OPENING TIP
* Lafayette makes the trip north this weekend to try to regain its winning formula at Holy Cross. The Leopards have lost each of their last two contests and head into the final five games of conference regular season play in a three-way tie for fourth in the Patriot League standings.
* The Leopards have responded well to adversity this season, following up each of their two-game skids with win streaks of three and four games each. 
* With a strong close to the season, Lafayette could be in line for its first 20-win season since the 2014-15 campaign. The Leopards have at least six more chances to pick up the five necessary victories.

LAST TIME OUT
The defensive effort remained for Lafayette in West Point, N.Y. on Wednesday evening, but the offensive struggles unfortunately also continued as the Leopards dropped a 65-48 contest to Army.

The Leopards allowed less 70 points for the third straight outing, but countered that on the other end with their lowest scoring output of the conference slate. The loss dropped Lafayette's overall record to 15-9 and moved the Maroon and White to 7-6 in Patriot League action, while Army improved to 12-12 overall and 7-6 in conference play.

The shots just wouldn't fall for the Leopards, who trailed for just the seventh time this season at the break, 31-23. A run around five minutes into the second stanza erased that advantage to tie the game at 39-39, but Army gradually moved its lead back out from there to finish off the 65-48 final.

Junior co-captain Justin Jaworski and senior Kyle Stout were the lone Leopards in double-figure scoring at 13 and 11 points, respectively. Senior co-captain Myles Cherry added 12 rebounds for his eighth double-digit rebound game of the season.

Lafayette knocked down just 6-of-30 from beyond the arc (20.0%) and went 19-of-62 overall (30.6%), a season low. Army's Matt Wilson led all scorers with a double-double of 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

LAST MEETING
Junior Justin Jaworski became the 46th 1,000-point scorer in program history for Lafayette on Jan. 8 as his 19 points led the Leopards to an 82-64 victory over Holy Cross at Kirby Sports Center. The win proved to be the first for the Leopards in Patriot League play after dropping the opening two contests of the conference season. 

Jaworski, who needed nine points for 1,000 coming into the night, took care of that in the opening half, scoring 13 of his 19 in the opening 20 minutes. The co-captain finished with five assists and four steals as well, both team-bests.

The game was back-and-forth throughout the first half with the Crusaders making a run into the break to cut a 10-point Lafayette lead to three at 42-39 into halftime. But Lafayette came out determined to not let it get away, gradually expanding its lead throughout the second stanza and leading by as many as 22 with 4:19 to go.

Junior E.J. Stephens provided plenty of firepower off the bench, matching Jaworski's total with 19 points on the night to accompany six boards. Stephens went 7-for-14 from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Senior Myles Cherry added 13 points, with 11 coming in the second half, as his work with classmate Lukas Jarrett and junior Dylan Hastings on the low block gave the Crusaders fits all night long. Hastings provided one of his most productive outings of the year, swatting a career-high five blocks, the most by a Lafayette player this season, and adding five rebounds with four points, an assist and a steal in 22 minutes for a +14 stat line, the second-most behind +20 from Stephens.

The victory also served as a bit of revenge for the Maroon and White against a team that finished their season a year ago at Kirby. Holy Cross knocked out Lafayette in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament on March 5, 2019 by a 79-74 score.

THE SKINNY ON THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross has been through its share of struggles this season with just three wins in 25 outings under first-year head coach Brett Nelson, taking charge of the Crusaders after five seasons as an assistant coach at Marquette. The Crusaders' last victory came on Jan. 22, a 96-95 overtime victory at home against Lehigh. 

The Crusaders are in good hands moving forward with the emergence of the likely Patriot League Rookie of the Year in Joe Pridgen. The freshman leads Holy Cross at 17.0 points per game, while Austin Butler is the other consistent double-figure scorer at 12.0 points per outing. Pridgen and Butler also account for the majority of the work on the glass, ripping down 6.7 and 6.4 rebounds per contest, respectively.

QUICK STARTS
Lafayette has been excellent in the first half of games this season, beginning games on the front foot and forcing its opponents to waste energy on comeback efforts. The Leopards have led at the half in 17 of their 24 games this winter and have outscored opponents 866-815 over the first 20 minutes this season, an average of 2.1 points per outing. 

CHERRY WINDEX
Senior co-captain Myles Cherry is moving quickly up the ranks of Lafayette's all-time career rebounders. Cherry currently sits at 477 boards over his four seasons on College Hill, looking to become the 27th player in program history to reach the 500-board mark. Classmate Lukas Jarrett is also among Lafayette's best career rebounders with 420 during his time in Easton.