OPENING TIP
 Lafayette remains undefeated through the first three games of the Patriot League slate for the first time since the 2009-10 season. The 2023-24 squad has collected wins against Army, Boston U. and Colgate in January.

 Last time out, four Leopards scored in double figures to hand Colgate its first Patriot League loss on Cotterell Court, 69-64, since Jan. 3, 2021. Lafayette shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half on its way to a 25-of-52 overall shooting night. The Leopards led for the entire 40 minutes. 

 Previously against the Midshipmen, Lafayette split the two contests in 2022-23 as each program earned a road victory. Kyle Jenkins led the Leopards with 19 points in a 59-50 second-half comeback on Jan. 11, 2023. The captain duo of Leo O'Boyle and CJ Fulton followed up with 13 and nine points, respectively.

 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 travels to Holy Cross on Jan. 17 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

THE MATCHUP
Navy finished the 2022-23 season with a 18-13 (11-7 PL) overall record, progressing to the conference quarterfinal round and eventually coming up short against American, 52-51, on March 2, 2023. Ed DeChellis is in his 13th season at the helm as the program was selected to finish seventh in the Patriot League during the preseason poll. 

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
Mark Butler led four Leopards in double figures to help Lafayette quiet Colgate, 69-64, on Wednesday. He shot a team-high 14 points while Justin Vander Baan added 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. The Jan. 10 victory shut down the Raiders' six-game series streak.

FAMILIAR FOES
Lafayette has played 486 games against current Patriot League members. In conference play, the Leopards are 206-279 in the regular season and 25-29 in the Patriot League Tournament.

CONFERENCE OPENERS
Lafayette is 12-22 all-time in Patriot League openers since men's basketball joined the conference for the 1990-91 season. On Jan 2., 1991, the Leopards fell to Navy, 78-75, for the first contest in the new league. Most recently, Lafayette pushed past Army, 52-47, on Jan. 3 inside Kirby Sports Center.

SAME STARTERS
The Maroon and White have used the same starting lineup for 15 contests this season: guards Devin Hines, Eric Sondberg and Mark Butler, forward Kyle Jenkins and center Justin Vander Baan. The lone change-up appeared against Richmond on Dec. 30, 2023 with Ryan Pettit in for Hines at guard.

BIG BLOCKER
Junior center Justin Vander Baan blocked 31 shots (1.1 per game) last season, good for fifth in the conference. He has already surpassed his season block total from 2022-23 this winter (averaging 2.50 per game). The Northbridge, Mass. native continues to sit atop the Patriot League leaderboard and ranks sixth in the country for his 40 stops. As a program, Lafayette currently ranks first in the conference in blocks per game with 4.4.

SONDBERG FROM DEEP
Senior guard Eric Sondberg is ranked fifth in the conference for his total 3-point FGM (33). The Davidsonville, Md. native recorded a season-high six 3-point field goals made on Dec. 5 at Columbia on 13 attempts.

EXCELLENCE IN ACADEMICS
Lafayette's athletic programs stood out among the nation's best on Dec. 6 in the NCAA's Division I annual Graduation Success Rate (GSR) release. College Hill claimed a 98 percent GSR overall for the second straight year based on the 19 sports measured while 17 Leopard teams, including men's basketball, achieved a graduation success rate of 100 percent.

RECENT RENOVATIONS
Kirby Sports Center, the Leopards' home arena, has seen major upgrades over the past fall semester. A state-of-the art Daktronics control and video display system can now be seen above center court, showcasing exciting promotional team videos and updated branding to enhance the fan experience. By featuring Daktronics' latest version of Show and Venus Control Suite, it allows Lafayette to expand on in-game presentations.

PAULIE'S PROMISE
During today's contest, men's hoops is benefiting Paulie's Promise, supporting Paul Morris and his campaign with the Autism Science Foundation (ASF). Head coach Mike McGarvey currently serves as a member of the advisory board. To donate, please visit tinyurl.com/yksr2cae.

ASF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people with autism and their families by funding scientific research to understand the causes of autism and to develop better treatments. The organization believes that the greatest gift it can offer families is innovative autism research that will enable individuals with autism to lead fulfilling lives with dignity. ASF also provides information about autism to the general public and serve to increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders and the needs of individuals and families affected by autism.

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.

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 games of his rookie campaign, he has the highest scoring average out of all the Lafayette underclassmen. His career-high 15 points came against Columbia on Dec. 5.

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.

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 over 15 minutes per game, most notably 27 at Columbia, 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 his first collegiate 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 posted a career-high eight points and added three steals in 10 minutes of play at Richmond on Dec. 30.

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. 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.

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).