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Sunday, December 31, 2006
The final game of 2006 has some significance for the whole league. An Army win over visiting Sacred Heart (matchup) would keep the Patriot League above .500 in non-conference play this season. League teams are currently a combined 55-54 after a rough stretch of late. Since Dec. 21, league teams have been a combined 5-17, potting a damper on a strong start.
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Lafayette gave 11-3 San Diego State a battle before succumbing.
Bilal Abdullah scored 16 and Matt Betley matched that off the bench, but it was not enough for the Leopards, who fell to 6-9 with a 78-68 loss to the athletic Aztecs of the Mountain West Conference.
The Leopards only led the game once, a brief period of a little over a minute early in the game, but they never went away. After trailing by 10 in the first half, they closed to within 3 at the intermission after Abdullah and Betley hit back to back threes in the final minute of the half.
Lafayette was within 5 with 12:24 to go in the second half when San Diego State went on an 8-0 run to push its lead to double digits. The Aztecs lead got as wide as 16 points, but Lafayette battled back to within single digits, getting as close as 6 in the final minute.
The leopards played without Jamaal Hilliard, but freshman Jesper Andersson returned to action, playing 12 minutes after missing the Temple game due an ankle sprain suffered in the win over Mt. St. Mary's. Betley, who has had trouble with an Achilles tendon injury, did not start, but played 32 minutes. Hilliard is out two to four weeks with what Lafayette is calling "two stress reactions" in his feet.
The win was No. 300 for SDSU coach Steve Fisher, who once won a national title (1989) at Michigan.
Box score | AP | San Diego Union Tribune | North County Times
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Bilal Abdullah scored 16 and Matt Betley matched that off the bench, but it was not enough for the Leopards, who fell to 6-9 with a 78-68 loss to the athletic Aztecs of the Mountain West Conference.
The Leopards only led the game once, a brief period of a little over a minute early in the game, but they never went away. After trailing by 10 in the first half, they closed to within 3 at the intermission after Abdullah and Betley hit back to back threes in the final minute of the half.
Lafayette was within 5 with 12:24 to go in the second half when San Diego State went on an 8-0 run to push its lead to double digits. The Aztecs lead got as wide as 16 points, but Lafayette battled back to within single digits, getting as close as 6 in the final minute.
The leopards played without Jamaal Hilliard, but freshman Jesper Andersson returned to action, playing 12 minutes after missing the Temple game due an ankle sprain suffered in the win over Mt. St. Mary's. Betley, who has had trouble with an Achilles tendon injury, did not start, but played 32 minutes. Hilliard is out two to four weeks with what Lafayette is calling "two stress reactions" in his feet.
The win was No. 300 for SDSU coach Steve Fisher, who once won a national title (1989) at Michigan.
Box score | AP | San Diego Union Tribune | North County Times
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Less than a month after handily beating Longwood at home, American fell to the Lancers on the road.
Despite a horrid second half shooting (11 of 39, 28.2 percent), the Eagles had the lead with just over a minute to score. But Longwood hit three foul shots in the final minute and blocked two American shots in thepaint in the final 5 seconds of regulation to send it to OT.
AU again had a lead in the extra period, going up 76-72 on a Brian Gilmore three-pointer. But Longwood responeded with an 8-0 run to hand AU its fourth straight setback.
Andre Ingram led AU with 21 points. Arvydas Eitutavicius added 19, Gilmore a career-high 11 (including two three-pointers in OT) and Derrick Mercer came up one assist shy of a double-double with 10 points and 9 assists.
American hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) Tuesday before opening league play Saturday at Lehigh.
Box score | AP
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Despite a horrid second half shooting (11 of 39, 28.2 percent), the Eagles had the lead with just over a minute to score. But Longwood hit three foul shots in the final minute and blocked two American shots in thepaint in the final 5 seconds of regulation to send it to OT.
AU again had a lead in the extra period, going up 76-72 on a Brian Gilmore three-pointer. But Longwood responeded with an 8-0 run to hand AU its fourth straight setback.
Andre Ingram led AU with 21 points. Arvydas Eitutavicius added 19, Gilmore a career-high 11 (including two three-pointers in OT) and Derrick Mercer came up one assist shy of a double-double with 10 points and 9 assists.
American hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) Tuesday before opening league play Saturday at Lehigh.
Box score | AP
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Navy coach Billy Lange said it best: "It was just a rough night for (Navy)."
The Mids, who live and die by the jump shot, were very much alive at the half after shooting 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. Navy actually had the lead with less than three minutes to go in the half and was tied headed into the final minute before Yale hit a pair of quick threes to take a 37-31 halftime lead. Navy never regained the lead.
Down by three midway through the second half, Navy went without scoring for over five minutes. Yale went on a 9-0 spurt in that stretch to build its lead to double digits and the margin thayed there the rest of the way.
Navy shot 37.5 percent (9 of 24) in the second half, finishing the game 21 of 48 (43.8 percent). Yale was 24 of 46 (52.2 percent) from the field, 8 of 17 from the arc. The Bulldogs also went 18 for 26 at the foul line -- 17 of 23 in the second half. Navy shot just 12 free throws (making 9), turned the ball over 21 times and were outrebounded 33-24.
The loss is Navy's third in a row against Divsion I opposition, after starting the season 7-2. Overall the Mids are now 9-5, with a Tuesday visit to NJIT before opening league play at Bucknell Saturday.
Yale's win now gives the Ivy League a 9-8 edge in the season series with the Patriot League. Yale is 2-2 with losses to Bucknell and Holy Cross and wins over American and the Midshipmen. It was the first road win of the season for 3-8 Yale, whose other win came in its season opener against Division 3 Allegheny, a game Allegheny actually counts as an exhibition.
Box score | AP | Navy Sports Info | Annapolis Capital
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The Mids, who live and die by the jump shot, were very much alive at the half after shooting 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. Navy actually had the lead with less than three minutes to go in the half and was tied headed into the final minute before Yale hit a pair of quick threes to take a 37-31 halftime lead. Navy never regained the lead.
Down by three midway through the second half, Navy went without scoring for over five minutes. Yale went on a 9-0 spurt in that stretch to build its lead to double digits and the margin thayed there the rest of the way.
Navy shot 37.5 percent (9 of 24) in the second half, finishing the game 21 of 48 (43.8 percent). Yale was 24 of 46 (52.2 percent) from the field, 8 of 17 from the arc. The Bulldogs also went 18 for 26 at the foul line -- 17 of 23 in the second half. Navy shot just 12 free throws (making 9), turned the ball over 21 times and were outrebounded 33-24.
The loss is Navy's third in a row against Divsion I opposition, after starting the season 7-2. Overall the Mids are now 9-5, with a Tuesday visit to NJIT before opening league play at Bucknell Saturday.
Yale's win now gives the Ivy League a 9-8 edge in the season series with the Patriot League. Yale is 2-2 with losses to Bucknell and Holy Cross and wins over American and the Midshipmen. It was the first road win of the season for 3-8 Yale, whose other win came in its season opener against Division 3 Allegheny, a game Allegheny actually counts as an exhibition.
Box score | AP | Navy Sports Info | Annapolis Capital
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After Friday's embarrassing loss to Central Arkansas, Bucknell's three senior captains set the tone early against Northern Illinois, combining for the first 19 Bison points in a 77-59 win.
Bucknell opened the game with a 16-4 run -- 8 points coming from Donald Brown, 6 from Chris McNaughton. UNI managed to close to within 6 with6:50 to go in the first half, but the Bison answered with a 6-0 spurt and the lead was in double digits the rest of the way. By halftime Bucknell stretched the margin to 39-22. UNI never got closer than 14 in the second half.
McNaughton finished with 15 points and five rebounds, four on the offensive glass. Brown became the first Bison all season to score 20, going 8 for 10 from the field. Brown also had 6 rebounds and his 4 steals were part of 19 Northern Illinois turnovers that the Bison converted into 20 points.
John Griffin added 12 for Bucknell, which shot 51.9 percent (27 of 52) from the field.
Bucknell, which returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Navy, will take a 6-7 record into conference play.
Box score | AP | Daily Item
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Bucknell opened the game with a 16-4 run -- 8 points coming from Donald Brown, 6 from Chris McNaughton. UNI managed to close to within 6 with6:50 to go in the first half, but the Bison answered with a 6-0 spurt and the lead was in double digits the rest of the way. By halftime Bucknell stretched the margin to 39-22. UNI never got closer than 14 in the second half.
McNaughton finished with 15 points and five rebounds, four on the offensive glass. Brown became the first Bison all season to score 20, going 8 for 10 from the field. Brown also had 6 rebounds and his 4 steals were part of 19 Northern Illinois turnovers that the Bison converted into 20 points.
John Griffin added 12 for Bucknell, which shot 51.9 percent (27 of 52) from the field.
Bucknell, which returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Navy, will take a 6-7 record into conference play.
Box score | AP | Daily Item
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Saturday, December 30, 2006
Holy Cross holds Delaware to 4 second half field goals to prevail in a nail-biter.By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
PHILADELPHIA -- Winning with defense is never going to gain you many style points. That is OK with Holy Cross. After escaping with a 49-47 win over Delaware in the third game of their three-day visit to Philadelphia for the LaSalle Invitational, all that really matted was the W to make the five hour bus ride back to Worcester go a little easier.
As the Crusaders star guard, Keith Simmons said afterwards, "It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it."
Simmons had his usual big night, going 6 for 10 from the field, with three three-pointers, for 17 points, his 25th consecutive game in double figures, stretching back to the middle of last season. At times Simmons game was a thing of beauty, especially early in the second half when he made an acrobatic finish on a fast break off a lob pass from Torey Thomas.
After a quiet first half in which he scored only 3 points, Simmons go things going after the intermission, scoring 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the half, including 7 during the 11-0 Holy Cross run that put them ahead to stay. But after Simmons drained a three on a kickout by center Tim Clifford with 11:24, things got ugly in a hurry. At least to those who fail to see beauty in things like defense and free throw shooting.
Holy Cross would score just one more field goal the rest of the game, a Simmons bucket on a baseline take with 5:50 to play.
A one bucket in 11:24 cold spell usually translates into a loss, especially when such a freeze comes with the icy team holding just a 4-point (38-34) lead when it starts. It probably would have in this case, too, if not for the staunch defense the Crusaders played in the second half.
Holy Cross trailed 27-24 at the half, with Delaware hitting 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) shots in the first half. Especially troublesome was the Blue Hens' Herb Courtney, a 6-7 human pogo who was a matchup nightmare for the Crusaders. Courtney was 8 for 12 in the first half, scoring 18 points on a variety of dunks, drives and even one three-pointer.
The second half was a different story. Picking up the defensive intensity, Holy Cross limited Delaware to just four field goals on 20 tries after the intermission. After giving up four treys in the opening 20 minutes, the Crusaders allowed only one in the second half (1 of 7). Courtney, so deadly in the first half, was an afterthought in the second. Denied the ball most of the half, Courtney only got off five shots in the half, making a pair to finish with 24 points.
As icy as things got for the Crusaders, Delaware struggled even more. Courtney's last field goal, a layup that cut the HC lead to 38-36 with 9:16 to play, was Delaware's only field goal in the final 14:42 of the game.
"We don't play that defense, we lose the basketball game," Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard said following the escape.
"We kept telling ourselves, ugly as it was on offense in that stretch, we were up by six. As long as we kept getting stops, it was mathematically impossible for them to win," Simmons said.
Even with the defensive stops, the situation got dicey for the Crusaders in the final moments. After Thomas hit a pair of free throws to make it 46-40 Holy Cross with 4:43 left, Delaware seized the upper hand in the free throw shooting contest the game had become, making 5 of 6 over thenext three minutes to close to within 1 at 46-45 with 1:44 left.
Thursday's hero, junior Kyle Cruze, hit a pair for Holy Cross to push the lead back to 3, but a pair of Brian Johnson foul shots pulled Delaware back to within 1 with 56 seconds to play. But Simmons missed a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left, and after another defensive stop, Alex Vander Baan missed the first before making the second on a two-shot foul, giving Holy Cross a 48-46 lead with 9 seconds to go.
Delaware's Brian Johnson took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor against Thomas, but his layup try clanked off the rim and Holy Cross backup greg McCarthy gathered in the rebound to preserve the win.
McCarthy was forced into 13 minutes of action, matching his career high, when Clifford developed foul trouble. Clifford sat much of the first half after picking up two fouls in quick succession around the six minute mark and eventually fouled out with 2:50 to play. McCarthy was 2 for 3 from the field, with a block and a steal and generally played solid defense in the post, though the 6-11 sophomore had only one rebound.
"You need to get more than one rebound," said Willard. "But that was a pretty big rebound."
The Crusaders get a few days rest before traveling to Boston University Wednesday for their final tune-up before opening conference play at Lafayette next Saturday.
Box score | Gameblog | Postgame audio (Willard, Simmons) | Wilmington News-Journal
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PHILADELPHIA -- Winning with defense is never going to gain you many style points. That is OK with Holy Cross. After escaping with a 49-47 win over Delaware in the third game of their three-day visit to Philadelphia for the LaSalle Invitational, all that really matted was the W to make the five hour bus ride back to Worcester go a little easier.
As the Crusaders star guard, Keith Simmons said afterwards, "It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it."
Simmons had his usual big night, going 6 for 10 from the field, with three three-pointers, for 17 points, his 25th consecutive game in double figures, stretching back to the middle of last season. At times Simmons game was a thing of beauty, especially early in the second half when he made an acrobatic finish on a fast break off a lob pass from Torey Thomas.
After a quiet first half in which he scored only 3 points, Simmons go things going after the intermission, scoring 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the half, including 7 during the 11-0 Holy Cross run that put them ahead to stay. But after Simmons drained a three on a kickout by center Tim Clifford with 11:24, things got ugly in a hurry. At least to those who fail to see beauty in things like defense and free throw shooting.
Holy Cross would score just one more field goal the rest of the game, a Simmons bucket on a baseline take with 5:50 to play.
A one bucket in 11:24 cold spell usually translates into a loss, especially when such a freeze comes with the icy team holding just a 4-point (38-34) lead when it starts. It probably would have in this case, too, if not for the staunch defense the Crusaders played in the second half.
Holy Cross trailed 27-24 at the half, with Delaware hitting 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) shots in the first half. Especially troublesome was the Blue Hens' Herb Courtney, a 6-7 human pogo who was a matchup nightmare for the Crusaders. Courtney was 8 for 12 in the first half, scoring 18 points on a variety of dunks, drives and even one three-pointer.
The second half was a different story. Picking up the defensive intensity, Holy Cross limited Delaware to just four field goals on 20 tries after the intermission. After giving up four treys in the opening 20 minutes, the Crusaders allowed only one in the second half (1 of 7). Courtney, so deadly in the first half, was an afterthought in the second. Denied the ball most of the half, Courtney only got off five shots in the half, making a pair to finish with 24 points.
As icy as things got for the Crusaders, Delaware struggled even more. Courtney's last field goal, a layup that cut the HC lead to 38-36 with 9:16 to play, was Delaware's only field goal in the final 14:42 of the game.
"We don't play that defense, we lose the basketball game," Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard said following the escape.
"We kept telling ourselves, ugly as it was on offense in that stretch, we were up by six. As long as we kept getting stops, it was mathematically impossible for them to win," Simmons said.
Even with the defensive stops, the situation got dicey for the Crusaders in the final moments. After Thomas hit a pair of free throws to make it 46-40 Holy Cross with 4:43 left, Delaware seized the upper hand in the free throw shooting contest the game had become, making 5 of 6 over thenext three minutes to close to within 1 at 46-45 with 1:44 left.
Thursday's hero, junior Kyle Cruze, hit a pair for Holy Cross to push the lead back to 3, but a pair of Brian Johnson foul shots pulled Delaware back to within 1 with 56 seconds to play. But Simmons missed a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left, and after another defensive stop, Alex Vander Baan missed the first before making the second on a two-shot foul, giving Holy Cross a 48-46 lead with 9 seconds to go.
Delaware's Brian Johnson took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor against Thomas, but his layup try clanked off the rim and Holy Cross backup greg McCarthy gathered in the rebound to preserve the win.
