By Corky Blake
for GoLeopards.com


An hour or so after Lafayette's 67-51 loss to La Salle University on Dec. 9, Leopards' head coach Mike McGarvey was walking through the Kirby Sports Center atrium when he spotted this writer finishing a story for the Philadelphia-based "City of Basketball Love" website.
 
McGarvey and I chatted a few minutes about the defeat, which dropped Lafayette's record to 1-10 with the only victory coming over Wilkes, a Division III program. I offered some thoughts on improvements I noticed from my previous visit two weeks earlier when the Leopards lost to Drexel. In both games, Lafayette hung tough with the Philadelphia Big 5 programs only to fade in the second half.
 
The team was entering a 12-day hiatus for final exams and still had two more games before starting its Patriot League schedule Jan. 3 against Army. I suggested to McGarvey that perhaps the break came at the right time, especially for a team that was fielding a slew of players without significant playing experience.
 
"We'll be OK," said McGarvey in his always calm, reassuring manner.
 
That short response has stuck with me more than ever as the Leopards shocked the Patriot League by winning their first seven conference games. And if anyone thought that run was a fluke, just remember Lafayette led from start-to-finish in dealing three-time defending tournament champion Colgate its first home defeat since January 3, 2021.
 
Reminded of what he told me nearly two months ago, McGarvey said, "This team cares about each other. What I saw was they kept showing up for practice and working hard despite the losses. We played a very demanding schedule. I thought once we got into the league, we'd be playing teams more even with us."
 
Senior guard Eric Sondberg echoed his first-year coach.
 
"Everyone believed in each other, and we still do," Sondberg said after Wednesday's 69-66 loss to American, the Leopards' second straight defeat after the 7-0 start. "The team is super-connected. No one has an ego."
 
"We knew we were a good team, though during the non-conference schedule we didn't show it. We played a really tough schedule, but we continued to care about each other."
 
Playing without ego has served the Leopards in two big ways.
 
Entering Wednesday's game, they were No. 1 in league games in scoring defense, holding opponents to just under 59 points. Defense is all about effort and teamwork. This has been a departure from past years when Lafayette often was among the league's top scoring teams but at the bottom of most defensive categories.
 
"Some of it is because of roster change," McGarvey said. "Players took it upon themselves to play defense. Looking at our season in a snapshot, our scoring is not where we wanted it during the non-conference part of our schedule. We work on improving our offense, but we kind of harp on our defense to keep us in the game."
 
"I think it started last year," Sondberg said of the defensive metamorphosis. "We take pride in playing defense. It's fun to be out there talking to each other, playing with high energy and helping each other."
 
Junior guard TJ Berger was expected to be one of the Leopards' primetime players until he suffered a severe knee injury six days before the season opener against Saint Joseph's. With his surgery and initial rehabilitation sessions behind him, Berger is back on the bench encouraging his teammates and offering advice where he can. He's proud of what his teammates are achieving.
 
"We're locked in more defensively," Berger said. "We've controlled games with our defense. Young guys have stepped up as they've gotten used to the pace of the college game, and our seniors have stepped up their leadership."
 
The fingerprints of playing without ego are all over Lafayette's seven league victories. Let's take a look.
 
Army (52-47 home win) – Freshman point guard Mark Butler reinforced his case for Rookie of the Year honors with a steal and layup with 36 seconds left to preserve the win.
 
Boston U. (59-51 road win) – The veterans, junior center Justin Vander Baan and senior forward Kyle Jenkins, scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, as the Leopards overtook the Terriers after falling behind 17-6. They held the hosts to 30-percent shooting.
 
Colgate (69-64 road win) – The Leopards did the near impossible: win a Wednesday night game in frigid Hamilton, N.Y., by playing in front the entire way. Sophomore guard Ryan Pettit swished a big 3-pointer to offset the Raiders' 11-1 run to close the game. Butler scored 14, Vander Baan contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Devin Hines and Pettit added 12 points each.
 
"Beating Army was big for us and then to go to Boston and Colgate and win … it began snowballing in a positive way," McGarvey said. "The younger guys gained confidence by playing through situations, and there's no better confidence-builder than winning."
   
Navy (78-62 home win) – The Leopards shot a season-high 56.9 percent with Vander Baan leading the way with 19 points and a career-high six blocks. Hines, who averaged only seven minutes in each of his first two seasons, pumped in a career-high 18 points with six rebounds, and Butler and Sondberg followed with 15 and 13 points.
 
Holy Cross (72-68 road win) – Pettit's 3-pointer off a Butler assist broke a 68-68 tie with 28 seconds remaining to clinch another statement win at the Hart Center. Butler and Hines paced the scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
Bucknell (75-72 overtime home win) – Bucknell led 36-23 at halftime after opening the game with a 16-3 spurt. The Leopards trailed 64-61 when McGarvey drew up a play and Sondberg delivered with a tying 3-pointer in front of his bench with four seconds left in regulation. Freshman guard Luke Rasmussen was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in overtime. He sank all three free throws, and Vander Baan preserved the win by blocking two consecutive Bison shots in the paint.
 
Loyola (70-44 road win) -- This was a four-point game at halftime before the Leopards blew it open by outscoring the Greyhounds 22-4 to start the second half. Sondberg's 14 points paced four Leopards in double figures as they locked down win No. 7.
 
"The Colgate win meant everything when the guys saw what they do in practice translated into a win," McGarvey said. "We have kids with high IQs and we're versatile and deep."
 
That versatility has enabled McGarvey to mix and match personnel for the situation at hand. Against American, 10 Leopards had been on the floor by the 10:56 mark.
 
When players know they'll be called upon, they're ready to deliver. For instance, junior guard Luka Savicevic, a transfer from Eastern Michigan, came off the bench in the first half and registered an assist, steal and rebound within the first minute of action.
 
McGarvey ran through his roster to highlight each player's contributions. He noted how reserve freshman center Mike Bednostin made the most of his couple of minutes near the end of the Loyola victory to score four points.
 
Maybe the Leopards just had to put the 2023 portion of the schedule behind them and dive into league play. On further review, they needed that time against the likes of UCLA, Pepperdine and the Philadelphia schools to create an identity after losing all-league guard CJ Fulton to College of Charleston, last year's second-leading scorer Josh Rivera to Fordham, leading scorer Leo O'Boyle to Penn State for his COVID fifth year and Berger to his injury.
 
The American game marked the midpoint of the Patriot League schedule, and 7-2 is a very good start. The Leopards have faced Boston University twice and everyone else but arch-rival Lehigh once.
 
The second time through the league will be much tougher. The 2003-04 Leopards went 7-0 in the first half of the league schedule but only 2-5 in the second half. The 2023-24 Leopards will be ready for the challenge.
 
"We know every game is not going to go our way," said Sondberg who shook off a scoreless first half with 12 points after intermission against American. "We have to keep fighting, playing hard. You're going to miss shots; you have to play through mistakes. We'll learn from this."


For the latest on the Lafayette College men's basketball program, follow the Leopards on X @LafayetteMBB and Instagram @lafayettembb.

Corky Blake is a freelance writer who covered the Patriot League and Lafayette sports during his nearly 40-year tenure at The Express-Times (Easton, Pa.). Follow him on X at @corkyblake.