THE MATCHUP
The Leopards will return to Easton to face off against a Columbia team which comes in at 4-9. The Lions are led by sophomore Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, who is averaging 13.2 ppg and 6.0 rpg.

LAST MEETING
Lafayette earned a 73-50 victory against Columbia last November, with four Leopards scoring in double-figures that evening.

THAT MIKE JORDAN
For the first time in 27 seasons, the Leopards have a new leader roaming the sidelines in 2000 Penn graduate Mike Jordan, the 19th head coach in Lafayette history. Jordan won three conference championships in the last four seasons as an assistant coach and was named head coach of the Leopards on March 29, 2022. Jordan played 11 seasons professionally across Europe and was a three-time All-Ivy League selection, two-time Ivy League champion and Ivy League Player of the Year as a senior.

SCHEDULE CHANGE 
The Leopards' next game at La Salle on Dec. 21 will now begin at 2 p.m. Tip-off was originally slated for 7 p.m. that same day.

THAT'S A "W"
Head coach Mike Jordan and the 2022-23 squad earned the first victory of the season, as well as the first of Jordan's career at Lafayette, against Central Connecticut State on Nov. 19, 55-50. Leo O'Boyle led the Leopards for the second game in a row, shooting 4-for-10 from the field to total 16 points. The Scranton, Pa. native was perfect from the free-throw line (5-5) and shot 3-for-6 from behind the three-point line.

FAMILIAR FACES, FAMILIAR FOES
Mike Jordan and the Leopards will take on some old pals along the way, highlighted by the final nonconference test at La Salle against his college head coach, Fran Dunphy, who is also in his first season as the head coach of the Explorers. Lafayette hosted Jordan's alma mater, Penn, earlier this year and will play his former boss and college teammate, Matt Langel of Colgate, twice in the league stretch of the schedule. Jordan worked as an assistant under previous foe Drexel's head coach Zach Spiker in 2020-21, helping lead the Dragons to their first-ever CAA title and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 25 years.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lafayette traveled to the first five opponents of the season: Miami, St. John's, St. Joseph's, UMBC and Central Connecticut State. The Leopards have hosted only one of two match-ups in Kirby Sports Center prior to the Patriot League opener on Dec. 30 against American. There won't be any easing up as the 2022-23 season continues and the Leopards play 11 of their 13 non-conference games on the road, including trips to Miami, St. John's, St. Joseph's, Penn State, Princeton, Drexel and La Salle.

THE BIG THREE
The Leopards have three players averaging double figures in Leo O'Boyle (13.1), Kyle Jenkins (12.2), and CJ Fulton (10.3). The trio has accounted for more than half of the Maroon and White's points during the first 10 games of the season.

NEED SOME ASSISTANCE?
Sophomore guard CJ Fulton is third the Patriot League in assists at 4.4 per game. In 11 games played, the Belfast, Ireland native has dished out 48 assists on the year. Fulton also ranks third in the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.92.

LEADING THE NATION
Lafayette returns Patriot League All-Rookie performer CJ Fulton who led all of Division I in 2021-22 in
assist/turnover ratio, carrying a 3.67 average as a freshman. Fulton averaged 7.3 points per game with
3.9 boards and 3.3 assists and continues to shine on the court this season.

MAJOR MINUTES
CJ Fulton has led the Leopards in minutes played. In the overtime loss to Penn, Fulton played 42 minutes, scoring 12 points to go along with 7 assists, and 7 rebounds. Against UMBC, Fulton registered 39 minutes on the court. The Belfast, Ireland native also clocked 40 minutes versus St. Joseph's, where he totaled a season-high five steals. He currently ranks first in the league in minutes played with 35.3 per game. Teammate Kyle Jenkins sits behind him in third with 34 minutes per game.

THE RETURNING STARTERS
Three of the Leopards' starters from last season are back, led by Patriot League All-Rookie performer CJ Fulton. Senior Leo O'Boyle will provide senior leadership for the Leopards, along with his 112 career 3-point field goals entering the season. Junior Kyle Jenkins has valuable experience having started in 35 of the 44 games he has appeared in during his career.

KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE BALL
Lafayette ranked second in the Patriot League last season with 263 three-point shots made. The Leopards bring back some firepower from beyond the arc with senior Leo O'Boyle who knocked down 56 shots from three, sophomore Jon Brantley (44) and sophomore Kyle Jenkins (41). The Leopards are averaging 9.5 threes per game this season, ranking them third in the Patriot League behind conference leader Navy (9.9).

NEW FACES
Lafayette has added four freshmen to the roster for the new season in Josh Rivera, Kyle Squires, Gavin Kreitz and Ryan Pettit. The new class will hope to follow in the footsteps of sophomore guard CJ Fulton, who was selected to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team in 2021-22. The Leopards expect big things from freshman Josh Rivera who came from the N.J. basketball powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas and saw his first career starts against Miami and UMBC. Ryan Pettit of Westfield, N.J. has also seen game action in nine games during 2022. Lafayette has had at least one player on the Patriot League All-Rookie team in each of the last three seasons: CJ Fulton (2022), Kyle Jenkins (2021) and Leo O'Boyle (2020).

THE PORTAL
Two student-athletes made their way to College Hill after playing for other institutions in 2021-22: sophomore seven-footer Justin Vander Baan (Boston College) and sophomore guard TJ Berger (San Diego and Georgetown). On the flip side, the Leopards will watch last year's point guard Tyrone Perry play for Tennessee Tech as a graduate transfer and leading scorer Neal Quinn play for Richmond.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
The Leopards have historically featured international talent throughout the years and the 2022-23 Leopards are no exception with sophomore CJ Fulton (Ireland) on the roster. Fulton competed in this past summer's 2021 FIBA Small Country Games and helped Ireland capture the gold medal. The roster also includes sophomore Chris Rubayo who played with Puerto Rico in the FIBA U19 World Cup prior to his time on College Hill and junior Ryan Zambie who received an invite to join the Lebanese Basketball Federation men's national team in the qualifying rounds for the FIBA 2021 World Cup.