-70 defeat in Patriot League action.

The Leopards shot a scintillating 15-for-28 from beyond the arc (53.6%) on the day, including a combined 11-for-17 from sophomores Justin Jaworski (6-of-8) and Alex Petrie (5-of-9). Unfortunately, they went 30.1 percent from the floor on two-point attempts and four double-figure scorers for the home side proved to be the difference.

Holy Cross was efficient throughout its offensive possessions on the afternoon, going 30-of-54 from the field (55.6%) and 8-of-14 from three (57.1%), including 7-of-10 in the opening 20 minutes. Preseason All-Patriot League selection Jehyve Floyd was formidable in the paint, tallying up a game-high 25 points with six rebounds and six assists to lead the home side offensively. Jacob Grandison, Caleb Green and Austin Butler rounded out the Crusader offense with 18, 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Senior co-captain Paulius Zalys paced the Maroon and White on the glass with seven boards to go with seven points as the only other Leopard with more than five. Holy Cross won the battle on the glass, 33-26, and recorded 18 assists to just seven turnovers.

OFFENSE FOUND IN BOSTON
Boston has traditionally been a tough place to find points for the Maroon and White since the Terriers entered the Patriot League for the 2013-14 season. In six games prior to Wednesday's win, the Leopards won just once on the Terriers' home floor and averaged just 56.8 points per game in those contests. 

Lafayette put a stop to that string of lackluster offense in Wednesday's victory, scoring 79 points in the victory and shooting 54.4 percent from the field overall. Junior Kyle Stout and sophomore Justin Jaworski were particularly efficient, connecting on 9-of-12 from the field combined and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc as a duo for 11 and 12 points, respectively.

COUNT ON PETRIE
Sophomore Alex Petrie, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, has been incredibly consistent since arriving on College Hill in 2017. A single digit in the scoring column has appeared next to Petrie's name just four times in his last 39 games, averaging 18.3 points per night in league play last season and 15.0 per night in league contests so far in 2018-19. 

MISSING MYLES
Lafayette has missed junior Myles Cherry greatly over the past seven games, with the loss felt the hardest on the glass. Prior to his injury, Cherry was ranked in the top five in the Patriot League in offensive rebounding at 2.1 offensive boards per contest, and led the Leopards on the glass at 6.1 total rebounds per contest. With Cherry on the floor, Lafayette carried a +0.2 rebounding margin, averaging 35.5 boards per game as a unit. In the last seven games since he's been absent, however, Lafayette is averaging just 30.9 rebounds overall as a team and carries a rebounding margin of -7.6, winning just twice over that stretch.

THE POLISH RIFLE
Sophomore Justin Jaworski has been on a tear from the three-point line in recent games, moving up to third in the nation in three-point percentage at 48.5 percent for the year. Over his last 11 outings, Jaworski has gone 36-for-63 from distance (57.1%). At that percentage, it's only fitting that Jaworski is second in the Patriot League in three's made per game as well, knocking down 2.9 per contest.