OPENING TIP
The 2023-24 season continues for the Lafayette men's basketball program as the Leopards travel to Columbia on Tueday evening. The Lions recently had a come-from-behind victory over the Patriot League's Loyola Md., 69-57, on Nov. 29 after a 24-5 run in the second half.

Last time out, Lafayette fell to Cornell, 79-71, on Dec. 2. The Leopards' top performance came through Kyle Jenkins, who totaled 16 points, five rebounds, three steals and an assist. Devin Hines (12) and Eric Sondberg (10) also scored in double figures. Sondberg grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. 

The Leopards return nine players from last season, most of whom saw significant game time in the 2022-23 winter season. Lafayette concluded 2022-23 with an 11-23 (7-11 PL) overall record and advanced to the Patriot League championship game.

Next up, Lafayette hosts La Salle on Dec. 9 with tip-off slated for 2 p.m. The Explorers are currently 6-2 overall after defeating Penn in overtime, 93-92, on Dec. 2 following a triple-overtime heartbreaker to Temple, 106-99, on Nov. 29.

THE MATCHUP
Columbia finished the 2022-23 season with a 7-22 (2-12 IVY) overall record. This season, the Lions were predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Ivy League poll, conducted by selected members of the media.

Columbia's six-game winning streak from Nov. 12-29 was the longest for the program since January 2016. The Lions are one of four teams in the country that return more than 90% of their scoring this
season, along with Northern Iowa, Wisconsin, and St. Bonaventure. Columbia is also one of 11 teams in the country to return at least 70 percent of its points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks from 2022-23.

The NYC foe returns 12 players from last season, all who appeared in games throughout the 2022-23
campaign. The Lions return all five starters and had just two graduates from last season's team. Top returners include leading scorer and rebounder Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (13.6 points per game/ 5.6 rebounds per game last season) and two-time 2022-23 Ivy League Rookie of the Week, Avery Brown.

GEARING UP FOR MCGARVEY
Mike McGarvey took over as the 20th head coach in Lafayette men's basketball history on March 29, 2023, following a one-year tenure as the associate head coach and acting head coach. Last season, he led the Leopards to Patriot League Tournament victories over Lehigh in the quarterfinal round and American in the semifinal, before falling to Colgate in the championship game.

He arrived on College Hill after a four-year tenure as the men's basketball head coach at Lycoming College where he led the program to three-straight MAC Freedom Conference championship games, including two conference crowns. McGarvey guided the Warriors to a remarkable resurgence in his second year as head coach, taking the team from a 5-11 conference record in 2018-19 to a 10-6 mark in 2019-20 while managing a roster filled with a school-record 11 freshmen.

As a player, McGarvey was a finalist in 2006 for the Jostens Trophy. He was also a consensus two-time All-American and two-time Centennial Conference Player of the Year.

Ursinus retired McGarvey's No. 11 jersey on Dec 1, 2010, honoring a career where his teams won three conference championships. He started every game of his career, and finished fourth on the school's all-time scoring chart with 1,460 points and he is still 14th in the Division III record book with 754 career assists. McGarvey holds the Centennial Conference records for career assists and steals, and single-season assists and steals. He was inducted into both the Ursinus College Hall of Fame (2016) and the Sam Cozen Philadelphia Area Small College Hall of Fame (2015).

LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette men's basketball held its own against Cornell until the final minutes, dropping a 79-71 contest on Saturday afternoon in Kirby Sports Center.

The Big Red made 19-of-22 free throws, while the Leopards took nine from the charity stripe. Cornell out-rebounded the Leopards 40-32. The Leopards forced 20 Cornell turnovers. Sean Hansen led the opponent with 19 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the field.

STARTING FAST
The Leopards have already played six of eight non-conference road contests on the 2023-24 slate, leaving one remaining trip to Richmond on Dec. 30. The final two non-conference programs traveling to Easton, Pa. this season are La Salle (12/9) and Quinnipiac (12/21).