McCarthy was forced into 13 minutes of action, matching his career high, when Clifford developed foul trouble. Clifford sat much of the first half after picking up two fouls in quick succession around the six minute mark and eventually fouled out with 2:50 to play. McCarthy was 2 for 3 from the field, with a block and a steal and generally played solid defense in the post, though the 6-11 sophomore had only one rebound.
"You need to get more than one rebound," said Willard. "But that was a pretty big rebound."
The Crusaders get a few days rest before traveling to Boston University Wednesday for their final tune-up before opening conference play at Lafayette next Saturday.
Box score | Gameblog | Postgame audio (Willard, Simmons) | Wilmington News-Journal
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The Crusaders' win over Delaware chronicled as it went down this afternoon in Philly.
Day three of the LaSalle Invitational brings an early start for the Crusaders of Holy Cross, who will bus back to Worcester after the game. It's the first time in the three days of the round robin event that the host LaSalle Explorers are not playing in the first game of the day.
This has not been a good weekend for LaSalle, which has dropped each of its first two game. It had been a very good weekend for Delaware, which came in without a win and is now riding a two-game win streak.
The key for the Blue Hens has been shooting. Delaware shot 51.9 percent in the win over Niagara and hit 55 percent of its shots in the first half against LaSalle, building a 12-point halftime lead that was enough cushion for the Hens to hold on for a 58-56 win.
Defense has not been too shabby either. The Hens held both Niagara and LaSalle in the 50s.
Look for Holy Cross to try to establish Tim Clifford down low early in this one. After leading the Crusaders in scoring in the two games prior to the Philly trip, Clifford has been lost in the shuffle here. Given Delaware's lack of size, this would be a good spot for him to get back on track.
Delaware starts two freshmen and a sophomore. No starter is taller than 6-7 since 6-8 junior Henry Olawoye lost his spot in the starting five prior to the Niagara game. Beyond Olawoye, there is not much size on the Hens bench. Matt Hewson,a 7-3 sophomore has left the team and is transferring, 6-10 Raphael Madera is suspended indefinitely.
The Crusaders, for the first time in the three games here, are the home team and will be wearing their white uniforms. They are still occupying the bench at the south end of Tom Gola Arena.
Tip off right around the corner.
We're stuck in between two radio crews here on press row. To the left is Delaware's commercial station, to the right their student station. It's not Hell, but it is close.
Alex Vander Baan the man offensively early for HC, he has the team's first two baskets. Delaware turned it over their first two looks at HC's 2-3.
Clifford inside makes it 6-0 HC early. At the other end, Delaware travels, making it three turnovers and two missed shots on the Hens' first four possessions.
Vander Baan with his third bucket, it's 8-0 HC with 16:04 to go in the first half.
Worcester is five hours away, Newark, Del. just down the road from Phily, but the HC fans outnumber the Hens followers by at least 2 to 1 here.
Delaware gets on the board after the first TV timeout, a quick 5-0 spurt, which brings a 30 second timeout from Ralph Willard. The Hens are trying full court pressure.
A sloppy pass at the top of the key by Clifford leads to a Delaware steal and a layin at the other end, cutting the HC lead to 8-7.
Adam May off the bench early for HC. Along with Eric Meister. May gives Keith Simmons a rest, Meister in for Vander Baan. Greg McCarthy follows, spelling Clifford.
Delaware's Herb Courtney giving HC trouble inside. The 6-7 junior has 6 of Delaware's 9 points, all from within two feet of the basket,
With 11:04 to go first half, it's HC 10, Del. 9.
HC is 5 for 10 from the field, 0-2 on threes. Delaware 4 for 9, 1 for 4 on threes. After its early problems, Del. taking good care of the ball, just the three early turnovers. HC with four.
Delaware's Zaire Taylor gives the Hens a 15-12 lead with his second straight three at the 9:27 mark. At the other end, Greg McCarthy's second straight bucket cuts it to one.
A dunk by Courtney pushes the Delaware lead back to 17-14, but Torey Thomas will be at the line for two free throws following a timeout with 7:56 to go in the half.
Taylor picks up two fouls in less than a minute and sits down. Short time later, Clifford gets two within 18 seconds and sits for HC.
McCarthy played well off the bench spelling Clifford earlier in the half, but he will have his hands full with the very athletic Courtney when HC matches up out of the 2-3.
Simmons hits HC's first three-pointer at the 4:52 mark, putting the 'Saders up 21-20.
Courtney is a real handful. His easy layup slicing to the hole on an inbounds play gives him 13 points and Delaware a 22-21 lead with 3:33 to play in the first half.
So far, HC shooting 9 of 16 from the field, 1 of 3 from the arc. Del. at 9 of 20, 3 for 8. Rebounds are 10-9 Delaware, Turnovers: HC 7, Del. 6.
Henry Olawoye checks in for Del. and gets tow quick personals, the second putting HC in the one and one. McCarthy, though, misses the front end, his first missed free throw of the season after making 7 of 7 in the 9 games he played coming in.
Courtney shows he is not all inside, drilling a long three for a 25-21 Del lead. Thomas answers with a three for HC, but at the other end it's Courtney again, this time banking one in from the foul line.
Delaware plays for a last shot, but misses. Thomas grabs the rebound, takes a couple quick dribbles and lets go with a three-quarter court heave that is off the rim.
At the half, it is Delaware 27, HC 24.
Holy Cross is shooting 50 percent, 10 for 20, and is 2 for 5 on threes. Saders are 2 for 4 at the line. Delaware 11 for 23 (8 of the makes, and 12 of the shots by Courtney) with 4 threes on 10 tries. Del. is 1-1 at the foul line.
Leading scorer for HC is Thomas with 7. Vander Baan has 6. Keith Simmons quiet with just the one three (1 for 3 from the field)
Delaware is all Courtney -- 18 points, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal. He played all 20 minutes.
SECOND HALF
Clifford and Simmons involved early in the second half for HC. Clifford got the ball down on the block the 'Saders first possession and converted. On the other side of a three and a acrobatic finish on the break by Simmons, Clifford got the ball on the blocks again but was fouled before the shot.
Delaware with a three by Brian Johnson in that span. With 15:54 to go, HC is up 31-30.
A quick 7-0 HC run gives the Saders a 38-34 lead with 11:20 to play. Simmons bookends around a Clifford layin -- the first Simmons bucket finishing a coast-to-coast take after a steal, the second on a kickout from Clifford after Delaware collapsed to triple team him down low.
So far, Courtney has been quiet, just 2 points this half. Delaware 3 for 12 from the field in the half. HC 6 for 10.
Fouls starting to mount for Delaware, they have six team fouls with 10:04 to play. At least four of three of those on smaller guys trying to defend Clifford in the paint. -- Make that 7, Courtney just held Clifford for his third personal and seventh team foul. Delaware coach Monte Ross did not like the call and griped long after Clifford missed the front of the one-and-one, drawing a T. Simmons made both for a 40-36 lead.
Clifford draws another foul (Del. team foul 9) at the 8:18 mark and makes both.
With 7:53 to play, HC up 42-36.
With 7:42 to play, HC tentative against Del. press resulting in a 10 second call and a turnover. Delaware cannot convert at the other end, though.
Brian Johnson fouls Thomas with 4:43 to play. It's Delaware's 10th team foul. Thomas makes both for a 46-40 lead.
Clifford picks up his 4th personal with 3:48 left, Holy Cross still up 46-40.
Delaware is now 4 for 17 from the field in the second half, with 3:07 to play.
Clifford fouls out going for a rebound with 2:50 to play. A questionable call from this angle. McCarthy will need to fill the middle down the stretch.
Similar to yesterday, HC with just one field goal since the 10 minute mark. They are 6 for 6 at the foul line since then.
2:14 to play, HC up 46-42 after turning it over on a shot clock violation.
Simmons' second personal is team number 10 for HC with 2:05 to play. Darrell Johnson misses the back end, but Courtney gets the rebound and a break when what should have been a travel is called a jump ball.
It's turning into a free throw shooting contest. Delaware scores 5 straight at the line to get within 1. Cruze with a pair makes it 48-45 HC, then 2 more for Del. make it a one-point game again with less than a minute to play.
35.2 Simmons shooting two, misses both.
Delaware timeout with the ball, 26.3 to play, HC clinging to a 48-47 lead.
Darrell Johnson misses from the left baseline and Vander Baan rebounds with 8.9 seconds to go. He is immediately fouled, but makes only one of two. HC is up 49-47 with 8.9 seconds to go.
Brian Johnson dribbles the length of the floor and tries to put up a runner on Thomas, it misses, McCarthy rebounds and HC holds on for the 49-47 win.
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Day three of the LaSalle Invitational brings an early start for the Crusaders of Holy Cross, who will bus back to Worcester after the game. It's the first time in the three days of the round robin event that the host LaSalle Explorers are not playing in the first game of the day.
This has not been a good weekend for LaSalle, which has dropped each of its first two game. It had been a very good weekend for Delaware, which came in without a win and is now riding a two-game win streak.
The key for the Blue Hens has been shooting. Delaware shot 51.9 percent in the win over Niagara and hit 55 percent of its shots in the first half against LaSalle, building a 12-point halftime lead that was enough cushion for the Hens to hold on for a 58-56 win.
Defense has not been too shabby either. The Hens held both Niagara and LaSalle in the 50s.
Look for Holy Cross to try to establish Tim Clifford down low early in this one. After leading the Crusaders in scoring in the two games prior to the Philly trip, Clifford has been lost in the shuffle here. Given Delaware's lack of size, this would be a good spot for him to get back on track.
Delaware starts two freshmen and a sophomore. No starter is taller than 6-7 since 6-8 junior Henry Olawoye lost his spot in the starting five prior to the Niagara game. Beyond Olawoye, there is not much size on the Hens bench. Matt Hewson,a 7-3 sophomore has left the team and is transferring, 6-10 Raphael Madera is suspended indefinitely.
The Crusaders, for the first time in the three games here, are the home team and will be wearing their white uniforms. They are still occupying the bench at the south end of Tom Gola Arena.
Tip off right around the corner.
We're stuck in between two radio crews here on press row. To the left is Delaware's commercial station, to the right their student station. It's not Hell, but it is close.
Alex Vander Baan the man offensively early for HC, he has the team's first two baskets. Delaware turned it over their first two looks at HC's 2-3.
Clifford inside makes it 6-0 HC early. At the other end, Delaware travels, making it three turnovers and two missed shots on the Hens' first four possessions.
Vander Baan with his third bucket, it's 8-0 HC with 16:04 to go in the first half.
Worcester is five hours away, Newark, Del. just down the road from Phily, but the HC fans outnumber the Hens followers by at least 2 to 1 here.
Delaware gets on the board after the first TV timeout, a quick 5-0 spurt, which brings a 30 second timeout from Ralph Willard. The Hens are trying full court pressure.
A sloppy pass at the top of the key by Clifford leads to a Delaware steal and a layin at the other end, cutting the HC lead to 8-7.
Adam May off the bench early for HC. Along with Eric Meister. May gives Keith Simmons a rest, Meister in for Vander Baan. Greg McCarthy follows, spelling Clifford.
Delaware's Herb Courtney giving HC trouble inside. The 6-7 junior has 6 of Delaware's 9 points, all from within two feet of the basket,
With 11:04 to go first half, it's HC 10, Del. 9.
HC is 5 for 10 from the field, 0-2 on threes. Delaware 4 for 9, 1 for 4 on threes. After its early problems, Del. taking good care of the ball, just the three early turnovers. HC with four.
Delaware's Zaire Taylor gives the Hens a 15-12 lead with his second straight three at the 9:27 mark. At the other end, Greg McCarthy's second straight bucket cuts it to one.
A dunk by Courtney pushes the Delaware lead back to 17-14, but Torey Thomas will be at the line for two free throws following a timeout with 7:56 to go in the half.
Taylor picks up two fouls in less than a minute and sits down. Short time later, Clifford gets two within 18 seconds and sits for HC.
McCarthy played well off the bench spelling Clifford earlier in the half, but he will have his hands full with the very athletic Courtney when HC matches up out of the 2-3.
Simmons hits HC's first three-pointer at the 4:52 mark, putting the 'Saders up 21-20.
Courtney is a real handful. His easy layup slicing to the hole on an inbounds play gives him 13 points and Delaware a 22-21 lead with 3:33 to play in the first half.
So far, HC shooting 9 of 16 from the field, 1 of 3 from the arc. Del. at 9 of 20, 3 for 8. Rebounds are 10-9 Delaware, Turnovers: HC 7, Del. 6.
Henry Olawoye checks in for Del. and gets tow quick personals, the second putting HC in the one and one. McCarthy, though, misses the front end, his first missed free throw of the season after making 7 of 7 in the 9 games he played coming in.
Courtney shows he is not all inside, drilling a long three for a 25-21 Del lead. Thomas answers with a three for HC, but at the other end it's Courtney again, this time banking one in from the foul line.
Delaware plays for a last shot, but misses. Thomas grabs the rebound, takes a couple quick dribbles and lets go with a three-quarter court heave that is off the rim.
At the half, it is Delaware 27, HC 24.
Holy Cross is shooting 50 percent, 10 for 20, and is 2 for 5 on threes. Saders are 2 for 4 at the line. Delaware 11 for 23 (8 of the makes, and 12 of the shots by Courtney) with 4 threes on 10 tries. Del. is 1-1 at the foul line.
Leading scorer for HC is Thomas with 7. Vander Baan has 6. Keith Simmons quiet with just the one three (1 for 3 from the field)
Delaware is all Courtney -- 18 points, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal. He played all 20 minutes.
SECOND HALF
Clifford and Simmons involved early in the second half for HC. Clifford got the ball down on the block the 'Saders first possession and converted. On the other side of a three and a acrobatic finish on the break by Simmons, Clifford got the ball on the blocks again but was fouled before the shot.
Delaware with a three by Brian Johnson in that span. With 15:54 to go, HC is up 31-30.
A quick 7-0 HC run gives the Saders a 38-34 lead with 11:20 to play. Simmons bookends around a Clifford layin -- the first Simmons bucket finishing a coast-to-coast take after a steal, the second on a kickout from Clifford after Delaware collapsed to triple team him down low.
So far, Courtney has been quiet, just 2 points this half. Delaware 3 for 12 from the field in the half. HC 6 for 10.
Fouls starting to mount for Delaware, they have six team fouls with 10:04 to play. At least four of three of those on smaller guys trying to defend Clifford in the paint. -- Make that 7, Courtney just held Clifford for his third personal and seventh team foul. Delaware coach Monte Ross did not like the call and griped long after Clifford missed the front of the one-and-one, drawing a T. Simmons made both for a 40-36 lead.
Clifford draws another foul (Del. team foul 9) at the 8:18 mark and makes both.
With 7:53 to play, HC up 42-36.
With 7:42 to play, HC tentative against Del. press resulting in a 10 second call and a turnover. Delaware cannot convert at the other end, though.
Brian Johnson fouls Thomas with 4:43 to play. It's Delaware's 10th team foul. Thomas makes both for a 46-40 lead.
Clifford picks up his 4th personal with 3:48 left, Holy Cross still up 46-40.
Delaware is now 4 for 17 from the field in the second half, with 3:07 to play.
Clifford fouls out going for a rebound with 2:50 to play. A questionable call from this angle. McCarthy will need to fill the middle down the stretch.
Similar to yesterday, HC with just one field goal since the 10 minute mark. They are 6 for 6 at the foul line since then.
2:14 to play, HC up 46-42 after turning it over on a shot clock violation.
Simmons' second personal is team number 10 for HC with 2:05 to play. Darrell Johnson misses the back end, but Courtney gets the rebound and a break when what should have been a travel is called a jump ball.
It's turning into a free throw shooting contest. Delaware scores 5 straight at the line to get within 1. Cruze with a pair makes it 48-45 HC, then 2 more for Del. make it a one-point game again with less than a minute to play.
35.2 Simmons shooting two, misses both.
Delaware timeout with the ball, 26.3 to play, HC clinging to a 48-47 lead.
Darrell Johnson misses from the left baseline and Vander Baan rebounds with 8.9 seconds to go. He is immediately fouled, but makes only one of two. HC is up 49-47 with 8.9 seconds to go.
Brian Johnson dribbles the length of the floor and tries to put up a runner on Thomas, it misses, McCarthy rebounds and HC holds on for the 49-47 win.
