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Holy Cross at Lehigh, 7:30 p.m.: The winner here has the edge in the race for one of the top two seeds and the right to host one of the pods for the first two rounds of the league tournament.

It's more a must win for Lehigh than Holy Cross, since the Mountain Hawks already have one home loss and will have to travel to both Bucknell and Holy Cross in the second half.

Last year, Holy Cross swept three games from the Mountain Hawks, winning by 2 at Stabler, by 20 at home in the regular season and by 4 in the second round of the league tournament in Worcester.

In the regular season game at Hart, HC shot 52.9 percent. The other games were defensive battles. In the game at Stabler, both teams shot right around 40 percent. In the tournament game, neither team even hit 30 percent.

It should be another defensive war Saturday. Both teams emphasize the defensive end. Lehigh has been holding its opponents under 40 percent from the field on the season. Holy Cross' opponents have fared better, hitting 42 percent. But that difference in shooting performance has meant little on the scoreboard. Lehigh allows 60.3 points per game, Holy Cross gives up 61.2. The Crusaders have been better in 5 conference games, limiting league foes to 38.5 percent from the field.

Lehigh had a 7-game winning streak end when it lost to Bucknell Wednesday. Holy Cross has won two in a row, both at home, since losing back to back games to Bucknell and Boston College. The Crusaders are also 8-2 in their last 10 league road games, both losses coming at Bucknell.

Both teams have terrific backcourts, with Holy Cross' trio of Kevin Hamilton, Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas holding an edge over Lehigh, which depends more on two guards -- Joe Knight and Jose Olivero. If you shut down one of those two, it is tough for Lehigh to score enough points to win, even when playing great defense.

Last year HC was able to do that, especially against Knight, who averaged less than 8 ppg in three against the Crusaders. Knight did reach double figures in the tournament game, scoring 11 points. But even then he was 3-14 from the field.

Holy Cross also got a boost from unexpected sources in each with over Lehigh last year. Pat Doherty, John Hurley, Nate Lufkin and Greg Kinsey took turns posting double figures games on the Mountain Hawks. Three of those guys are graduated and Doherty is out for the season with an injury, so someone else will need to fill that role for Holy Cross.

That will probably be a key again this year. Whichever team has someone step up unexpectedly will have a great chance of winning. Who might be able to provide that boost in this one?

The most obvious possibility would be HC sophomore Tim Clifford, who averaged 19 ppg in games against Boston College and American (27 points), then went back into the witness protection program against Colgate.

Lehigh's Jason Mgebroff scored in double figures against a Division I team for the first time this season at Lafayette (10 pts.) last week. But he won't find as favorable matchup situation against Holy Cross.

A better possibility might be forward Kyle Neptune, who averages 11.1 ppg. His matchup with Holy Cross freshman Alex Vander Baan could be interesting.

If the players check each other and it comes down to coaching decisions, here's an interesting stat: Ralph Willard is 12-2 against Lehigh. Billy Taylor is 1-6 against HC.
Lehigh notes | HC notes | USA Today matchup | HC radio

Army at Colgate 1:30 p.m.: Colgate blasted the Cadets in West Point on Jan. 7, winning 71-58 on Army's court. Since then, though, the Raiders have gone south, losing five in a row, including a home loss to American.

Army, on the other hand, seemed to get better each week. They were still losing, but they were getting closer. The Cadets finally got over that hump last Sunday at Navy. But it look like one step forward, two steps back when the Black Knights let Lafayette put a 22-point hurting on them in their own building Wednesday.

The loser of this one will be the favorite to finish in the cellar and draw the top seed in the league tournament.
Colgate notes | Army notes | USA Today matchup | 'Gate radio

Navy at Bucknell, 7 p.m.: Navy is healthier than it was when they faced Bucknell in Annapolis earlier this month. Having Matt Fannin back, even f he is not 100 percent, makes a huge difference inside for the Mids.

It is hard to imagine Fannin being enough to make a difference in Sojka, though, where Bucknell has won 18 league games in a row at home. Most of those games came before the Bucknell students jumped on the Bison bandwagon. Since then, the Sojka advantage has been magnified by the raucous Sojka Psychos. If the orange-clad throngs behind both baskets ever figure out how to get coordinated so they are doing the same cheers in unison, they will be an even bigger advantage.

Right now, the excitement in Lewisburg makes it the best college basketball atmosphere in the league. It is a very hostile place for a visiting squad full of youngsters like Navy.
Bucknell notes | Navy notes | USA Today matchup | Bucknell Radio | Navy radio

Lafayette at American, 2 p.m.: Two teams trying to establish themselves as sort of the middle class of the league in a battle for the No. 4 spot in the standings. An early must-win for AU. An Eagles win would tie them with the Leopards at 3-4 in league play. Both teams would still be at least a game ahead of everybody behind them heading into the second half of league play.

The Eagles cannot afford a third home loss with Holy Cross yet to visit.

If Lafayette were to win, though, it would give the Leopards a 4-3 record and at least a two-game edge on the league's second division.

Paulius Joneliunas had his best night as an Eagle in the loss to Navy Wednesday. Joneliunas had 15 points on 6-8 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds in 25 minutes against the Midshipmen. As Lehigh showed last week, the way to beat Lafayette is to get some inside scoring balance. Joneliunas and Brayden Billbe should be very viable options for Au against Lafayette's undersized backline.
AU notes | Navy notes | USA Today matchup | AU radio