OPENING TIP
 Lafayette travels to Coglate on Wednesday for the final regular-season road trip. The Leopards last saw the Raiders on Dec. 31, 2025 to open the Patriot League slate, falling in an 85-77 outcome in Kirby Sports Center. The previous series meeting saw 20 lead changes and 14 ties as junior Mark Butler paced five Leopards in double figures with 19 points.

 Last time out, American used a 50 percent outing from beyond the arc to down Lafayette, 75-61, on Sunday afternoon. Mark Butler scored a team-high 17 points and matched his career-high for assists with eight. Shareef Jackson (15) and Ryan Pettit (13) also finished in double figures in scoring. Lafayette was without leading scorer Caleb Williams for the majority of the game.

 Sophomore guard Caleb Williams is ranked fifth in the Patriot League at 15.9 points per game. He has scored 10+ points in every game (except at Navy on Jan. 10, Loyola Md. on Feb. 11 and American on Feb. 22) in 2025-26 and has netted 20+ points against foes such as Texas, Mercyhurst, Penn, Georgia Tech, Loyola Md., Boston U., Bucknell and Lehigh. In 14 games, he has made at least three 3-pointers. The Economics major recorded a career-high seven buckets from long distance on Jan. 28 against Bucknell.

 The 2026 PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship will begin with first round games on Tuesday, March 3 and continue with quarterfinal action on Thursday, March 5. The semifinal games will be played on Sunday, March 8. The PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship Game is slated for Wednesday, March 11. The first round and quarterfinals will air on ESPN+ while CBS Sports Network will pick up the semifinals and championship coverage. 

 Next up, the Leopards close out the regular season against Army on Saturday at 1 p.m. The men's basketball program will honor Ryan Pettit for Senior Day during pre-game warmups.

THE MATCHUP
Colgate finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 14-19 (10-8 PL) record, falling to American in the Patriot League Tournament's semifinal round. Through this winter's non-conference stretch, the Raiders posted a 6-7 record facing formidable foes such as #22 Michigan State, #14 Illinois and #23 Florida. Junior guard Jalen Cox commands the squad with 17.7 ppg, 5.2 apg, 5.3 rpg and 1.8 spg.
    Matt Langel, the winningest coach in Colgate's program history, is the only Patriot League men's basketball coach to earn five Coach of the Year honors and has the most championships by any head coach in conference history (five). On Feb. 23, he was selected to be part of the 2026 USA Basketball men's U-18 national team staff, which will coach in the FIBA U-18 Men's AmeriCup this summer.
    Lafayette head coach Mike McGarvey and assistant coach Sean O'Brien both previously worked under Langel as an assistant coach (2011-18) and a director of operations (2021-22), respectively. O'Brien was a four-year member of the Raiders' basketball program prior to graduating in 2018.

FAMILIAR FOES
Lafayette has played 536 games against current Patriot League members. In conference play, the Leopards are 227-309 in the regular season and 26-32 in the Patriot League Tournament, including a 13-5 home record. 

PERSISTENT 'PARDS
The Maroon and White have won four conference games by a combined 10 points: two vs. Bucknell (Jan. 28), two at American (Jan. 31), three at Army (Feb. 7) and three at Holy Cross (Feb. 18).

INJURY REPORT
Freshman Beckett Currie suffered a broken left scaphoid during preseason preparations and had season-ending surgery to repair it. Malik Rasul has been ruled out for the remainder of the season as well (elbow). Folabomi Fayemi recently injured his foot and will miss the next few games. Caleb Williams missed all but three seconds of Sunday's game versus American due to illness.

ADMIRABLE ASSISTS
Junior Mark Butler leads the Patriot League and ranks eighth in the country with his 3.66 assist/turnover ratio. Butler, a Philadelphia, Pa. native, has dished 117 assists and kept to 32 turnovers in 2025-26. In the conference, he is sixth for his dimes per game (4.0) and seventh for minutes per game (33:40). Butler recorded a career-high eight assists at Georgia Tech on Dec. 20 and versus American on Feb. 22.

CRASHING THE GLASS
Leopard freshman Christian Humphrey-Rembert is ranked fifth in the conference for his 188 rebounds. The Grand Rapids, Mich. native places second for defensive rebounds per game (5.41) and sixth for total rebounds per game (6.5). 

CONSISTENCY IN THE FIVE
Lafayette has shown lineup stability, using just four starting combinations this season after opening the year with the same group in each of its first five games. Mark Butler, Andrew Phillips and Christian Humphrey-Rembert have started in all of the contests, while Caleb Williams (1) and Shareef Jackson (2) have missed matches. The starting five was consistent in the third combination from Nov. 29, 2025 to Feb. 10, 2026 and has since returned against Lehigh on Feb. 14.

THE WONDROUS WILLIAMS
Caleb Williams is in the top 10 in the Patriot League in 12 categories: assist/turnover ratio (10th, 1.5), assists (8th, 96), assists per game (9th, 3.3), field goal attempts (2nd, 374), free throw percentage (3rd, 87.4), free throws (7th, 97), points (5th, 462), points per game (5th, 15.9), three point attempts (1st, 212), three point percentage (3rd, 34.4), three pointers per game (3rd, 2.52) and total three point FGM (2nd, 73).

DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
Andrew Phillips paced the Leopards at Stonehill on Nov. 21 with the squad's first double-double of the season. He secured a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds in the final-minute 77-74 loss. The junior shot 7-of-19 from the floor in addition to three 3-pointers and five free throws.
    First-years Shareef Jackson and Christian Humphrey-Rembert earned their first collegiate double-doubles together on Nov. 29 in the 55-37 win versus Ball State. Jackson recorded a team-high 11 points and 14 rebounds in addition to making two blocks. Humphrey-Rembert added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
    Shareef Jackson recorded the second double-double of his freshman campaign on Jan. 17, propelling Lafayette to a 74-55 win over Holy Cross using 15 points and 10 rebounds.
    Most recently, Humphrey-Rembert posted 13 points and 11 rebounds to push Lafayette to a 63-60 victory at Army on Feb. 7. Andrew Phillips scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds on Feb. 11 against Loyola Maryland.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore guard Caleb Williams was voted as the Patriot League Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Feb. 2, averaging 22.0 points and 4.0 assists from Jan. 28-31. In his sophomore campaign, he has 23 starts and over 790 minutes spent on the court. The Economics major has lad the team in scoring all season.
PATRIOT LEAGUE POLLS
Lafayette was selected to finish seventh in the Patriot League preseason poll with 36 votes. Navy captured the top spot (79 points, seven first-place votes), followed by Boston U. (73, 2), Colgate (64, 1), American (47), Bucknell (44), Loyola Maryland (39), Lehigh (30), Holy Cross (23) and Army (15). On Feb. 18, Navy defeated Lehigh, 72-49, to earn its first Patriot League regular-season title in 29 years. Colgate rests behind the champions with an 11-5 conference record, while Lehigh and American are each vying for third place (9-7).

LAST-SECOND SUCCESS
The Leopards are currently 3-1 in games decided by three points or fewer, two wins of which occurred directly through Caleb Williams.
    On Jan. 28 against Bucknell, Williams had a career evening of 28 points, including 7-of-11 from 3-point range. In the second half, Lafayette was up by one, 80-79, with seven seconds remaining on the clock. The Bison fouled Williams, who secured one free throw before helping the defensive unit shut down Bucknell's corner 3-pointer try as the clock ran out.
    A last-second driving layup by Caleb Williams helped Lafayette overtake American on Jan. 31 at Bender Arena, where the Eagles entered with a 10-2 home record. The game was tied 65-65 with 23 seconds on the clock. After a quick timeout for head coach Mike McGarvey to call a play, Williams solely fought his way to the basket for a 67-65 finish as the buzzer sounded.

PETTIT'S LARCENY
Senior guard Ryan Pettit had 14 steals through nine games before he was sidelined due to injury (broken nose) for the remainder of non-conference play. The Westfield, N.J. native ranked sixth in the conference for steals per game (1.56) in December and he made a career-high five heists against Ball State on Nov. 29.

A TRUSTWORTHY DUO
Ryan Pettit is providing senior leadership for the Leopards in his second consecutive year as a captain, aided by junior Mark Butler. "Ryan and Mark continue to represent our team well both on and off the court," head coach Mike McGarvey said.

FRESH FLOORING
Kirby Sports Center, the Leopards' home arena, has seen major upgrades over the past year. During the summer, the court was completely overhauled and redesigned. It now features a prominent Leopard head logo as well as a maroon Leopard print border. A state-of-the art Daktronics control and video display system can now be seen above center court, showcasing promotional team videos and updated branding to enhance the fan experience. 

CONTINUED ACADEMIC PROWESS
Lafayette's athletic programs stood out among the nation's best on Nov. 19 in the NCAA's Division I graduation success rate (GSR) release. Lafayette boasted a third-best overall mark (97 percent) based on the 19 sports measured while 16 of the Leopards' teams achieved a graduation success rate of 100 percent, including men's basketball. As a conference, the Patriot League recorded a 94 – above the national average of 90. Institutionally, Colgate stood out at 98, followed by Lafayette, Boston U., Bucknell and Holy Cross (97). Lehigh and Loyola Maryland trailed them (96) with Navy (94), American (93) and Army (91) rounding out the group. Lafayette was in a group of 25 schools, including Brown, Dartmouth and Stanford, which featured a score of 97.

BACK ON THE PROWL
The Leopards return eight players from last season, four of whom saw significant game time. Lafayette concluded 2024-25 with a 13-20 (7-11 PL) overall record, advancing to the Patriot League Tournament's quarterfinal for the second year in a row. The Maroon and White lost five players to graduation and one player to the transfer portal. 

NIGERIAN PRIDE
On July 30, Folabomi Fayemi was named to Nigeria's 17-man provisional roster for the senior men's national team, D'Tigers, ahead of the 2025 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) AfroBasket tournament. The Houston, Texas native practiced in a week-long training camp and had two friendly games leading up to the showdown in Luanda, Angola from Aug. 12-24. The D'Tigers were in Group B alongside Madagascar, defending champions Tunisia and Cameroon. The sophomore guard is studying Economics on College Hill and played in 11 games as a rookie.

HOMEWARD BOUND
On Aug. 26, EJ Stephens '21 was announced as the Director of Basketball Operations for 2025-26. Stephens competed in over 103 contests while wearing the Maroon and White, totaling 1,017 points, 307 rebounds and 175 assists in his career. Following his senior season as a co-captain, he earned Second Team All-Patriot League laurels, a NABC All-District 13 Second Team nod and three Lafayette Dean's List awards. The Psychology major was also chosen as the Oaks Leadership "Leader of Distinction." To this day, Stephens ranks 11th in the conference for his 90.4 free throw percentage. This past summer, he was a part of the 2025 NBL1 roster for the Newcastle Falcons alongside O'Boyle and Myles Cherry '20. The 6'3 guard was a dynamic scorer who used his graduate year at Minnesota. The Plantation, Fla. native spent the 2023-24 pro season with the Cheshire Phoenix in England's SLB (formerly BBL).