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Holy Cross lost out on the little brother in the Bettencourt family. Could the story repeat with the younger brother of Bucknell guard John Griffin?
The Bison have already signed a point guard in their incoming recruiting class. That pretty much means no scholarship is available for little brother Matt Griffin, who is following big brother's footsteps as point guard for St. Joseph's Prep in Philly.
The younger Griffin is a little over 5-10, but his coach, Philly legend Speedy Morris, says he can play Division I ball. Matt Griffin, who is not yet 18, is considering a year at Lawrenceville Prep is no Divsion I offers are forthcoming.
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The Bison have already signed a point guard in their incoming recruiting class. That pretty much means no scholarship is available for little brother Matt Griffin, who is following big brother's footsteps as point guard for St. Joseph's Prep in Philly.
The younger Griffin is a little over 5-10, but his coach, Philly legend Speedy Morris, says he can play Division I ball. Matt Griffin, who is not yet 18, is considering a year at Lawrenceville Prep is no Divsion I offers are forthcoming.
Labels: BU
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It's the last five-game day of the season for Patriot League teams as non-conference play begins to wind down in anticipation of next week's conference openers.
For Lafayette and Bucknell, this will be their final non-conference tune-ups. The Leopards are at San Diego State (matchup), taking on an Aztecs team that is 10-3 despite turnover problems, while Bucknell tries to salvage its visit to Poughkeepsie with a win over 3-8 Northern Illinois in the Marist Classic consolation game (matchup).
American, which beat Longwood handily at home back on Dec. 4, tries for a season sweep in an unusual non-conference home and home series when it visits the Lancers in a 3 p.m. start (matchup). Yale, 1-2 against Patriot League teams, looks to even that record when it visits Navy (matchup).
In the day's other game, Holy Cross will try to bounce back from Friday's loss to Niagara when it meets suddenly hot Delaware (matchup) in the finale of their three-game LaSalle Invitational adventure. The Blue Hens were 0-9 when they arrived Thursday in Philly for the round robin event. Now they are 2-9 after beating Niagara in the first round Thursday and the host Explorers Friday.
This will be a real test for the short-handed, leg-weary Crusaders who are 1-4 in games in which they have one day or less to prepare.
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For Lafayette and Bucknell, this will be their final non-conference tune-ups. The Leopards are at San Diego State (matchup), taking on an Aztecs team that is 10-3 despite turnover problems, while Bucknell tries to salvage its visit to Poughkeepsie with a win over 3-8 Northern Illinois in the Marist Classic consolation game (matchup).
American, which beat Longwood handily at home back on Dec. 4, tries for a season sweep in an unusual non-conference home and home series when it visits the Lancers in a 3 p.m. start (matchup). Yale, 1-2 against Patriot League teams, looks to even that record when it visits Navy (matchup).
In the day's other game, Holy Cross will try to bounce back from Friday's loss to Niagara when it meets suddenly hot Delaware (matchup) in the finale of their three-game LaSalle Invitational adventure. The Blue Hens were 0-9 when they arrived Thursday in Philly for the round robin event. Now they are 2-9 after beating Niagara in the first round Thursday and the host Explorers Friday.
This will be a real test for the short-handed, leg-weary Crusaders who are 1-4 in games in which they have one day or less to prepare.
Labels: AU, BU, HC, Laf, Navy, previews
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Colgate's offensive woes continued in the consolation game of the Cable Car Classic.
One night after scoring just 39 points in a firs-round loss to Santa Clara, the Raiders scored only 42 in a 75-42 loss to George Washington 75.
For the second straight night, Kendall Chones was the only Colgate player in double figures. Chones finished with 12. Teammate Dan Gentile added 8. No other Raider scored more than 4.
Also for the second straight night, leading scorer Jon Simon managed only one field goal. Simon was 1 for 11, 1 for 9 from the arc. In the two games of the tournament, Simon went a combined 2 for 15.
Simon was not the only Colgate player struggling to find his range. The Raiders fell behind by 22 at the half after making only 4 field goals (on 18 shots, 22.2 percent) the first 20 minutes. Colgate, which went the last 8:52 of the half without a field goal, also turned the ball over 14 times in the first half.
The turnovers improved in the second half. The shooting did, too -- barely. The Raiders were 9 for 31 after the intermission (29 percent), finishing the game at 26.5 percent from the field with 2 treys on 16 attempts.
Down 38-16 at the break, Colgate cut it to 20 on a Tim Pounds bucket to open the second half. GW answered with an 8-0 run and Colgate never got closer than 22 the rest of the way.
Box score | AP
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One night after scoring just 39 points in a firs-round loss to Santa Clara, the Raiders scored only 42 in a 75-42 loss to George Washington 75.
For the second straight night, Kendall Chones was the only Colgate player in double figures. Chones finished with 12. Teammate Dan Gentile added 8. No other Raider scored more than 4.
Also for the second straight night, leading scorer Jon Simon managed only one field goal. Simon was 1 for 11, 1 for 9 from the arc. In the two games of the tournament, Simon went a combined 2 for 15.
Simon was not the only Colgate player struggling to find his range. The Raiders fell behind by 22 at the half after making only 4 field goals (on 18 shots, 22.2 percent) the first 20 minutes. Colgate, which went the last 8:52 of the half without a field goal, also turned the ball over 14 times in the first half.
The turnovers improved in the second half. The shooting did, too -- barely. The Raiders were 9 for 31 after the intermission (29 percent), finishing the game at 26.5 percent from the field with 2 treys on 16 attempts.
Down 38-16 at the break, Colgate cut it to 20 on a Tim Pounds bucket to open the second half. GW answered with an 8-0 run and Colgate never got closer than 22 the rest of the way.
Box score | AP
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Mountain Hawks still searching for a win away from home
Just like his hot hand can keep Lehigh in any game, Jose Olivero's off nights don't bode well for the Mountain Hawks. Case in point: Lehigh's ugly 67-39 loss at Monmouth Friday.
Olivero was 1 for 9 from the field, 0 for 7 from three-point range, finishing with 7 points thanks to 5 for 6 free throw shooting. The 7 points are better than 10 below Olivero's 17.7 ppg average. It was the first time all season Olivero did not score in double figures. It is also Lehigh's most lopsided loss.
The Mountain Hawks were 5 for 20 from the field in the first half, 8 for 25 in the second, a combined 28.9 percent for the game.
The only bright spot for Lehigh: Freshman point guard Marquis Hall went 7 for 12 from the field, 4 of 7 on treys to finish with a career bext 18 points.
The Mountain Hawks are now 5-10 overall, 0-10 away from Stabler Arena.
Box score | AP
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Just like his hot hand can keep Lehigh in any game, Jose Olivero's off nights don't bode well for the Mountain Hawks. Case in point: Lehigh's ugly 67-39 loss at Monmouth Friday.
Olivero was 1 for 9 from the field, 0 for 7 from three-point range, finishing with 7 points thanks to 5 for 6 free throw shooting. The 7 points are better than 10 below Olivero's 17.7 ppg average. It was the first time all season Olivero did not score in double figures. It is also Lehigh's most lopsided loss.
The Mountain Hawks were 5 for 20 from the field in the first half, 8 for 25 in the second, a combined 28.9 percent for the game.
The only bright spot for Lehigh: Freshman point guard Marquis Hall went 7 for 12 from the field, 4 of 7 on treys to finish with a career bext 18 points.
The Mountain Hawks are now 5-10 overall, 0-10 away from Stabler Arena.
Box score | AP
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Friday, December 29, 2006
A pair of bookend cold spells -- one to start the game, one to end it -- were the undoing of the Crusaders against NiagaraBy CHRIS A. COUROGEN
PHILADELPHIA -- One long cold spell Holy Cross could overcome. A second was more than it could handle.
Going without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes to open the game and with just two -- only one that actually mattered -- in the last eight minutes, the Crusaders dropped a 66-61 decision to Niagara in game two of the three-game round robin LaSalle Invitational.
The first dry spell the Crusaders actually managed to overcome. In fact, after using an 11-1 run at the start of the second half to take the lead, Holy Cross seemed in control. When Keith Simmons scored what proved to be his final bucket, a layup off a Tory Thomas fee on the break, the Crusaders had built an 11-point lead.
Then the wheels came off. Between Simmons' layup and a meaningless uncontested layup by Thomas with 6 seconds left, the Crusaders went 1 for 11, turning the ball over five times.
"We didn't show a lot of poise when we needed to," said Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard. "We weren't executing. We were taking quick shots in that stretch and let them get back in the game."
The lack of execution helped take Simmons out of the game down the stretch. The 6-5 senior had carried the Crusaders during their rally from 8 down midway through the first half and his 15 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half were the key to Holy Cross building its lead. Down the stretch he seldom got the ball in position to score.
"We stopped reversing the ball. We didn't get to the end of plays. It was just a lack of focus. You have to make teams play defense when you have the lead. We didn't make them play defense," Willard said.
At the other end, the Crusaders 2-3 zone which had kept Niagara in check most of the night, also lost its focus. Three times during Niagara's decisive run the Crusaders weak side defenders left someone alone on the baseline wing to go help inside. All three times Niagara found the open man for a three.
When they weren't draining those three pointers, Niagara was going to the free throw line and knocking down shots. The Purple Eagles shot 19 free throws in the second half, making 14. In the decisive final 8 minutes, Niagara was 7 for 8 at the charity stripe.
The Crusaders trailed 28-23 at the half. It could have been much worse. Holy Cross went without a field goal for almost 10 minutes to start the game, missing their first seven shots from the floor before Eric Meister hit a little runner from the right side of the lane. They went almost three more minutes before Greg McCarthy made HC's second bucket, with 7:15 to play in the half.
Despite the icy start, Holy Cross was never down by more than 8, and the Crusaders actually managed to take a 23-22 lead with 1:49 to go before Niagara closed the half with 6 unanswered points.
Credit the Crusaders' 2-3 zone for keeping them in the game when nothing was falling. That and some dandy free throw shooting (Hc was 9 for 9 at the line in the half). Niagara tried shooting over the zone, but made only three of 11 first half three-point tries. The Purple Eagles had even less success going inside, scoring just one first half bucket in the paint, despite the fact that Holy Cross' 6-10 junior center Tim Clifford sat out the last 16 minutes after picking up two personals in a span of 36 seconds early in the half.
Clifford scored all 7 of his points in the second half, but he was just 3 for 8 from the field and turned the ball over four times. Alex Vander Baan fouled out with 4 points on 2 of 5 shooting and between them, Clifford and Vander Baan had just 7 rebounds. That was a big reason why Niagara held a 37-30 edge on the boards, with 12 offensive rebounds that led to 12 key second chance points.
"We got nothing from our big guys tonight," lamented Willard.
With Thursday night's surprise hero Kyle Cruze going 1 for 11, that left it to Simmons and Thomas to carry the offensive load. Simmons finished with 23 points and Thomas had 15, but there was never a third option.
Holy Cross will try to bounce back this afternoon when it faces Delaware in the get-away game of this three-game set. The Blue Hens came into the LaSalle event without a win but beat the host Explorers Friday for their second straight win after knocking off Niagara Thursday.
Box score | AP
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PHILADELPHIA -- One long cold spell Holy Cross could overcome. A second was more than it could handle.
Going without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes to open the game and with just two -- only one that actually mattered -- in the last eight minutes, the Crusaders dropped a 66-61 decision to Niagara in game two of the three-game round robin LaSalle Invitational.
The first dry spell the Crusaders actually managed to overcome. In fact, after using an 11-1 run at the start of the second half to take the lead, Holy Cross seemed in control. When Keith Simmons scored what proved to be his final bucket, a layup off a Tory Thomas fee on the break, the Crusaders had built an 11-point lead.
Then the wheels came off. Between Simmons' layup and a meaningless uncontested layup by Thomas with 6 seconds left, the Crusaders went 1 for 11, turning the ball over five times.
"We didn't show a lot of poise when we needed to," said Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard. "We weren't executing. We were taking quick shots in that stretch and let them get back in the game."
The lack of execution helped take Simmons out of the game down the stretch. The 6-5 senior had carried the Crusaders during their rally from 8 down midway through the first half and his 15 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half were the key to Holy Cross building its lead. Down the stretch he seldom got the ball in position to score.
"We stopped reversing the ball. We didn't get to the end of plays. It was just a lack of focus. You have to make teams play defense when you have the lead. We didn't make them play defense," Willard said.
At the other end, the Crusaders 2-3 zone which had kept Niagara in check most of the night, also lost its focus. Three times during Niagara's decisive run the Crusaders weak side defenders left someone alone on the baseline wing to go help inside. All three times Niagara found the open man for a three.
When they weren't draining those three pointers, Niagara was going to the free throw line and knocking down shots. The Purple Eagles shot 19 free throws in the second half, making 14. In the decisive final 8 minutes, Niagara was 7 for 8 at the charity stripe.
The Crusaders trailed 28-23 at the half. It could have been much worse. Holy Cross went without a field goal for almost 10 minutes to start the game, missing their first seven shots from the floor before Eric Meister hit a little runner from the right side of the lane. They went almost three more minutes before Greg McCarthy made HC's second bucket, with 7:15 to play in the half.
Despite the icy start, Holy Cross was never down by more than 8, and the Crusaders actually managed to take a 23-22 lead with 1:49 to go before Niagara closed the half with 6 unanswered points.
Credit the Crusaders' 2-3 zone for keeping them in the game when nothing was falling. That and some dandy free throw shooting (Hc was 9 for 9 at the line in the half). Niagara tried shooting over the zone, but made only three of 11 first half three-point tries. The Purple Eagles had even less success going inside, scoring just one first half bucket in the paint, despite the fact that Holy Cross' 6-10 junior center Tim Clifford sat out the last 16 minutes after picking up two personals in a span of 36 seconds early in the half.
Clifford scored all 7 of his points in the second half, but he was just 3 for 8 from the field and turned the ball over four times. Alex Vander Baan fouled out with 4 points on 2 of 5 shooting and between them, Clifford and Vander Baan had just 7 rebounds. That was a big reason why Niagara held a 37-30 edge on the boards, with 12 offensive rebounds that led to 12 key second chance points.
"We got nothing from our big guys tonight," lamented Willard.
With Thursday night's surprise hero Kyle Cruze going 1 for 11, that left it to Simmons and Thomas to carry the offensive load. Simmons finished with 23 points and Thomas had 15, but there was never a third option.
Holy Cross will try to bounce back this afternoon when it faces Delaware in the get-away game of this three-game set. The Blue Hens came into the LaSalle event without a win but beat the host Explorers Friday for their second straight win after knocking off Niagara Thursday.
Box score | AP
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Forget that anticipated Bucknell-Marist matchup. Unless Marist loses to Northern Illinois to fall into the consolation game of its own tournament, it's not going to happen. Not after the Bison lost at the hands of one of the lowest ranked teams in the nation this afternoon.
It was supposed to be a gimme, a mere leg-stretcher before Saturday's championship matchup with Marist in the Pepsi Marist Classic. But somebody forgot to tell Central Arkansas' Marcus Pillow. The 5-11 freshman knocked down six three-pointers, the last of which came with 19 seconds to go and gave the Bears a 50-48 win over the Bison. It was Pillow's second trey in the final 1:13. The first gave Central Arkansas a 47-44 lead. The second came after Bucknell's Jason Vegotsky put Bucknell up 48-47 with a four-point play with 46 seconds to play.
John Griffin's three-point try for the win with 3 seconds left was off the mark.
Jason Vegotsky with 10 points the only Bison in double figures. Bucknell shot 6 for 20 from the field (30 percent) in the first half and trailed 25-28 at the break. The Bison shot better in the second half (9 of 18) but could not overcome Pillow's four second half treys.
Central Arkansas came in with just one win over Division 1 competition and an RPI of 325.
Box score | AP | Daily Item
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It was supposed to be a gimme, a mere leg-stretcher before Saturday's championship matchup with Marist in the Pepsi Marist Classic. But somebody forgot to tell Central Arkansas' Marcus Pillow. The 5-11 freshman knocked down six three-pointers, the last of which came with 19 seconds to go and gave the Bears a 50-48 win over the Bison. It was Pillow's second trey in the final 1:13. The first gave Central Arkansas a 47-44 lead. The second came after Bucknell's Jason Vegotsky put Bucknell up 48-47 with a four-point play with 46 seconds to play.
