OPENING TIP
The No. 7 Leopards host No. 10 Holy Cross for the first round of the 2026 PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Championship on Tuesday. Lafayette can extend its series win streak to four and close the all-time series record margin to one with a victory in Kirby Sports Center.

Sophomore guard Caleb Williams earned recognition from the Patriot League on Monday afternoon, as the 2025-26 men's basketball post-season honors were announced. He claimed third-team laurels with 30 starts through 31 games and over 975 minutes on the court. Last season, Williams was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie squad, as part of Lafayette's first-year honoree streak dating back to 2019.

Last time out, the Maroon and White concluded the regular season with a win against Army, 83-77, on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. During pre-game warmups, the Leopards celebrated the career of lone senior, Ryan Pettit. Sophomore Mark Butler, who totaled 8-of-10 at the line, commanded the Leopards with 21 points, six assists and four rebounds. Lafayette recorded 23-of-29 attempts at the charity stripe and shot 49 percent from the floor. Butler was named Patriot League Honorable Mention on Monday afternoon.

Caleb Williams is ranked sixth in scoring at 15.6 points per game for the Patriot League. He has scored 10+ points in every game (except Navy on Jan. 10, Loyola Md. on Feb. 11, American on Feb. 22 and Army on Feb. 28) 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.

With a win, the Leopards would advance to the quarterfinal game at second-seeded Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa. Tip-off is slated at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Stabler Arena. The winner of that matchup plays the winner of No. 3 Colgate/No. 6 Loyola Md. on Sunday.

THE MATCHUP
Holy Cross ended the 2025-26 regular-season with a 76-62 loss at home to Loyola Md. on Saturday. Junior guard/forward Gabe Warren became the first Crusader since 2023-24 to score 30+ points in a game, dropping a career-high 30 points on 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) shooting. Sophomore guard Tyler Boston is averaging a team-high 17.0 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game. The Crusaders return nine letterwinners, including three starters. Lafayette has won 14 of the last 19 series meetings and Holy Cross has not earned a win in Easton since, March 5, 2019. At the helm, Dave Paulsen is in his 30th year as a collegiate head coach after stops at St. Lawrence, Williams, Le Moyne, George Mason and Bucknell since 1994-95. A three-time Patriot League Coach of the Year and two-time Division III National Coach of the Year, he has won four Patriot League regular-season titles, two Patriot League Tournament titles and the 2003 NCAA Division III national championship, while leading his teams to eight NCAA Tournament appearances.

FAMILIAR FOES
Lafayette has played 538 games against current Patriot League members. In conference play, the Leopards are 229-309 in the regular season and 26-32 in the Patriot League Tournament, including a 13-5 home record. 

PATRIOT LEAGUE BRACKET
Navy (25-6, 17-1 PL) clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2026 Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship on Feb. 18, capturing its first outright regular-season title since 1997, while matching the 2022-23 Colgate Raiders with the best regular-season mark since the League expanded to 10 teams in 2013-14. Lehigh won its last three games to earn the No. 2 seed, its highest championship seeding since finishing as the second seed in 2015-16. Colgate received the No. 3 seed, and Boston University downed American in the regular-season finale to clinch the No. 4 seed. The Eagles sealed the fifth seed ahead of Loyola Md.

PERSISTENT 'PARDS
The Maroon and White have won five conference games by a combined 11 points: two vs. Bucknell (Jan. 28), two at American (Jan. 31), three at Army (Feb. 7), three at Holy Cross (Feb. 18) and one at Colgate (Feb. 25). 

ADMIRABLE ASSISTS
Junior Mark Butler leads the Patriot League and ranks ninth in the country with his 3.68 assist/turnover ratio. Butler, a Philadelphia, Pa. native, has dished 125 assists and kept to 34 turnovers in 2025-26. In the conference, he is fifth for his dimes per game (4.0) and seventh for minutes per game (33:49). 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 fourth in the conference for his 207 rebounds. The Grand Rapids, Mich. native places second for defensive rebounds per game (5.58) and sixth for total rebounds per game (6.7). 

CONSISTENCY IN THE FIVE
Lafayette has shown lineup stability, using just five starting combinations in the regular 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 almost all contests, while Caleb Williams (2) and Shareef Jackson (2) have missed multiple matches due to illness. 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. Against Army on Feb. 28, the Leopards started graduating senior Ryan Pettit in place of Humphrey-Rembert on Senior Day. 

THE WONDROUS WILLIAMS
Caleb Williams is in the top 10 in the Patriot League in 11 categories: assist/turnover ratio (10th, 1.51), assists (9th, 98), assists per game (10th, 3.2), field goal attempts (3rd, 395), free throw percentage (3rd, 87.6), free throws (6th, 106), points (6th, 483), points per game (6th, 15.6), three point attempts (2nd, 224), three pointers per game (4th, 2.35) and total three point FGM (4th, 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.
    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. To help the Leopards take down Colgate, 70-69, on Feb. 25, Humphrey-Rembert grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and scored 12 points.

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).

LAST-SECOND SUCCESS
The Leopards are currently 5-1 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.

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.

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.