By Corky Blake | GoLeopards.com 

Kirby Sports Center was a picture of calm late Monday afternoon as the Lafayette men's basketball team began practice.
 
Twenty-four hours earlier, Kirby was rocking with an electricity not felt since 2015 when the Nick Lindner-led Leopards edged American for the Patriot League championship.
 
On Sunday, before an announced crowd of 2,016 that seemed twice that size because of the noise and energy it exuded, Lafayette tapped into that homecourt advantage. The Leopards found the resolve to pull out an 84-76 double-overtime victory over American in the Patriot League Tournament semifinal.
 
The sixth-seeded Leopards' march to Wednesday night's title game at top-seeded and two-time defending champion Colgate began last Thursday with a satisfying 71-64 win at archrival Lehigh, the third seed. In that game, Lafayette played a near perfect first half and then withstood a furious second-half rally by the Mountain Hawks to survive and advance.
 
When American, the seventh seed, upset second-seeded Navy, the Leopards quickly realized they'd be playing one more time this season at home.
 
"People came out for the Lehigh game, so when I knew fans came out for the crosstown rivalry, I knew we'd have great support here in Kirby," said Lafayette's acting head coach Mike McGarvey. "The students showed up, the faculty and staff showed up, and the community showed up. It was really special."
 
"A couple of days before the game I was passing through the trainer's room and saw lacrosse players, football players, whatever, and they said 'yeah, we're bringing everyone,'" added forward Leo O'Boyle, Lafayette's lone senior. "You never believe it until you see it, but they were showing up two hours early. I saw them getting their tickets so I knew it would be a big crowd. It's the best crowd I've played in front of here."

The packed Lafayette student section behind the baseline at the east end of the court was in full throat when the Leopards roared to a 32-12 lead that featured O'Boyle scoring his 1,000^th career point with a 3-pointer. They were still in party mode when O'Boyle's pair of free throws set the advantage at 51-30 with 10:41 remaining.
 
But over the next 10 minutes, American outscored the Leopards 29-7 capped by center Matt Rodgers' jumper putting the Eagles in front 59-58 with 49 seconds to go.
 
Was this the end for the Leopards? Did they finally hit the wall as McGarvey, with a limited bench to use because of injuries, leaned on his starters to play nearly the entire game?
 
Sophomore 7-foot center Justin Vander Baan, who played limited minutes at Boston College for two seasons before transferring to Lafayette, had other ideas.
 
"I came here because I wanted an opportunity to have a bigger role," Vander Baan said. "I enjoyed my time at BC, but if I returned I didn't know I'd get in the rotation."
 
Vander Baan's role in the closing 49 seconds included making one of two free throws with 22 seconds left to tie the game and then swat away Rodgers' potential game-winning hook shot with two seconds remaining to extend the game into overtime.
 
"I remember going to the line thinking these are the biggest free throws I've taken in my career thus far," Vander Baan said. "I kind of rushed the first one so I knew what I needed to do. I'm going to make it to tie the game."
 
American quickly called a timeout to set up its final sequence. There was no mystery what the Eagles were going to do: pound the ball inside to Rodgers.
 
"They ran the same play about five or six times toward the end of the game," Vander Baan said. "Rodgers screened, went low and then threw back to a middle post-up. So I knew that was coming and it did come. Thankfully, I redeemed my missed free throw with a block (of Rodgers' hook shot)."
 
The Leopards fell behind 66-61 before freshman forward Josh Rivera made a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left. The Eagles then left the door ajar by missing the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw situation.
 
Rivera snared the rebound, passed to guard T.J. Berger who raced upcourt and passed to O'Boyle in the left corner in front of Lafayette's bench. O'Boyle shot and swished a 3-pointer to tie the score with three seconds left and push the game into a second overtime.
 
"That was a great play all-around," O'Boyle said. "We practice that exact play in practice … to push the ball up the court. Hopefully, someone drags in on the defense and leaves someone open. Luckily, that was me."
 
The second overtime belonged totally to the Leopards. Jenkins deposited a layup off a feed from Berger. O'Boyle drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner, was fouled and completed the rare four-point play. Again, the score was set up by another Berger assist.
 
Berger assisted on consecutive baskets by Vander Baan to lift the Leopards to a 10-point advantage, and the Eagles never got any closer until a meaningless basket at the buzzer.