John Griffin's three-point try for the win with 3 seconds left was off the mark.
Jason Vegotsky with 10 points the only Bison in double figures. Bucknell shot 6 for 20 from the field (30 percent) in the first half and trailed 25-28 at the break. The Bison shot better in the second half (9 of 18) but could not overcome Pillow's four second half treys.
Central Arkansas came in with just one win over Division 1 competition and an RPI of 325.
Box score | AP | Daily Item
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Four games involving Patriot League teams tonight.
We will be back in Philly for Holy Cross vs. Niagara (matchup) in the second round of the LaSalle Invitational round robin (matchup). Note: Do to the 8 p.m. start time and the need to make deadline for the Telegram & Gazette, there will be no live gameblog tonight.
Other matchups: Bucknell meets Central Arkansas (matchup) in the opening round of the Pepsi Marist Classic, Colgate faces George Washington (matchup) in the Cable Car Classic consolation game and Lehigh looks for its first road win at Monmouth (matchup).
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We will be back in Philly for Holy Cross vs. Niagara (matchup) in the second round of the LaSalle Invitational round robin (matchup). Note: Do to the 8 p.m. start time and the need to make deadline for the Telegram & Gazette, there will be no live gameblog tonight.
Other matchups: Bucknell meets Central Arkansas (matchup) in the opening round of the Pepsi Marist Classic, Colgate faces George Washington (matchup) in the Cable Car Classic consolation game and Lehigh looks for its first road win at Monmouth (matchup).
Labels: BU, CU, HC, Leh, previews
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Kyle Cruze has the game of his career to help Holy Cross past LaSalle.
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
PHILADELPHIA -- Heading into a three-games in three days visit to the City of Brotherly Love, the injury ravaged Holy Cross Crusaders needed somebody to step up. They found that somebody in an unlikely spot.
Junior guard Kyle Cruze, who hardly figured into Ralph Willard's plans in the preseason, scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Crusaders to a 68-48 win over host LaSalle in the opener of the four-team round robin LaSalle Invitational.
Cruze, who has been pressed into starting duty on the wing by injuries to Pat Doherty and Lawrence Dixon, came into the game having scored only 9 points all season. LaSalle fans unfamiliar with the Crusaders' stats would never have guessed it. The first time he got an open look on the right side of the three-point arc, Cruze calmly drained the trey for a 3-0 lead. Moments later he went backdoor for a layup and a 5-0 HC lead. Then just before the first media timeout, Cruze finished a one-man 8-0 run with his second of what would be three three-pointers on the night.
"(Cruze) has been working really hard. We're in a situation with Pat (Doherty) and Lawrence (Dixon) out. I told him he had to step up," HC coach Willard said.
Staked to that lead, Holy Cross (7-5) made it stand up the entire game, using a combination of hot shooting, strong rebounding and a solid 2-3 zone defense to stifle any thoughts of a LaSalle comeback.
The zone, something the Crusaders have been working on in an effort to save some legs for its injury-shortened rotation, kept LaSalle from ever finding any offensive rhythm. The Explorers (6-4), who boast a rotation with just one player smaller than 6-5, prefer to do their scoring close to the basket. Against Holy Cross' zone, the middle was not there. Neither were LaSalle's perimeter shooters. The Explorers jacked up 19 three-pointers. They drained only 5. Overall, the Crusaders held LaSalle to 31.9 percent (15 of 47) shooting from the field.
"We did a good job (in the 2-3). Especially in finding (Darnell) Harris," Willard said.
Harris, who came in averaging nearly 15 points per game, had just 9, going 3 for 12 from the field. Rodney Green, LaSalle's leading scorer, finished with 10, well below his average of 16 per game.
The Holy Cross zone had a lot to do with Harris and Green's struggles. And Cruze's offensive boost had a lot to do with the Crusaders being able to stick with the zone all night.
"Those first eight points gave us a cushion and gave us the freedom to play that zone. Getting the lead early gave us a little confidence and gave us the leeway to stay in it to see how it would work," said Holy Cross senior Keith Simmons, who finished with 14 points despite being limited to 24 minutes by foul trouble.
Holy Cross center Tim Clifford also sat a long stretch of the second half after picking up his fourth personal with 15:28 to play and never got into the offensive flow, other than a brief spurt early in the second half when he scored all 5 of his points. That left Holy Cross with just one of its top three scorers, point guard Torey Thomas, on the floor for most of the second half.
"(Cruze's offense) was huge. There's really no other way to put it. . I was in a little foul trouble. Tim had a slow game tonight. We needed an offensive boost . . . He made his open shots. he made smart decisions and he didn't turn the ball over," Simmons said.
With Simmons and Cruze combining for 22 points in the first half, Holy Cross took a 32-21 lead to the intermission. The Crusaders opened the second half with an 8-0 run, including threes by Cruze and Clifford, pushing the margin to 40-21. The Crusaders offense slowed a little after that, but its defense made sure it didn't matter. At one point the Crusaders held LaSalle without a field goal for a stretch of over 7 minutes. The Explorers never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Thomas, who had 5 points in the first half, all from the foul line, added 9 in the second to join Simmons and Cruze in double figures.
"The defense we played was really exceptional tonight. We had fresh legs for a change," said Willard.
Playing the zone helped keep those legs fresh the whole way. And even though Willard downplayed the impact that will have when Holy Cross faces Niagare tonight (Friday) at 8, Simmons thought otherwise.
"That's really going to help our legs tomorrow night," Simmons said.
Another key for Holy Cross was rebounding. The Crusaders held a 34-24 edge on the boards, the first team to outrebound LaSalle this season.
"We spent the last two days having two sessions a day working on blockouts. We spent a lot of time preparing for that and made it our number one priority," Willard said.
The win snaps a four game losing streak for Holy Cross, which had not won in the month of December prior to last night.
Box score | Gameblog | Post game audio (Ralph Willard, Cruze, Simmons) | Notebook | Philly Inquirer
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By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
PHILADELPHIA -- Heading into a three-games in three days visit to the City of Brotherly Love, the injury ravaged Holy Cross Crusaders needed somebody to step up. They found that somebody in an unlikely spot.
Junior guard Kyle Cruze, who hardly figured into Ralph Willard's plans in the preseason, scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Crusaders to a 68-48 win over host LaSalle in the opener of the four-team round robin LaSalle Invitational.
Cruze, who has been pressed into starting duty on the wing by injuries to Pat Doherty and Lawrence Dixon, came into the game having scored only 9 points all season. LaSalle fans unfamiliar with the Crusaders' stats would never have guessed it. The first time he got an open look on the right side of the three-point arc, Cruze calmly drained the trey for a 3-0 lead. Moments later he went backdoor for a layup and a 5-0 HC lead. Then just before the first media timeout, Cruze finished a one-man 8-0 run with his second of what would be three three-pointers on the night.
"(Cruze) has been working really hard. We're in a situation with Pat (Doherty) and Lawrence (Dixon) out. I told him he had to step up," HC coach Willard said.
Staked to that lead, Holy Cross (7-5) made it stand up the entire game, using a combination of hot shooting, strong rebounding and a solid 2-3 zone defense to stifle any thoughts of a LaSalle comeback.
The zone, something the Crusaders have been working on in an effort to save some legs for its injury-shortened rotation, kept LaSalle from ever finding any offensive rhythm. The Explorers (6-4), who boast a rotation with just one player smaller than 6-5, prefer to do their scoring close to the basket. Against Holy Cross' zone, the middle was not there. Neither were LaSalle's perimeter shooters. The Explorers jacked up 19 three-pointers. They drained only 5. Overall, the Crusaders held LaSalle to 31.9 percent (15 of 47) shooting from the field.
"We did a good job (in the 2-3). Especially in finding (Darnell) Harris," Willard said.
Harris, who came in averaging nearly 15 points per game, had just 9, going 3 for 12 from the field. Rodney Green, LaSalle's leading scorer, finished with 10, well below his average of 16 per game.
The Holy Cross zone had a lot to do with Harris and Green's struggles. And Cruze's offensive boost had a lot to do with the Crusaders being able to stick with the zone all night.
"Those first eight points gave us a cushion and gave us the freedom to play that zone. Getting the lead early gave us a little confidence and gave us the leeway to stay in it to see how it would work," said Holy Cross senior Keith Simmons, who finished with 14 points despite being limited to 24 minutes by foul trouble.
Holy Cross center Tim Clifford also sat a long stretch of the second half after picking up his fourth personal with 15:28 to play and never got into the offensive flow, other than a brief spurt early in the second half when he scored all 5 of his points. That left Holy Cross with just one of its top three scorers, point guard Torey Thomas, on the floor for most of the second half.
"(Cruze's offense) was huge. There's really no other way to put it. . I was in a little foul trouble. Tim had a slow game tonight. We needed an offensive boost . . . He made his open shots. he made smart decisions and he didn't turn the ball over," Simmons said.
With Simmons and Cruze combining for 22 points in the first half, Holy Cross took a 32-21 lead to the intermission. The Crusaders opened the second half with an 8-0 run, including threes by Cruze and Clifford, pushing the margin to 40-21. The Crusaders offense slowed a little after that, but its defense made sure it didn't matter. At one point the Crusaders held LaSalle without a field goal for a stretch of over 7 minutes. The Explorers never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Thomas, who had 5 points in the first half, all from the foul line, added 9 in the second to join Simmons and Cruze in double figures.
"The defense we played was really exceptional tonight. We had fresh legs for a change," said Willard.
Playing the zone helped keep those legs fresh the whole way. And even though Willard downplayed the impact that will have when Holy Cross faces Niagare tonight (Friday) at 8, Simmons thought otherwise.
"That's really going to help our legs tomorrow night," Simmons said.
Another key for Holy Cross was rebounding. The Crusaders held a 34-24 edge on the boards, the first team to outrebound LaSalle this season.
"We spent the last two days having two sessions a day working on blockouts. We spent a lot of time preparing for that and made it our number one priority," Willard said.
The win snaps a four game losing streak for Holy Cross, which had not won in the month of December prior to last night.
Box score | Gameblog | Post game audio (Ralph Willard, Cruze, Simmons) | Notebook | Philly Inquirer
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While Holy Cross was winning at LaSalle, the other four Patriot League teams in action last night struggled
Temple 96, Lafayette 73 -- Marcus Harley had 23 for Lafayette, but the rest of the team struggled on offense. Take away Harley's 9 for 14 effort from the field and the rest of the Leopards shot 13 for 48 (27 percent). Harley was 5 of 7 on three-point tries; the rest of the 'Pards 4 for 21 (19 percent).
Temple, on the other hand, had four guys in double figures, three with 20 or more points, led by Dustin Salisbury's 26. The Owls went 29 for 56 (51.8 percent) from the field and were 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) from three-point range. The Owls also outrebounded Lafayette 44-31.
Lafayette managed to stick around for the first five minutes, leading 12-11 at the 15:15 mark of the first half. But Temple went on an 8-0 run to take the lead and never looked back. The Owls pushed the lead to 50-37 at the half and led by as many as 28 in the second half.
Box score | AP | Philly Inquirer | Philly Daily News | Morning Call | Express Times
Michigan 62, Army 50 -- Michigan coach Tommy Amaker started a whole new five, using three freshmen and two sophomores against Army. It was not pretty, but it got the Wolverines a W.
Jarrell Brown had 22 for Army, shooting 9 of 19 from the field, but he had little offensive support with senior guard Matt Bell out of the lineup with an unspecified injury. Bell sat for the first time after 93 consecutive starts. Without Bell, Army went 19 of 54 (35.2 percent) from the field.
The Black Knights defense did a good job, holding Michigan to 17 of 46 (37 percent) shooting from the field. In the second half, Army allowed only 5 Michigan field goals (5 of 19, 26.3 percent). But the Wolverines went 21 for 25 at the foul line while Army went to the line just 9 times, making 8.
Box score | AP | Go Blue Wolverine | Detroit Free Press | Detroit News
Santa Clara 53, Colgate 39 -- In the Cable Car Classic, Kendall Chones had 11 points for Colgate. The remaining four starters for Colgate combined for 6, including 3 for Jon Simon, the team's leading scorer coming in who averaged 11 per game.
Colgate went 15 for 44 (34.1 percent) from the field and was outrebounded 33-22.
Santa Clara shot well in the first half (13 of 25, 52 percent) to build a 31-18 lead at the break, then held on with defense in the second half.
Colgate will face George Washington tonight in the consolation game.
Box score | AP | San Jose Mercury News
Virginia 91, American 70 -- Virginia used first half runs of 11-2 and 10-0 to build a 42-19 halftime lead and cruised from there, spoiling the return of American coach Jeff Jones, who played and coached at UVa.
Andre Ingram had 14 points and Paulius Joneliunas added 10 for the Eagles, who shot 7 for 24 (24.1 percent) in the first half, making just one of 12 three-pointers (8.3 percent).
Box score | AP | Charlottesville Daily Progress (gamer) | Charlottesville Daily Progress (column) | Roanoke Times | Fredericksburg Freelance Star | Richmond Times Dispatch
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Temple 96, Lafayette 73 -- Marcus Harley had 23 for Lafayette, but the rest of the team struggled on offense. Take away Harley's 9 for 14 effort from the field and the rest of the Leopards shot 13 for 48 (27 percent). Harley was 5 of 7 on three-point tries; the rest of the 'Pards 4 for 21 (19 percent).
Temple, on the other hand, had four guys in double figures, three with 20 or more points, led by Dustin Salisbury's 26. The Owls went 29 for 56 (51.8 percent) from the field and were 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) from three-point range. The Owls also outrebounded Lafayette 44-31.
Lafayette managed to stick around for the first five minutes, leading 12-11 at the 15:15 mark of the first half. But Temple went on an 8-0 run to take the lead and never looked back. The Owls pushed the lead to 50-37 at the half and led by as many as 28 in the second half.
Box score | AP | Philly Inquirer | Philly Daily News | Morning Call | Express Times
Michigan 62, Army 50 -- Michigan coach Tommy Amaker started a whole new five, using three freshmen and two sophomores against Army. It was not pretty, but it got the Wolverines a W.
Jarrell Brown had 22 for Army, shooting 9 of 19 from the field, but he had little offensive support with senior guard Matt Bell out of the lineup with an unspecified injury. Bell sat for the first time after 93 consecutive starts. Without Bell, Army went 19 of 54 (35.2 percent) from the field.
The Black Knights defense did a good job, holding Michigan to 17 of 46 (37 percent) shooting from the field. In the second half, Army allowed only 5 Michigan field goals (5 of 19, 26.3 percent). But the Wolverines went 21 for 25 at the foul line while Army went to the line just 9 times, making 8.
Box score | AP | Go Blue Wolverine | Detroit Free Press | Detroit News
Santa Clara 53, Colgate 39 -- In the Cable Car Classic, Kendall Chones had 11 points for Colgate. The remaining four starters for Colgate combined for 6, including 3 for Jon Simon, the team's leading scorer coming in who averaged 11 per game.
Colgate went 15 for 44 (34.1 percent) from the field and was outrebounded 33-22.
Santa Clara shot well in the first half (13 of 25, 52 percent) to build a 31-18 lead at the break, then held on with defense in the second half.
Colgate will face George Washington tonight in the consolation game.
Box score | AP | San Jose Mercury News
Virginia 91, American 70 -- Virginia used first half runs of 11-2 and 10-0 to build a 42-19 halftime lead and cruised from there, spoiling the return of American coach Jeff Jones, who played and coached at UVa.
Andre Ingram had 14 points and Paulius Joneliunas added 10 for the Eagles, who shot 7 for 24 (24.1 percent) in the first half, making just one of 12 three-pointers (8.3 percent).
Box score | AP | Charlottesville Daily Progress (gamer) | Charlottesville Daily Progress (column) | Roanoke Times | Fredericksburg Freelance Star | Richmond Times Dispatch
Labels: Army, AU, CU, games, Laf
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Thursday, December 28, 2006
A few tidbits leftover in the HOOP TIME NOTEBOOK after Holy Cross' win at LaSalle Thursday night.