ONE B1G GRADUATE
Leo O'Boyle '23 entered the transfer portal following his spring undergraduate commencement date, landing on the 2023-24 Penn State University men's basketball roster as a graduate student. He made his first start for the Nittany Lions on Dec. 2 at Bucknell. Through eight games, he averages 11.5 minutes, 1.8 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.1 assists.

During his final tour at Lafayette, he led the team in scoring with 384 points (an 11.6 ppg. average) as a co-captain. The Scranton, Pa. native netted 23 points versus American in the Patriot League championship semifinal round to reach 1,000 career points, only the 48th Leopard to do so. He left College Hill with a grand total of 1,027 points, 147 assists, 309 rebounds, 71 steals and 20 blocks.

INJURY REPORT
Junior guard TJ Berger will miss the 2023-24 season due to an injury sustained in preseason practice. 

THE PORTAL
One student-athlete made his way to College Hill after playing two seasons for Eastern Michigan. Luka Savicevic is a 6-3 junior point guard from Skopje, North Macedonia. At EMU, he totaled 83 points, 41 assists, 40 rebounds and 12 steals in two seasons and was named to the Academic All-MAC team following his final season with the Eagles. At Lafayette, he currently averages 2.0 points, 0.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 13.8 minutes per game. 

On the flipside, the Leopards will watch last year's Third Team All-Patriot League guard CJ Fulton play for the College of Charleston and second leading scorer Josh Rivera play for Fordham. 

FRESH MEAT
Lafayette brings five first-year student-athletes aboard this season in Mark Butler, Joshua Wyche, Luke Rasmussen, Mike Bednostin and Andrew Phillips. All incoming players have seen the court during multiple games so far.

Butler is a four-year varsity point guard out of Philadelphia, Pa., who attended William Penn Charter School. While starting in all nine games, he averages 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. His career-high eight points came last time out against Cornell.

Wyche is a three-year varsity guard/forward from Philadelphia, Pa., who attended Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School. He has seen consistent second-half minutes against each opponent, totaling 17 points thus far.

Rasmussen, a 6-7 guard, is a Haverford, Pa. native who lists three years of basketball experience at the Hill School and the Haverford School. He averages 16.6 minutes per game, most notably 23 at Penn, this season.

Bednostin, who attended Trinity High School and Crestwood Prep, stands in as a 6-11 center from Dillsburg, Pa./Kyiv, Ukraine. He tallied a career-high two points in the home-opening victory versus Wilkes on Nov. 19.

Phillips is a 6-4 wing who hails from Downingtown, Pa. with three years of varsity experience at Malvern Prep. He saw a career-high 11 minutes at Pepperdine during the West Coast trip, posting four points on Nov. 12.

THE RETURNERS
The program returns nine players from last season, most of whom saw significant game time in winter 2022-23. Kyle Jenkins will provide senior leadership for the Leopards, followed by juniors Justin Vander Baan and TJ Berger as a trio of captains.

BIG BLOCKER
Junior center Justin Vander Baan blocked 31 shots (a 1.1 average per game) last season, good for fifth in the conference. He has blocked 18 shots (a 2.00 average per game) this season. The Northbridge, Mass. native continues to sit atop the Patriot League leaderboard and ranks 25th in the country for his stops. As a program, Lafayette currently ranks first in the conference in blocks per game with 4.0.

THAT'S MINE, THANKS
Lafayette ranks third in the league for steals per game with 7.9. The Leopards have made 71 steals total in 2023-24 through the first nine games. Guard Mark Butler currently lists a conference second-best 16 steals in his rookie campaign. Additionally, Butler ranks first in the league for his assist/turnover ratio (2.75).

SAME STARTERS
Lafayette has used the same starting lineup for the first nine contests of the season: guards Devin Hines, Eric Sondberg and Mark Butler, forward Kyle Jenkins and center Justin Vander Baan.

PAULIE'S PROMISE
On Dec. 9 versus La Salle, Lafayette is teaming up with Paul Morris of Paulie's Promise and the Austism Science Foundation to raise funds and awareness with a goal of advancing high-impact autism research. For more information, please visit autismsciencefoundation.org.