Rivera put the exclamation point on the win with a perfectly executed windmill dunk that is rarely seen in the Patriot League. Moments later, Lafayette's students stormed the court in pure joy.

"Before the game," said Rivera when asked when he decided on the windmill dunk. "Some of them (students) got it on their cameras and I got to see it. I got a picture of it."
 
When the final boxscore was tallied, it was revealed Jenkins never had come off the court and played all 50 minutes. He contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He also played 38 out of 40 minutes in the Lehigh win.
 
"Honestly, I didn't realize it until the end," Jenkins said. "I was just trying to take it play-by-play and continue to set a course for the game. If I was called to come out, I was ready to do that. Or, if I was going to stay out for the whole game, I was going to give it everything I had.
 
"We were feeding off the crowd. We condition a lot and are prepared for games like this. That preparation has allowed us to outlast some teams."
 
Berger, who came to Lafayette after playing a season at Georgetown and a season at San Diego, dished out a career-high 10 assists to go with 14 points in 46 minutes. His previous high was seven assists in the second meeting with Colgate on Feb. 22.
 
With sophomore all-league third-team guard CJ Fulton sidelined with an injury, Berger's contributions were immeasurable.
 
"Coach (McGarvey) actually told me two days ago that I shouldn't feel like I have to replace CJ or do what CJ does; just play your game and you're going to help us win," Berger said. "I played a lot of point guard in middle school and high school before I started growing and moved to shooting guard. I knew (against American) I was just going to play my game, take what the defense gave me, read the defense. Dudes were knocking down a lot of shots. Leo made some huge shots. Justin had some big finishes, Kyle big finishes. So it wasn't a mindset change. I was just trying to make plays for my team."
 
On to Hamilton, New York
 
Colgate has won the league tournament the past two seasons and three of the past four years. When the teams meet Wednesday night, there will be no surprises.
 
McGarvey was an assistant under Matt Langel at Colgate for seven seasons before moving on to become the head coach at Lycoming for four seasons. Lafayette assistant Sean O'Brien was a two-time captain and team MVP for the Raiders and served as their director of basketball operations last season.
 
"When we play Colgate, it literally is like our own practice," Berger said. "We've guarded all their actions. It's like a carbon copy of the two teams. We should feel pretty comfortable having played them twice and played against all their stuff right here in practice."
 
The Leopards lost to Colgate in Hamilton on Jan. 28 but led 34-33 at halftime. In that game, Rivera led the way with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
 
"It's a huge confidence boost to play that well against the No. 1 team in the league the past couple of years," Rivera said.
 
In the return engagement on Feb. 22 in Easton, Colgate escaped with a 73-69 win. Vander Baan stepped up to contribute a career-high 23 points in a game that was tied at intermission.
 
"What we've learned in those two games is that the experience really matters," McGarvey said. "Colgate is a phenomenal team with a bunch of fifth- and sixth-year guys on the team that have been in meaningful games, especially in February and March. So when they are in those moments there is a sense of calm like we've been here before and they know how to handle it.

"For us, we've kind of learned what that's been like and have been able to pull out some games in playoff atmospheres that actually were like championship atmospheres. Hopefully, that will carry us over the edge when we get into another close game with Colgate on Wednesday night."
 
Paying attention to details and defense will be tickets to success, the players said.
 
"The key to beating them will be focusing on the details, knowing their personnel, their rotations, staying together as one unit defensively," Jenkins said.
 
"We need to guard them," Berger said. "They put up 92 and 91 points in their last two games so holding them to 70 or less will be key for us. And then being ready to exploit their weaknesses on defense."
 
It didn't take the freshman, Rivera, long to realize the similarities between the teams.
 
"It's funny," Rivera said, "even in warmups we start warming up at the exact same time, do the same stretches. It's weird."
 
The Leopards' memorable run and an opportunity to win a Patriot League title continues Wednesday night.
 
"This means a lot for the program for how we've been playing during this playoff stretch," McGarvey said. "Everyone's had an impact, for the guys who've played 40-50 minutes a game to the guys who've played none. It's been a shared excitement and a shared experience."
 
"I came in here four years ago wanting to win a championship so I kind of have set myself up to go out on top," O'Boyle said.