1-2-3 KICK: At times the Holy Cross defense sounded a little like a dance team as it switched things up in the 2-3 zone they played against Lasalle. From time to time, the Crusaders would audibly count the LaSalle passes, calling out "One, two, three, four as the ball moved from Explorer to Explorer.
After the game, Ralph Willard explained the pass counting was part of two variations on the 2-3, a 2-4 and a 2-5. No, they did not get to deploy extra defenders. The 4 and the 5 refer to the number of opponent passes to trigger a switch into a matchup.
The tactic worked well against LaSalle's young team. Switching to the matchup late in the possession seemed to confuse the Explorers. It also took away the opportuinty for LaSalle's athletes to exloit a gap in the zone with dribble penetration late in the shot clock.
An added benefit of the zone: Less demand on the legs, a key consideration with guys like Torey Thomas and Keith Simmons playing beaucoup minutes for the injury riddled Crusaders.
KYLE BY THE NUMBERS: 15 points, a new career high
1 bumber of career double figures games for the junior guard
9 total points Cruze had scored all season prior to the LaSalle game
1 number of times Cruze has been interviewed after a game in his 2-plus seasons at HC
27 total points Cruze scored his first two seasons at HC
1 number of three-pointers Cruze made in the first 11 games of this season
3 number of threes he had his first two seasons combined
3 number of threes he had against LaSalle
25.9 percent of HC's points Cruze accounted for against LaSalle
1.3 percent of HC's total points this season Cruze accounted for prior to the LaSalle game
PATERICK's POINTS: Freshman Zach Paterick scored his first career points on his first career three-pointer in the first half. Paterick. who spotted Torey Thomas at the point for two minutes in the first half also played some on the win beside Thomas.
A natural off guard who was expected top spend his first year getting strong enough to play Division I ball, has been pressed into service as an emergency point guard due to Pat Doherty's broken hand.
Paterick finished with five points. He turned the ball over the first time he brought it up, then played the rest of his 8 minutes without giving it away again. Paterick had only played in two prior games, totalling 1 minute of action.
SIMMONS UPDATE: HC's Keith Simmons played with just an elastic support on his injured knee. He shed the bulkier metal brace he'd used since spraining the knee at Duke after resting the knee during finals and over the holiday.
Willard said Simmons' cramping in the George Mason game was not like the cramping that caused Simmons problems last season. The cramp in the George Mason game was not as severe, and the brief incident is the only cramp Simmons has had all season, Willard said. Willard believes these cramps were caused by Simmons running an unnatural gait due to the injured knee. He showed few ill effects against LaSalle.
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1-2-3 KICK: At times the Holy Cross defense sounded a little like a dance team as it switched things up in the 2-3 zone they played against Lasalle. From time to time, the Crusaders would audibly count the LaSalle passes, calling out "One, two, three, four as the ball moved from Explorer to Explorer.
After the game, Ralph Willard explained the pass counting was part of two variations on the 2-3, a 2-4 and a 2-5. No, they did not get to deploy extra defenders. The 4 and the 5 refer to the number of opponent passes to trigger a switch into a matchup.
The tactic worked well against LaSalle's young team. Switching to the matchup late in the possession seemed to confuse the Explorers. It also took away the opportuinty for LaSalle's athletes to exloit a gap in the zone with dribble penetration late in the shot clock.
An added benefit of the zone: Less demand on the legs, a key consideration with guys like Torey Thomas and Keith Simmons playing beaucoup minutes for the injury riddled Crusaders.
KYLE BY THE NUMBERS:
PATERICK's POINTS: Freshman Zach Paterick scored his first career points on his first career three-pointer in the first half. Paterick. who spotted Torey Thomas at the point for two minutes in the first half also played some on the win beside Thomas.
A natural off guard who was expected top spend his first year getting strong enough to play Division I ball, has been pressed into service as an emergency point guard due to Pat Doherty's broken hand.
Paterick finished with five points. He turned the ball over the first time he brought it up, then played the rest of his 8 minutes without giving it away again. Paterick had only played in two prior games, totalling 1 minute of action.
SIMMONS UPDATE: HC's Keith Simmons played with just an elastic support on his injured knee. He shed the bulkier metal brace he'd used since spraining the knee at Duke after resting the knee during finals and over the holiday.
Willard said Simmons' cramping in the George Mason game was not like the cramping that caused Simmons problems last season. The cramp in the George Mason game was not as severe, and the brief incident is the only cramp Simmons has had all season, Willard said. Willard believes these cramps were caused by Simmons running an unnatural gait due to the injured knee. He showed few ill effects against LaSalle.
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We're courtside at Tom Gola Arena for tonight's first round matchup in the LaSalle Invitational between a pair of old rivals -- Holy Cross and LaSalle.
This is the 32nd meeting between the two, in a series that dates to 1949. LaSalle holds a 16-15 edge in the series, including a win in this building the last time the two met back in 1996.
The Explorers also won here in 1987 in what was the last game in this building's previous incarnation as Hayman Hall. The Tom Gola Arena is in the same building. It was remodeled, and renamed, in 1997-98, giving the Explorers a decent home court after years of playing most home games off campus. Prior to the change. LaSalle only played 19 games in Hayman.
Like HC, LaSalle enjoys a rich hoops history. Four giant banners, bigger than the "paint" on a basketball court, hang at one end of the court, saluting the 1954 NCAA Championship team, the 1952 NIT champs, the 1955 NCAA finalists and 1987 NIT finalists.
The seat-back section of bleachers behind press row is about half full. Bleachers on the opposite side are mostly empty, except for the section behind the HC bench, which is about a quarter full, mostly with folks dressed in purple.
We will tip in about two minutes.
HC opens the game in a 2-3 zone and forces a LaSalle turnover on their first possession.
Both teams slow getting started, the only scoring through the first 4:18 coming from Kyle Cruze, who has better than 5 times his season average (0.9 ppg) with all five of HC's points.
With 15:42 to go in the first half, it's HC 5, LaSalle 0. LaSalle 0 for 5 from the field, 0 for 2 at the line with three turnovers already.
Ralph Willard already shepherding Keith Simmons' minutes, he is one of two subbed for at the first timeout (Alex Vander Baan is the other -- Meister and Cunningham off the bench).
Cruze with his second three of the game at 15:07 has HC's first 8 points. Simmons replaces him about a minute later.
LaSalle's first subs are a wholesale line change, all five guys replaced.
Torey Thomas gets a rare blow just inside the 13 minute mark, freshman Zach Paterick running the point. He hits a three on his first shot, his first career bucket and points, giving the Crusaders a 13-6 lead with 10:59 to go in the half.
So far, Willard using his bench generously. Every starter has gotten a rest in the first 10 minutes of the half.
With 10:33 to go in the half, LaSalle with another line change, all five starters retrain en mass.
Back to back LaSalle threes make it 15-12 HC with 9:26 to play, prompting Willard to call a 30-second timeout. After the TO, all five HC starters are back on the floor.
A pair of Thomas free throws and a Simmons three push the lead back to 8 at 20-12, but LaSalle'sDarnell Harris Rodney Green cuts it to 20-14 with a layup that came on his third try under the LaSalle basket. Offensive rebounds are one thing you need to worry about when playing zone. So far, they have not hurt the Crusaders.
LaSalle is 5 for 15 from the field with 7 turnovers so far.
With 7:39 to go in the half, it's HC 20, LaSalle 14.
Simmons gets his second personal (team's 5th) at the 7:09 mark. At the other end he hits another three, the team's 5th (on 7 tries). He makes another just before the 5 minute mark and then hits his third in the row with 4:44 to go. HC now 7 for 9 from the arc. HC up 29-16.
At the media timeout with 3:57 to go in the first half, HC is up 30-18. Hc with 10 turnovers, about the only negative at this point. The Crusaders shooting 9 of 16 from the field (56.3 percent), 7 of the nine makes from three-point range. LaSalle shooting 6 of 20 with 7 turnovers. HC has a 15-9 edge on the boards.
Potential trouble for the Crusaders when Simmons picks up his third personal with 35.5 left in the half.
Then a break just before the buzzer when a LaSalle defender knocks the ball away from Greg McCarthy, right into the hands of Eric Meister under the basket, where he lays it in at the buzzer for a 32-21 HC lead at the break.
HALFTIME STATS: HC 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) from the field, 7 of 11 (63.6 percent)from the arc, 5 of 6 at the free throw line. 10 turnovers,7 assists, 6 steals. Officially one block (a definitely incorrect stat because Simmons had at least one and he has none in the official box), 18 rebounds (5 off).
Simmons leads all scorers with 14, 5 for 6 from the field, 4 for 4 on threes. Cruze with his early 8.
For LaSalle: 6 of 22 (27.3 percent) from the field, 3 for 10 on threes, 6 of 11 on free throws. Officially 8 turnovers (another suspect stat), 3 assists. 4 steals, 13 rebounds (6 off.)
Darnell Harris leads the Explorers with 6 points.
All in all, with the exception of Simmons' foul trouble, the half could hardly have gone better for HC. They grabbed an early lead and held it, allowing Willard to stick with the 2-3 zone, which will benefit the Crusaders legs. The lead also allowed Willard to use his bench fairly liberally, getting 4 minutes from Paterick, 7 from Cunningham, 5 from McCarthy and 10 from Meister.
Second half to follow.
Clifford, scoreless in the first half, posts up for the first points of the second half. At the other end, though, he picks up his third personal.
After a LaSalle miss, Cruze connects with another trey for a 37-21 lead and a quick LaSalle timeout with 18:53 to play. Cruze now 4 for 6 from the field, 3 for 5 on treys, He now has 11 points, more than double his previous career best.
Out of the timeout, Clifford hits a top of the arc three, the 'Saders 9th of the game. One more would tie the team's season high (10 against Harvard).
With 15:28 to play, Clifford picks up his fourth personal, trying to block a Green layup. Green's bucket makes it HC 44, LaSalle 29 with 15:28 to play. Green will shoot the and one after the timeout.
Vander Baan with the 'Saders 10th trey at the 14:31 mark, makes it 49-31 HC. But Simmons picks up his fourth personal 12 seconds later. The next 10 minutes or so will be a real test for the HC bench with Simmons and Clifford both sitting with four.
Kyle Cruze gets a rebound while sitting on the floor and smartly calls a timeout with 13:07 to play and HC up 49-31.
Paul Johnson picks up LaSalle's first foul of the second half at the 12:19 mark, bringing a mocking standing ovation for the refs from the HC contingent behind the Crusaders bench.
Meister, playing the pivot in relief of Clifford, scores to push the HC lead to 51-32, then gets his third foul, team's 6th, at the other end.
At the second media timeout, with 11:07 to play, HC leads 51-32.
One stat from the LaSalle game notes worth remembering: in a loss to UMBC, LaSalle scored 30 points in a span of 4:15 in the second half. The Explorers are capable of exploding if there is any letup by HC.
Four quick fouls on LaSalle, the last a charge drawn by Cunningham, make the team fouls even at 6-6 with 9:37 to play.
The 'Saders get into the 1-and-1 32 seconds later when Thomas is fouled while making a tough runner from the right side of the lane. Thomas makes the and one to push the HC lead to 54-34, its largest of the night.
In some ways, Simmons' and Clifford's foul trouble might be a blessing, giving both a lot of rest in this, the first of three games in three days.
With 8:28 left, HC is up 54-34.
Harris hits a three at the 7:37 mark. It's LaSalle's first field goal in over 7 minutes.
Simmons and Clifford to return after this media timeout with 5:54 to go. HC shooting 19 for 36 (52.8 percent), 11 of 17 from the arc. LaSalle is 12 of 40 (30 percent), 4 of 15 on threes.
HC leads 57-39.
With 2:46 to go, Thomas gets a rest.
Adam May gets a run the last two minutes for HC, who will Cruze to this win.
FINAL SCORE: HC 68, LaSalle 48
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This is the 32nd meeting between the two, in a series that dates to 1949. LaSalle holds a 16-15 edge in the series, including a win in this building the last time the two met back in 1996.
The Explorers also won here in 1987 in what was the last game in this building's previous incarnation as Hayman Hall. The Tom Gola Arena is in the same building. It was remodeled, and renamed, in 1997-98, giving the Explorers a decent home court after years of playing most home games off campus. Prior to the change. LaSalle only played 19 games in Hayman.
Like HC, LaSalle enjoys a rich hoops history. Four giant banners, bigger than the "paint" on a basketball court, hang at one end of the court, saluting the 1954 NCAA Championship team, the 1952 NIT champs, the 1955 NCAA finalists and 1987 NIT finalists.
The seat-back section of bleachers behind press row is about half full. Bleachers on the opposite side are mostly empty, except for the section behind the HC bench, which is about a quarter full, mostly with folks dressed in purple.
We will tip in about two minutes.
HC opens the game in a 2-3 zone and forces a LaSalle turnover on their first possession.
Both teams slow getting started, the only scoring through the first 4:18 coming from Kyle Cruze, who has better than 5 times his season average (0.9 ppg) with all five of HC's points.
With 15:42 to go in the first half, it's HC 5, LaSalle 0. LaSalle 0 for 5 from the field, 0 for 2 at the line with three turnovers already.
Ralph Willard already shepherding Keith Simmons' minutes, he is one of two subbed for at the first timeout (Alex Vander Baan is the other -- Meister and Cunningham off the bench).
Cruze with his second three of the game at 15:07 has HC's first 8 points. Simmons replaces him about a minute later.
LaSalle's first subs are a wholesale line change, all five guys replaced.
Torey Thomas gets a rare blow just inside the 13 minute mark, freshman Zach Paterick running the point. He hits a three on his first shot, his first career bucket and points, giving the Crusaders a 13-6 lead with 10:59 to go in the half.
So far, Willard using his bench generously. Every starter has gotten a rest in the first 10 minutes of the half.
With 10:33 to go in the half, LaSalle with another line change, all five starters retrain en mass.
Back to back LaSalle threes make it 15-12 HC with 9:26 to play, prompting Willard to call a 30-second timeout. After the TO, all five HC starters are back on the floor.
A pair of Thomas free throws and a Simmons three push the lead back to 8 at 20-12, but LaSalle's
LaSalle is 5 for 15 from the field with 7 turnovers so far.
With 7:39 to go in the half, it's HC 20, LaSalle 14.
Simmons gets his second personal (team's 5th) at the 7:09 mark. At the other end he hits another three, the team's 5th (on 7 tries). He makes another just before the 5 minute mark and then hits his third in the row with 4:44 to go. HC now 7 for 9 from the arc. HC up 29-16.
At the media timeout with 3:57 to go in the first half, HC is up 30-18. Hc with 10 turnovers, about the only negative at this point. The Crusaders shooting 9 of 16 from the field (56.3 percent), 7 of the nine makes from three-point range. LaSalle shooting 6 of 20 with 7 turnovers. HC has a 15-9 edge on the boards.
Potential trouble for the Crusaders when Simmons picks up his third personal with 35.5 left in the half.
Then a break just before the buzzer when a LaSalle defender knocks the ball away from Greg McCarthy, right into the hands of Eric Meister under the basket, where he lays it in at the buzzer for a 32-21 HC lead at the break.
HALFTIME STATS: HC 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) from the field, 7 of 11 (63.6 percent)from the arc, 5 of 6 at the free throw line. 10 turnovers,7 assists, 6 steals. Officially one block (a definitely incorrect stat because Simmons had at least one and he has none in the official box), 18 rebounds (5 off).
Simmons leads all scorers with 14, 5 for 6 from the field, 4 for 4 on threes. Cruze with his early 8.
For LaSalle: 6 of 22 (27.3 percent) from the field, 3 for 10 on threes, 6 of 11 on free throws. Officially 8 turnovers (another suspect stat), 3 assists. 4 steals, 13 rebounds (6 off.)
Darnell Harris leads the Explorers with 6 points.
All in all, with the exception of Simmons' foul trouble, the half could hardly have gone better for HC. They grabbed an early lead and held it, allowing Willard to stick with the 2-3 zone, which will benefit the Crusaders legs. The lead also allowed Willard to use his bench fairly liberally, getting 4 minutes from Paterick, 7 from Cunningham, 5 from McCarthy and 10 from Meister.
Second half to follow.
Clifford, scoreless in the first half, posts up for the first points of the second half. At the other end, though, he picks up his third personal.
After a LaSalle miss, Cruze connects with another trey for a 37-21 lead and a quick LaSalle timeout with 18:53 to play. Cruze now 4 for 6 from the field, 3 for 5 on treys, He now has 11 points, more than double his previous career best.
Out of the timeout, Clifford hits a top of the arc three, the 'Saders 9th of the game. One more would tie the team's season high (10 against Harvard).
With 15:28 to play, Clifford picks up his fourth personal, trying to block a Green layup. Green's bucket makes it HC 44, LaSalle 29 with 15:28 to play. Green will shoot the and one after the timeout.
Vander Baan with the 'Saders 10th trey at the 14:31 mark, makes it 49-31 HC. But Simmons picks up his fourth personal 12 seconds later. The next 10 minutes or so will be a real test for the HC bench with Simmons and Clifford both sitting with four.
Kyle Cruze gets a rebound while sitting on the floor and smartly calls a timeout with 13:07 to play and HC up 49-31.
Paul Johnson picks up LaSalle's first foul of the second half at the 12:19 mark, bringing a mocking standing ovation for the refs from the HC contingent behind the Crusaders bench.
Meister, playing the pivot in relief of Clifford, scores to push the HC lead to 51-32, then gets his third foul, team's 6th, at the other end.
At the second media timeout, with 11:07 to play, HC leads 51-32.
One stat from the LaSalle game notes worth remembering: in a loss to UMBC, LaSalle scored 30 points in a span of 4:15 in the second half. The Explorers are capable of exploding if there is any letup by HC.
Four quick fouls on LaSalle, the last a charge drawn by Cunningham, make the team fouls even at 6-6 with 9:37 to play.
The 'Saders get into the 1-and-1 32 seconds later when Thomas is fouled while making a tough runner from the right side of the lane. Thomas makes the and one to push the HC lead to 54-34, its largest of the night.
In some ways, Simmons' and Clifford's foul trouble might be a blessing, giving both a lot of rest in this, the first of three games in three days.
With 8:28 left, HC is up 54-34.
Harris hits a three at the 7:37 mark. It's LaSalle's first field goal in over 7 minutes.
Simmons and Clifford to return after this media timeout with 5:54 to go. HC shooting 19 for 36 (52.8 percent), 11 of 17 from the arc. LaSalle is 12 of 40 (30 percent), 4 of 15 on threes.
HC leads 57-39.
With 2:46 to go, Thomas gets a rest.
Adam May gets a run the last two minutes for HC, who will Cruze to this win.
FINAL SCORE: HC 68, LaSalle 48
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The short holiday break ends with five teams back in action tonight.
It is a schedule full of challenges, with the Patriot League teams likely to be considered underdogs in all five games.
If Holy Cross were healthy, that might not be the case. But with a depleted rotation, the Crusaders will have their hands full with LaSalle, the team they face in the first of a three-in-three days trip to LaSalle's Explorer Classic (matchup).
We'll be there for our first look at HC, when they take on the Explorers (and for Friday's game with Niagara and Saturday's matchup with Delaware), who come in 6-3, with really only one impressive opponent on their schedule to date -- Villanova, which beat the Explorers at LaSalle in a Philadelphia Big Five matchup. LaSalle also lost at home to UMBC and on a neutral floor against Coppin State.
Young and inexperienced, prone to turnovers, LaSalle is the sort of team Holy Cross usually feasts upon when it is at full strength.
LaSalle is led by freshman forward Rodney Green, a 6-5 hometown Philly kid who is averaging 16 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Green is all about the paint. He has only taken four threes all season and has yet to make one. Inside the arc, though, he is tough to stop, shooting 62.4 percent from the field.
Green is one of five freshmen in LaSalle's nine-man rotation. All five stand between 6-5 and 6-7, which is pretty much the case for the entire rotation, except 6-1 junior guard Darnell Harris, the Explorers' second leading scorer at 14.7 ppg, and 6-8 starter Mike St. John, the only senior in the rotation.
Freshman Sherman Diaz has been the team's defensive stopper. A 6-5 forward, Diaz leads the Explorers in blocks (15) and steals (11).
Colgate is also in a tournament tonight, taking on host Santa Clara (matchup) in the first round of the Cable Car Classic (S.F. Chronicle tournament preview). The 9-4 Broncs are ranked No. 17 in the Mid Major Top 25. Waiting in the second round for the Raiders will be either 7-2 George Washington or 11-1 Air Force, which is in the Top 25 in both major polls (No. 23 AP, No. 17 ESPN-USA Today).
American takes on its second straight ACC foe when it meets 7-3 Virginia (matchup). It's a homecoming of sorts for Jeff Jones, who played and coach at UVa. Jones' return to Charlottsville is the storyline in all the papers covering the Wahoos (AP | Daily Press | Charlottesville Daily Progress | Richmond Times-Dispatch | Roanoke Times | Fredericksburg Freelance-Star).
Army, which lost at Notre Dame last time out, faces another difficulty test at 11-2 Michigan (matchup) and
Hard to image saying this, but perhaps the weakest opponent for a league team tonight is Temple, which hosts Lafayette (matchup). The Owls are 5-4 in their first season under former Penn coach Fran Dunphy. It is the 12th straight season Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon has faced off against his old boss' teams. The other 11, of course, were against Penn, which despite being an Ivy League power, was never as athletic as this Temple team. It will be a toigh task for the Leopards, who will be without Jamaal Hillard (stress fracture in a foot, out another 2-4 weeks) and 6-7 freshman Jesper Andersson (sprained ankle). Lafayette freshman forward Andre Hines is also questionable with a stomach virus. (Morning Call preview -- includes some HC notes)
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It is a schedule full of challenges, with the Patriot League teams likely to be considered underdogs in all five games.
If Holy Cross were healthy, that might not be the case. But with a depleted rotation, the Crusaders will have their hands full with LaSalle, the team they face in the first of a three-in-three days trip to LaSalle's Explorer Classic (matchup).
We'll be there for our first look at HC, when they take on the Explorers (and for Friday's game with Niagara and Saturday's matchup with Delaware), who come in 6-3, with really only one impressive opponent on their schedule to date -- Villanova, which beat the Explorers at LaSalle in a Philadelphia Big Five matchup. LaSalle also lost at home to UMBC and on a neutral floor against Coppin State.
Young and inexperienced, prone to turnovers, LaSalle is the sort of team Holy Cross usually feasts upon when it is at full strength.
LaSalle is led by freshman forward Rodney Green, a 6-5 hometown Philly kid who is averaging 16 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Green is all about the paint. He has only taken four threes all season and has yet to make one. Inside the arc, though, he is tough to stop, shooting 62.4 percent from the field.
Green is one of five freshmen in LaSalle's nine-man rotation. All five stand between 6-5 and 6-7, which is pretty much the case for the entire rotation, except 6-1 junior guard Darnell Harris, the Explorers' second leading scorer at 14.7 ppg, and 6-8 starter Mike St. John, the only senior in the rotation.
Freshman Sherman Diaz has been the team's defensive stopper. A 6-5 forward, Diaz leads the Explorers in blocks (15) and steals (11).
Colgate is also in a tournament tonight, taking on host Santa Clara (matchup) in the first round of the Cable Car Classic (S.F. Chronicle tournament preview). The 9-4 Broncs are ranked No. 17 in the Mid Major Top 25. Waiting in the second round for the Raiders will be either 7-2 George Washington or 11-1 Air Force, which is in the Top 25 in both major polls (No. 23 AP, No. 17 ESPN-USA Today).
American takes on its second straight ACC foe when it meets 7-3 Virginia (matchup). It's a homecoming of sorts for Jeff Jones, who played and coach at UVa. Jones' return to Charlottsville is the storyline in all the papers covering the Wahoos (AP | Daily Press | Charlottesville Daily Progress | Richmond Times-Dispatch | Roanoke Times | Fredericksburg Freelance-Star).
Army, which lost at Notre Dame last time out, faces another difficulty test at 11-2 Michigan (matchup) and
Hard to image saying this, but perhaps the weakest opponent for a league team tonight is Temple, which hosts Lafayette (matchup). The Owls are 5-4 in their first season under former Penn coach Fran Dunphy. It is the 12th straight season Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon has faced off against his old boss' teams. The other 11, of course, were against Penn, which despite being an Ivy League power, was never as athletic as this Temple team. It will be a toigh task for the Leopards, who will be without Jamaal Hillard (stress fracture in a foot, out another 2-4 weeks) and 6-7 freshman Jesper Andersson (sprained ankle). Lafayette freshman forward Andre Hines is also questionable with a stomach virus. (Morning Call preview -- includes some HC notes)
Labels: Army, AU, CU, HC, Laf, previews
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Wednesday, December 27, 2006
In his latest post on CoachRalphWillard.com, Holy Cross mentor Ralph Willard reflects on a pregame conversation with George Mason coach Jim Larranaga and explains why the NCAA ought to expand the tournament from the current 64 (65) team field.
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Labels: HC
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Highlights of the Central Connecticut at Lehigh and Princeton at Lafayette games are the latest additons to the Hoop Tube page. Remember, let us know when you post your hoops videos on You Tube and we will add a link.
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Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Not arguing Bucknell belongs in the Mid Major Top 25, but will admit to being a little confused how a team can pick up a road win at Xavier and actually lose votes in the poll.
With Holy Cross' recent slide, this week's version of the Mid Major rankings has no Patriot League teams included among the Top 25. Army leads all PL vote-getters with 76 points, good for an unofficial No. 27 ranking. Navy unofficial No. 32 with 43. Holy Cross dropped out of the top 25 and received only 20 points in this week's voting. Bucknell barely in the others receiving with 2 points.
Taking nothing away from either service academy, but does anybody think the Cruaders or the Bison would not have as good, or better, records if they played Army or Navy's schedules?
It seems pretty obvious voters are paying more attention to records than who those records come against. Just look at No. 14 Akron as an example. The Zips have exactly one win over a team with a winning record -- 6-4 Binghamton. Their other six wins came against an 0-10 NAIA school (Tiffin), an 0-14 provisional Division I (Winston Salem State), 1-8 Gardner Webb, 4-6 Oral Roberts and 3-7 Saint Francis (Pa.), and 4-6 Niagara. Only one loss came against a team with a winning record -- 9-1 Nevada beat Akron at Akron. The other two losses came to Illinois Chicago (5-8) and Arkansas Little Rock (5-7).No, Akron has not played any SUNY schools. (As a couple of e-mailers have reminded us, Binghamton actually is a SUNY school, just does not use SUNY in front of its name anymore.)
Here is the best part - before losing by two to Nevada, that schedule actually had Akron ranked in the top 10. The Zips dropped from No. 9 to 14 after that loss.
Like we said, go figure.
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With Holy Cross' recent slide, this week's version of the Mid Major rankings has no Patriot League teams included among the Top 25. Army leads all PL vote-getters with 76 points, good for an unofficial No. 27 ranking. Navy unofficial No. 32 with 43. Holy Cross dropped out of the top 25 and received only 20 points in this week's voting. Bucknell barely in the others receiving with 2 points.
Taking nothing away from either service academy, but does anybody think the Cruaders or the Bison would not have as good, or better, records if they played Army or Navy's schedules?
It seems pretty obvious voters are paying more attention to records than who those records come against. Just look at No. 14 Akron as an example. The Zips have exactly one win over a team with a winning record -- 6-4 Binghamton. Their other six wins came against an 0-10 NAIA school (Tiffin), an 0-14 provisional Division I (Winston Salem State), 1-8 Gardner Webb, 4-6 Oral Roberts and 3-7 Saint Francis (Pa.), and 4-6 Niagara. Only one loss came against a team with a winning record -- 9-1 Nevada beat Akron at Akron. The other two losses came to Illinois Chicago (5-8) and Arkansas Little Rock (5-7).
Here is the best part - before losing by two to Nevada, that schedule actually had Akron ranked in the top 10. The Zips dropped from No. 9 to 14 after that loss.
Like we said, go figure.
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Conference play begins in less than two weeks, and early indications are this should be one of the most competitive seasons in Patriot League history.
There have been plenty of seasons of parity in the league. In 1994, four teams finished the regular season at 9-5 in conference play, resulting in a pair of semifinals decided by a total of 5 points (including one overtime game) and a final that Navy won at home by 2 (over Colgate the year before Adonal Foyle arrived). That was the only season a team with five league losses managed to claim the top seed for the tournament. (An interesting note: That season Navy placed nobody on the first or second All-Patriot teams despite being the top seed).
The next two seasons Colgate won the conference, but each year the Raiders finished with three losses in conference play and needed a tiebreaker to gain top seed for the postseason.
In 2002, American won the regular season despite four conference setbacks, with four other teams over .500 in league play.
Looking around the league, it would not be surprising to see this year's regular season champs with four or even five losses. With the marked improvement at both of the service academies, Lafayette is the closest thing to a gimme in the league, and Fran O'Hanlon's Leopards have always had a knack, even in their down years, for pulling off an upset or two at home.
Here are a few team-by-team thoughts, done in alphabetical order (so please Lehigh fans, no hate mail for listing the Mountain Hawks seventh):
AMERICAN: A veteran team with a proven star in Andre Ingram, a talented point guard in Derrick Mercer, scoring off the bench in Arvydas Eitutavicius and as much size up front as anybody in the league, the Eagles 7-4 start has done nothing to take away from their preseason status as a contender.
Paulius Joneliunas and Brayden Billbe already can claim the titles of the league's biggest frontcourt and the frontcourt with the most unusual names. If they can also rank among the league's toughest, this could be teh Eagles year.
Cornelio Guibunda is as athletic as they come in the Patriot League, but still lacks polish. It will be interesting to see how far his athleticism can take him in league play. If he is a factor off the bench, AU's threesome could potentially challenge Bucknell's trio of Chris McNaughton, Donald Brown and Darren Mastropaolo as the league's best three-man rotation in the frontcourt.
ARMY: Dramatically better, the 9-3 Black Knights have already won more games than they did the last three seasons combined. Jarrell Brown might be the best offensive player in the league. Matt Bell is healthy and back to form. And freshman Chris Walker's 6-8 presence in the middle gives Army the legitimate post player it has lacked in Jim Crews first four seasons. It's worth noting that although Walker is a freshman, he had the equivalent of a redshirt season at Army's prep school last year. Walker is one of seven players on the Army roster who have spent a year at USMAPS, making the Black Knights a more mature team than the roster might indicate at first glance.
No doubt the 9-3 record reflects more than just Army being better. The wins have come against a mix of weak Division I and mediocre Division III sides. Still, Army will be a tough out this season, especially in Christl Arena.
BUCKNELL: The Bison need to sweep two games at Marist's tournament this weekend to avoid entering conference play below .500. That will be a challenge; Marist, Bucknell's likely opponent in the final (assuming the Bison get past a very weak Central Arkansas team in the opener), is unbeaten at home, 8-3 with two wins over top 100 RPI teams.
Even a game below .500 in the preseason, the Bison are probably still the favorite to win the league. The level of competition Bucknell has faced is clearly a notch above most of the rest of the league and all but two of their non-conference games have been away from home. Bucknell's wins over George Mason and Xavier are easily the league's best wins to date.
That said, this is definitely not the Bucknell juggernaut of the past two seasons. They have been inconsistent on both sides as Pat Flannery has struggled to find a set rotation. The inability of Donald Brown to adjust to playing the three has kept Flannery from being able to put his best five players on the floor at the same time, a problem that has been exacerbated by guys like Chris McNaughton and Abe Badmus getting into foul trouble. Badmus also has to begin contributing more on offense. He has the ability to get into the paint with dribble penetration, but has seemed to lack the confidence to finish when he gets there. If Badmus would start getting himself to the foul line instead of sending opponents there, it would be a huge plus.
COLGATE: Home losses to sub-.500 teams like Stony Brook and Canisius have folks around the league wondering if it is possible they have misjudged the level of talent on the Raiders roster. The injury loss of a guy like Kyle Roemer certainly has not helped. But Roemer's spot on the wing was a spot where Colgate seemed to have a lot of depth. In fact, in the preseason the bigger problem facing coach Emmett Davis seemed to be finding enough minutes for all his perimeter talent.
On paper, Colgate seemed to have the talent to contend for the league title. On the floor they have seemed like it will be a challenge for them to finish ahead of the service academies in the league standings. Until somebody other than Jon Simon starts to perform well on a consistent basis, Colgate will continue to struggle.
HOLY CROSS: When healthy, the Crusaders starting five is as good as any in the league. But Holy Cross has not been healthy and the lack of depth exposed by the latest rash of injuries is taking its toll. At this point HC seems two healthy players away from being the league favorite and a Keith Simmons injury away from going the complete opposite direction.
Pat Doherty will return during conference play, but how effective will he be down the stretch after missing almost all of last season to his foot problems and now a month or so of this season to the broken hand. Lawrence Dixon's knee has his status for the remainder of the season in doubt. The only good news about freshman Andrew Keister's stress fracture is that he has only played four games and should be eligible for a medical redshirt.
Simmons' sprained knee should be O.K for conference play if he does not reinjure it, but the reappearance of his cramping problems in the 'Saders last game (George Mason) is a huge concern. With the limited bench Ralph Willard has available, anything that greatly limits Simmons' minutes will be a real problem. And then there is Torey Thomas, who is playing 40 minutes a game on a knee not fully recovered from off-season surgery.
As long as Simmons and Thomas can still walk, Holy Cross will remain one of the top teams in the league. Without them, things could get ugly in a hurry in Worcester.
LAFAYETTE: Scholarships finally arrived in Easton, but it will take more than one recruiting class for the 'Pards to catch up to folks who have had them for years. Six-seven freshman Jesper Andersson has emerged as a threat on the wing, adding to a plethora of outside shooters available to O'Hanlon, but up front the Leopards are as thin as cheap wrapping paper. Matt Betley has given a yeoman's effort as an undersized (6-4) four, but how he will hold up to the constant banging against bigger, stronger guys over the course of the season remains to be seen.
At their best, Lafayette can rain threes. When they don't fall though, the 'Pards are in trouble because they just are not big enough or strong enough to get it done on the boards, as evidenced by the way they have been outrebounded to the tune of almost 10 per game.
The good news for Lafayette fans: Wait until next year actually means something for the 'Pards, who ought to quickly become competitive when O'Hanlon has the talent to compete.
LEHIGH: Just when it seemed Jason Mgebroff was finally realizing the potential he showed as a freshman, the Mountain Hawks big man got hurt. He will return around the second half of the conference schedule, but without him, a young Lehigh team will struggle to compete inside with some of the better frontcourts in the league.
Lucky for Lehigh, those "better frontcourts" are not a commodity much of the conference is blessed with. Luckier still, it was not Jose Olivero who got hurt. At the risk of seeming redundant, as long as the Mountain Hawks have Olivero, they always will have a chance of shooting down any team in the league.
Freshman point guard Marquis Hall has more than lived up to high expectations, giving Lehigh, when Mgebroff is healthy, as good a first five as there is in the league. Depth remains a big question mark though. Add in an inability to win on the road and the Mountain Hawks appear to have their work cut out for them if they want to remain ahead of Army and navy, ;et alone if they want to challenge the league's top teams.
NAVY: Like Army, the Mids are markedly better. Also like Army, their nine non-conference wins thus far have included two over Division III foes and none against any real quality foes. Six of the seven wins over D-Is came against teams with RPI's over 200.
The similarities with their archrivals don't end there. Like Army, Navy has benefited from the presence of a freshman in the post. In this case it is 6-10 Trey Stanton who has filled the void in the middle.
Greg Sprink continues to show he is one fo the league's top offensive threats. Kaleo Kina and Corey Johnson combine with Sprink to form a very good backcourt.
Alumni Hall continues to be one of the league's toughest road venues. The Midshipmen are unlikely to contend for the championship, but they likely will have a lot to say about who will.
All in all, it is shaping up like a very competitive year for a conference that certainly appears to be on its way up.
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There have been plenty of seasons of parity in the league. In 1994, four teams finished the regular season at 9-5 in conference play, resulting in a pair of semifinals decided by a total of 5 points (including one overtime game) and a final that Navy won at home by 2 (over Colgate the year before Adonal Foyle arrived). That was the only season a team with five league losses managed to claim the top seed for the tournament. (An interesting note: That season Navy placed nobody on the first or second All-Patriot teams despite being the top seed).
The next two seasons Colgate won the conference, but each year the Raiders finished with three losses in conference play and needed a tiebreaker to gain top seed for the postseason.
In 2002, American won the regular season despite four conference setbacks, with four other teams over .500 in league play.
Looking around the league, it would not be surprising to see this year's regular season champs with four or even five losses. With the marked improvement at both of the service academies, Lafayette is the closest thing to a gimme in the league, and Fran O'Hanlon's Leopards have always had a knack, even in their down years, for pulling off an upset or two at home.
Here are a few team-by-team thoughts, done in alphabetical order (so please Lehigh fans, no hate mail for listing the Mountain Hawks seventh):
AMERICAN: A veteran team with a proven star in Andre Ingram, a talented point guard in Derrick Mercer, scoring off the bench in Arvydas Eitutavicius and as much size up front as anybody in the league, the Eagles 7-4 start has done nothing to take away from their preseason status as a contender.
Paulius Joneliunas and Brayden Billbe already can claim the titles of the league's biggest frontcourt and the frontcourt with the most unusual names. If they can also rank among the league's toughest, this could be teh Eagles year.
Cornelio Guibunda is as athletic as they come in the Patriot League, but still lacks polish. It will be interesting to see how far his athleticism can take him in league play. If he is a factor off the bench, AU's threesome could potentially challenge Bucknell's trio of Chris McNaughton, Donald Brown and Darren Mastropaolo as the league's best three-man rotation in the frontcourt.
ARMY: Dramatically better, the 9-3 Black Knights have already won more games than they did the last three seasons combined. Jarrell Brown might be the best offensive player in the league. Matt Bell is healthy and back to form. And freshman Chris Walker's 6-8 presence in the middle gives Army the legitimate post player it has lacked in Jim Crews first four seasons. It's worth noting that although Walker is a freshman, he had the equivalent of a redshirt season at Army's prep school last year. Walker is one of seven players on the Army roster who have spent a year at USMAPS, making the Black Knights a more mature team than the roster might indicate at first glance.
No doubt the 9-3 record reflects more than just Army being better. The wins have come against a mix of weak Division I and mediocre Division III sides. Still, Army will be a tough out this season, especially in Christl Arena.
BUCKNELL: The Bison need to sweep two games at Marist's tournament this weekend to avoid entering conference play below .500. That will be a challenge; Marist, Bucknell's likely opponent in the final (assuming the Bison get past a very weak Central Arkansas team in the opener), is unbeaten at home, 8-3 with two wins over top 100 RPI teams.
Even a game below .500 in the preseason, the Bison are probably still the favorite to win the league. The level of competition Bucknell has faced is clearly a notch above most of the rest of the league and all but two of their non-conference games have been away from home. Bucknell's wins over George Mason and Xavier are easily the league's best wins to date.
That said, this is definitely not the Bucknell juggernaut of the past two seasons. They have been inconsistent on both sides as Pat Flannery has struggled to find a set rotation. The inability of Donald Brown to adjust to playing the three has kept Flannery from being able to put his best five players on the floor at the same time, a problem that has been exacerbated by guys like Chris McNaughton and Abe Badmus getting into foul trouble. Badmus also has to begin contributing more on offense. He has the ability to get into the paint with dribble penetration, but has seemed to lack the confidence to finish when he gets there. If Badmus would start getting himself to the foul line instead of sending opponents there, it would be a huge plus.
COLGATE: Home losses to sub-.500 teams like Stony Brook and Canisius have folks around the league wondering if it is possible they have misjudged the level of talent on the Raiders roster. The injury loss of a guy like Kyle Roemer certainly has not helped. But Roemer's spot on the wing was a spot where Colgate seemed to have a lot of depth. In fact, in the preseason the bigger problem facing coach Emmett Davis seemed to be finding enough minutes for all his perimeter talent.
On paper, Colgate seemed to have the talent to contend for the league title. On the floor they have seemed like it will be a challenge for them to finish ahead of the service academies in the league standings. Until somebody other than Jon Simon starts to perform well on a consistent basis, Colgate will continue to struggle.
HOLY CROSS: When healthy, the Crusaders starting five is as good as any in the league. But Holy Cross has not been healthy and the lack of depth exposed by the latest rash of injuries is taking its toll. At this point HC seems two healthy players away from being the league favorite and a Keith Simmons injury away from going the complete opposite direction.
Pat Doherty will return during conference play, but how effective will he be down the stretch after missing almost all of last season to his foot problems and now a month or so of this season to the broken hand. Lawrence Dixon's knee has his status for the remainder of the season in doubt. The only good news about freshman Andrew Keister's stress fracture is that he has only played four games and should be eligible for a medical redshirt.
Simmons' sprained knee should be O.K for conference play if he does not reinjure it, but the reappearance of his cramping problems in the 'Saders last game (George Mason) is a huge concern. With the limited bench Ralph Willard has available, anything that greatly limits Simmons' minutes will be a real problem. And then there is Torey Thomas, who is playing 40 minutes a game on a knee not fully recovered from off-season surgery.
As long as Simmons and Thomas can still walk, Holy Cross will remain one of the top teams in the league. Without them, things could get ugly in a hurry in Worcester.
LAFAYETTE: Scholarships finally arrived in Easton, but it will take more than one recruiting class for the 'Pards to catch up to folks who have had them for years. Six-seven freshman Jesper Andersson has emerged as a threat on the wing, adding to a plethora of outside shooters available to O'Hanlon, but up front the Leopards are as thin as cheap wrapping paper. Matt Betley has given a yeoman's effort as an undersized (6-4) four, but how he will hold up to the constant banging against bigger, stronger guys over the course of the season remains to be seen.
At their best, Lafayette can rain threes. When they don't fall though, the 'Pards are in trouble because they just are not big enough or strong enough to get it done on the boards, as evidenced by the way they have been outrebounded to the tune of almost 10 per game.
The good news for Lafayette fans: Wait until next year actually means something for the 'Pards, who ought to quickly become competitive when O'Hanlon has the talent to compete.
LEHIGH: Just when it seemed Jason Mgebroff was finally realizing the potential he showed as a freshman, the Mountain Hawks big man got hurt. He will return around the second half of the conference schedule, but without him, a young Lehigh team will struggle to compete inside with some of the better frontcourts in the league.
Lucky for Lehigh, those "better frontcourts" are not a commodity much of the conference is blessed with. Luckier still, it was not Jose Olivero who got hurt. At the risk of seeming redundant, as long as the Mountain Hawks have Olivero, they always will have a chance of shooting down any team in the league.
Freshman point guard Marquis Hall has more than lived up to high expectations, giving Lehigh, when Mgebroff is healthy, as good a first five as there is in the league. Depth remains a big question mark though. Add in an inability to win on the road and the Mountain Hawks appear to have their work cut out for them if they want to remain ahead of Army and navy, ;et alone if they want to challenge the league's top teams.
NAVY: Like Army, the Mids are markedly better. Also like Army, their nine non-conference wins thus far have included two over Division III foes and none against any real quality foes. Six of the seven wins over D-Is came against teams with RPI's over 200.
The similarities with their archrivals don't end there. Like Army, Navy has benefited from the presence of a freshman in the post. In this case it is 6-10 Trey Stanton who has filled the void in the middle.
Greg Sprink continues to show he is one fo the league's top offensive threats. Kaleo Kina and Corey Johnson combine with Sprink to form a very good backcourt.
Alumni Hall continues to be one of the league's toughest road venues. The Midshipmen are unlikely to contend for the championship, but they likely will have a lot to say about who will.
All in all, it is shaping up like a very competitive year for a conference that certainly appears to be on its way up.
Labels: Army, AU, BU, CU, HC, Laf, Leh, Navy, notebook
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Sunday, December 24, 2006
It's really no secret: when Navy does not shoot the ball well from the perimeter, it struggles to win and against Georgetown Saturday, the Mids shot horribly.
Navy has almost as many perimeter snipers on its basketball teams as it has ships in its fleet, but none could seem to find their range in the 65-44 loss to the Hoyas in the Verizon Center. The Mids, who never led, missed 12 of its first 13 shots, including 9 from the three-point arc, setting the tone for an afternoon where they went 15 for 48 (31.3 percent) from the field, 4 for 22 from the arc.
Greg Sprink (16 points) was the only Navy player in double figures, and he was just 4 for 11 from the field.
The Mids actually didn't play too poorly on defense. Georgetown only shot 43.2 percent (19 of 44). But Navy was no match inside for the Hoyas, who dominated the boards. Georgetown's 41-18 rebounding edge only tells half the story. The Hoyas actually grabbed the carom from more of its own misses than the Mids did, pulling down 15 offensive rebounds to 11 defensive rebounds for Navy.
Box score | AP | Baltimore Sun | Washington Post | Washington Times
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Navy has almost as many perimeter snipers on its basketball teams as it has ships in its fleet, but none could seem to find their range in the 65-44 loss to the Hoyas in the Verizon Center. The Mids, who never led, missed 12 of its first 13 shots, including 9 from the three-point arc, setting the tone for an afternoon where they went 15 for 48 (31.3 percent) from the field, 4 for 22 from the arc.
Greg Sprink (16 points) was the only Navy player in double figures, and he was just 4 for 11 from the field.
The Mids actually didn't play too poorly on defense. Georgetown only shot 43.2 percent (19 of 44). But Navy was no match inside for the Hoyas, who dominated the boards. Georgetown's 41-18 rebounding edge only tells half the story. The Hoyas actually grabbed the carom from more of its own misses than the Mids did, pulling down 15 offensive rebounds to 11 defensive rebounds for Navy.
Box score | AP | Baltimore Sun | Washington Post | Washington Times
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Bobby Knight's Texas Tech Red Raiders gave their coach a share of Dean Smith's record by ending Bucknell's three-game win streak.
The final score was 72-60 in a game that was close until the Bison went cold and Tech went on a 17-0 run. But all anybody will remember in the long run will be that Knight won his 879th game, tying him with the former North Carolina legend Smith as the all-time winningest coach in men's Division I hoops.
Early in the second half, the Bison were right with the Raiders, trailing by three with the ball. But Justin Castleberry missed two three-points that might have tied the game, setting the stage for Tech's decisive run.
Jarrius Jackson, Tech's leading scorer who had been held in check the first half, scored 10 of his 18 points during the spurt, which coincided with a Bucknell dry spell that lasted 7 minutes. The Bison missed 13 straight shots during that stretch.
Bucknell shot 50 percent in the first half (14 of 28), including 5 treys (on 9 tries) and still trailed by 6, 39-33, at the break thanks to Tech's torrid 61.2 percent (16 of 26) shooting. In the second half the Raiders cooled off, going 12 for 28 (42.9 percent) from the field. But Bucknell was a frigid 10 for 32 (31.3 percent), even colder from the arc, where they went 1 for 12.
The Bison actually outrebounded Tech, 36-30, and had only 13 turnovers. But Tech turned it over just once.
John Griffin led the Bison with 16 points. Donald Brown added 13 -- 12 in the first half -- and Chris McNaughton had 12.
Box score | Bucknell recap |AP | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Raider Power
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The final score was 72-60 in a game that was close until the Bison went cold and Tech went on a 17-0 run. But all anybody will remember in the long run will be that Knight won his 879th game, tying him with the former North Carolina legend Smith as the all-time winningest coach in men's Division I hoops.
Early in the second half, the Bison were right with the Raiders, trailing by three with the ball. But Justin Castleberry missed two three-points that might have tied the game, setting the stage for Tech's decisive run.
Jarrius Jackson, Tech's leading scorer who had been held in check the first half, scored 10 of his 18 points during the spurt, which coincided with a Bucknell dry spell that lasted 7 minutes. The Bison missed 13 straight shots during that stretch.
Bucknell shot 50 percent in the first half (14 of 28), including 5 treys (on 9 tries) and still trailed by 6, 39-33, at the break thanks to Tech's torrid 61.2 percent (16 of 26) shooting. In the second half the Raiders cooled off, going 12 for 28 (42.9 percent) from the field. But Bucknell was a frigid 10 for 32 (31.3 percent), even colder from the arc, where they went 1 for 12.
The Bison actually outrebounded Tech, 36-30, and had only 13 turnovers. But Tech turned it over just once.
John Griffin led the Bison with 16 points. Donald Brown added 13 -- 12 in the first half -- and Chris McNaughton had 12.
Box score | Bucknell recap |AP | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Raider Power
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(Updated with additional links at 8:29 a.m.)
You hear the cliché “less is more” tossed around in a lot of different contexts, but seldom is it used when talking about defense in a basketball game.
That was the case Saturday afternoon in the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, though, where the host Terrapins turned a close game into a 66-54 win over visiting American by applying less defensive pressure on the visiting Eagles.
For most of the first half, the Terrapins employed a variety of full court traps against American, often to good effect. The Terps' first-half pressure resulted in 11 American turnovers, which Maryland converted into 18 points.
The problem for Maryland was, when American managed to beat the traps, the result usually was an open look at the basket. Shooting 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field in the first 20 minutes, all that separated the Eagles from the big boys from the Atlantic Coast Conference was five points, thanks mainly to some kind officials that sent Maryland to the foul line 9 times in the first half, where the Terps scored 5 of the 6 points that constituted their lead at the break.
Then came the second half, when Maryland abandoned the traps to play more of a straight-up man-to-man defense. The result: a 13-2 run to start the half that gave Maryland a double-digits lead it would hold the rest of the game.
“There was less pressure,” said American coach Jeff Jones. “But one of the things if you do handle a trapping defense, there are open plays. We didn't have those opportunities. They just kind of played a more grind-it-out defense there in the second half.”
Without the open looks they got in the first half, American found it much harder to score. The Eagles had one bucket the first 5:59 of the half and only two field goals the first 9:38 after the break. By then Maryland's lead was 16 and the suspense was over.
“Going into halftime, we thought we were right there, a bucket or two from keeping the pressure on them,” Jones said.
“We emphasized how important the first five minutes of the second half were going to be. Maryland was very good during that stretch. They made shots. They executed their offense. They were very aggressive defensively.”
Jones was right. Even though Maryland took off the trap, they didn't really let up on defense. That was particularly true in the paint, where the Terps simply dominated. The official box score shows each team with 26 points in the paint, but that is a misleading stat.
American's big men were never a factor offensively. The trio of starters Brayden Billbe and Paulius Joneliunas, and first big man off the bench Cornelio Guibunda, finished with a combined 8 points on 4 of 16 shooting. Billbe, who was shooting over 50 percent on the season coming in, was 2 for 10 from the field.
“They took away Billbe inside. His first shot, he took it pretty strong. Having it blocked – that had a psychological effect. He wasn't a factor in the game,” Jones said.
Offensively, neither was anybody else for AU, with the exception of Andre Ingram, who finished with 24 of AU's 54 points, despite sitting a seven minute stretch of the first half after picking up two fouls.
Ingram was 9 for 16 from the field. Take his shots out of the equation and American's already icy 34.9 percent (22 of 63) shooting percentage in the game drops to a frigid 27.7 percent.
The struggles were pretty much across the board. Arvydas Eitutauicius, usually a dependable source of offense, was 2 for 8 from the field, 0 for 4 from the arc, finishing with 4 points, less than half his season average of 10.8 points per game. Linas Lekavicius was 3 for 10 and Garrison Carr, American's best perimeter shooter, was 0 for 6, including 4 missed treys.
“It was kind of like, where is the offense going to come from,” Jones said. “We really did struggle.”
It didn't help that it seemed every time the Eagles tried to take it to the hole, a Maryland defender was there to swat the ball away.
“I don't know how many blocks they had, but they had a bunch of them,” Jones said.
The answer, by the way, is nine; five in the second half. It seemed like more.
In the end, Maryland's defense and free throw shooting were the difference. American actually held its own defensively, especially in the second half, when Maryland turned the ball over 9 times (20 for the game total) and went 9 for 23 (39.1 percent) from the field. If American had been able to make more than 8 buckets while taking 35 shots, it might have been different. That Maryland shot 21 free throws to AU's 8 would have been a bigger factor if the Terps were halfway decent from the foul line. They made just 13 (61.9 percent), but that still was a significant edge over the 6 American made.
“We just were not good enough. It is that simple,” Jones said.
“Maryland is bigger, more athletic, more talented. For us to be able to pull off one of those upsets, we needed to shoot a little better and execute better,” he added.
The loss was American's second in a row, following a loss at Yale back on Dec. 9, before finals. It won't get any easier for the Eagles after the holiday. AU returns to action Dec. 28 at 7-3 Virginia, which has not lost a game at home thus far this season.
NOTES: Maryland now leads the all-time series between the two schools 14-1 . . . Details on AU's only win are a little sketchy . . . It came in the first meeting between the two, back in the 1926-27 season . . . The exact date of AU's 21-16 win is uncertain, as is where the game was played . . . Of the other 13, 12 were played at Maryland, one on a neutral floor . . . The loss leaves Jones tied for third on AU's all-time wins list with 95 . . . Eitutavicius's streak of consecutive free throws is still intact. He never got a chance to extend it or to end it, failing to get to the line for just the third time in 11 games . . . Maryland's bench outscored AU's bench 15-9 . . . It was the first time an opponent's bench managed that feat since AU's first game of the season at Fairfield . . . Ingram, who was leading the Patriot League in defensive rebounds entering the game (4.9 per game) had just one defensive board against Maryland . . . Guibunda's block on an Ekene Ibekwe jumper at the 15:10 mark of the first half kept alive his streak of games with a blocked shot . . . Guibunda, who has 12 blocks in the nine games he has played in, has rejected at least one in the Eagles' last seven games.
Box score | Gameblog | Postgame audio with Jeff Jones and Gary Williams | AP | Montgomery County Sentinel | Baltimore Sun | Washington Post | Washington Times
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You hear the cliché “less is more” tossed around in a lot of different contexts, but seldom is it used when talking about defense in a basketball game.
That was the case Saturday afternoon in the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, though, where the host Terrapins turned a close game into a 66-54 win over visiting American by applying less defensive pressure on the visiting Eagles.
For most of the first half, the Terrapins employed a variety of full court traps against American, often to good effect. The Terps' first-half pressure resulted in 11 American turnovers, which Maryland converted into 18 points.
The problem for Maryland was, when American managed to beat the traps, the result usually was an open look at the basket. Shooting 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field in the first 20 minutes, all that separated the Eagles from the big boys from the Atlantic Coast Conference was five points, thanks mainly to some kind officials that sent Maryland to the foul line 9 times in the first half, where the Terps scored 5 of the 6 points that constituted their lead at the break.
Then came the second half, when Maryland abandoned the traps to play more of a straight-up man-to-man defense. The result: a 13-2 run to start the half that gave Maryland a double-digits lead it would hold the rest of the game.
“There was less pressure,” said American coach Jeff Jones. “But one of the things if you do handle a trapping defense, there are open plays. We didn't have those opportunities. They just kind of played a more grind-it-out defense there in the second half.”
Without the open looks they got in the first half, American found it much harder to score. The Eagles had one bucket the first 5:59 of the half and only two field goals the first 9:38 after the break. By then Maryland's lead was 16 and the suspense was over.
“Going into halftime, we thought we were right there, a bucket or two from keeping the pressure on them,” Jones said.
“We emphasized how important the first five minutes of the second half were going to be. Maryland was very good during that stretch. They made shots. They executed their offense. They were very aggressive defensively.”
Jones was right. Even though Maryland took off the trap, they didn't really let up on defense. That was particularly true in the paint, where the Terps simply dominated. The official box score shows each team with 26 points in the paint, but that is a misleading stat.
American's big men were never a factor offensively. The trio of starters Brayden Billbe and Paulius Joneliunas, and first big man off the bench Cornelio Guibunda, finished with a combined 8 points on 4 of 16 shooting. Billbe, who was shooting over 50 percent on the season coming in, was 2 for 10 from the field.
“They took away Billbe inside. His first shot, he took it pretty strong. Having it blocked – that had a psychological effect. He wasn't a factor in the game,” Jones said.
Offensively, neither was anybody else for AU, with the exception of Andre Ingram, who finished with 24 of AU's 54 points, despite sitting a seven minute stretch of the first half after picking up two fouls.
Ingram was 9 for 16 from the field. Take his shots out of the equation and American's already icy 34.9 percent (22 of 63) shooting percentage in the game drops to a frigid 27.7 percent.
The struggles were pretty much across the board. Arvydas Eitutauicius, usually a dependable source of offense, was 2 for 8 from the field, 0 for 4 from the arc, finishing with 4 points, less than half his season average of 10.8 points per game. Linas Lekavicius was 3 for 10 and Garrison Carr, American's best perimeter shooter, was 0 for 6, including 4 missed treys.
“It was kind of like, where is the offense going to come from,” Jones said. “We really did struggle.”
It didn't help that it seemed every time the Eagles tried to take it to the hole, a Maryland defender was there to swat the ball away.
“I don't know how many blocks they had, but they had a bunch of them,” Jones said.
The answer, by the way, is nine; five in the second half. It seemed like more.
In the end, Maryland's defense and free throw shooting were the difference. American actually held its own defensively, especially in the second half, when Maryland turned the ball over 9 times (20 for the game total) and went 9 for 23 (39.1 percent) from the field. If American had been able to make more than 8 buckets while taking 35 shots, it might have been different. That Maryland shot 21 free throws to AU's 8 would have been a bigger factor if the Terps were halfway decent from the foul line. They made just 13 (61.9 percent), but that still was a significant edge over the 6 American made.
“We just were not good enough. It is that simple,” Jones said.
“Maryland is bigger, more athletic, more talented. For us to be able to pull off one of those upsets, we needed to shoot a little better and execute better,” he added.
The loss was American's second in a row, following a loss at Yale back on Dec. 9, before finals. It won't get any easier for the Eagles after the holiday. AU returns to action Dec. 28 at 7-3 Virginia, which has not lost a game at home thus far this season.
NOTES: Maryland now leads the all-time series between the two schools 14-1 . . . Details on AU's only win are a little sketchy . . . It came in the first meeting between the two, back in the 1926-27 season . . . The exact date of AU's 21-16 win is uncertain, as is where the game was played . . . Of the other 13, 12 were played at Maryland, one on a neutral floor . . . The loss leaves Jones tied for third on AU's all-time wins list with 95 . . . Eitutavicius's streak of consecutive free throws is still intact. He never got a chance to extend it or to end it, failing to get to the line for just the third time in 11 games . . . Maryland's bench outscored AU's bench 15-9 . . . It was the first time an opponent's bench managed that feat since AU's first game of the season at Fairfield . . . Ingram, who was leading the Patriot League in defensive rebounds entering the game (4.9 per game) had just one defensive board against Maryland . . . Guibunda's block on an Ekene Ibekwe jumper at the 15:10 mark of the first half kept alive his streak of games with a blocked shot . . . Guibunda, who has 12 blocks in the nine games he has played in, has rejected at least one in the Eagles' last seven games.
Box score | Gameblog | Postgame audio with Jeff Jones and Gary Williams | AP | Montgomery County Sentinel | Baltimore Sun | Washington Post | Washington Times
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Saturday, December 23, 2006
Notes and observations from American's loss at Maryland, recorded for posterity as it happened this afternoon in the Comcast Center.
After a slow start -- for us, not the game -- after conflicting directions sent us a half-dozen places before we could find our game credentials, we are finally booted up and ready to go here at Marlyand's Comcast Center.
Through the first seven minutes, AU hanging right with the Terps, despite having trouble with Maryland's full court pressure early. Maryland jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead, but after a quick AU timeout, the Eagles right back in it, thanks in no small part to Andre Ingram, who has 10 of AU's first 12 points, including two treys.
To stay in it, though, AU will need to start doing a better job on the glass. Maryland got three shots its first possession and has been dominating the boards.
At the second media timeout, its AU 18, Maryland 16, 10:36 to go in the half.
Fouls are mounting for AU, they get their 7th at the 9:56 mark. Ingram with two is on the bench. Maryland with two team fouls at this point.
Not sure how long Jeff Jones can afford to sit Ingram. Other than a couple nice penetration layups by Derrick Mercer, offense has been scarce for the rest of the Eagles.
Expect the Lithuanian duo of Eitutavicius and Lekavicius to try to pick up the slack. They have acounted for the last four AU points. AU 21, Md. 21, 7:24 to go in the half.
A pair of back door layups, the first by Eitutavicius, the second by Paulis Joneliunas, gets Gary Williams off the bench for a quick time out. AU up 27-25. 5:30 to play first half.
Interesting use of the instant replay in the Comcast Center scoreboard. Whenever there is a call against the Terps, like a pair of charges that have wiped out Martyland baskets, the instant replay quickly brings a roar from the crowd.
When AU's Brayden Billbe has a shot blocked that sure looked like an uncalled goaltend, or when two, maybe even three, Eagles get hammered on an offensive possession that results in three shots, but no points, there is no reply to even watch.
Still, with 3:48 to go in the first half, AU up 27-26.
With 3:41 to go in the half, Jones rolls the dice with Ingram and sends him back on the floor, replacing Eitutavicius, who just got his second foul, the team's 9th.
AU getting no breaks from this ACC crew.
Just that quick, Maryland gets on a run, scoring 12 straight points to take a 37-27 lead with 1:40 to go in the half.
AT THE HALF:
Ingram scores at the buzzer to cut Maryland's lead to 37-31, AU scoring the last four points of the half -- the other coming on a tough layup by Mercer on the break after a steal.
Mercer, who stands 5-9 on his tip-toes, now with 6 points, all in the paint among Maryland's trees.
Ingram leading all scorers with 14 points in just 13 minutes of action.
AU shooting 50 percent from the floor (14 of 28) with 2 treys on 5 tries. Maryland 14 of 29, 3 for 6 at the arc.
Both teams with 11 turnovers in the first half. Maryland better at converting those, has scored 18 off AU giveaways. Au has 15 off Maryland turnovers.
The biggest differences right now: Maryland with a 19-12 edge on the boards -- including 7 offensive. The Terps also have been to the foul line 9 times, making 6; AU has shot two free throws, making one.
Scoreboard watching: Navy trails Georgetown by 10, 33-23, at the half.
Catching up on some tidbits missed by arriving on press row just moments before the tip: The Comcast Center is maybe three-quarters full, with a huge block of red seats empty at the one end, presumably where the students usually sit.
Despite break, Maryland's pep band is out in full force. That's the difference between real hoops schools and wannabes like Penn State, where break usually means a high school band in free t-shirts filling in for the departed college students.
Second half to follow.
Maryland's first bucket of the second half comes on a slam following am AU giveaway. After an empty possession for AU, a three=pointer puts the Terps back up by 11.
Hard as it is to believe, the refs actually called a travel on Maryland at the 17:02 mark. Most of the game they have been allowed drives that NBA players would envy. The last time somebody around here carried a ball that far, he was wearing a Redskins uniform.
At the other end, an Eitutavicius bucket that would have cut the lead to 10 (maybe nine if he converted a free throw) is wiped out by an official away from the play, who comes in to overrule the guy under the basket, turning potential AU three-point play into Eitutavicius' third personal and another AU turnover.
Meanwhile, D.J. Strawberry is heating up at the arc. His back-to-back threes (part of three treys in a row by the Terps) have pushed the Maryland lead to 48-33 with 15:34 to play.
With 13:09 to go, Jeff Jones inserts Garrison Carr in an effort to find some offense. The Eagles have scored only 5 points through the first 7 minutes of the second half.
It is not the turnovers killing AU on offense as much as it is Maryland's lack thereof. AU has just two giveaways, but Maryland only has two, also, and the Terps are making shots, forcing AU to play halfcourt offense instead of getting some points in transition.
The result, American's shooting percentage has plummeted to 38 percent for the game. Do the math at home for the second half -- AU is 2 for 14 so far. that is why the score is Maryland 56, AU 38 with 11:22 to play.
Elliott from Basketball U. is seated next to us. At the last timeout, he observed, "It's like watching ninth graders against seventh graders."
After Ingram hits his fourth trey of the game, he has more than half AU's points (22 of 43). Ingram is 8 for 14 from the field; the rest of the Eagles a combined 10 for 33.
With 8:18 to go, it's Maryland 57, American 43.
If you have never been to the Comcast Center, you ought to try to catch a game there some time. It is a beautiful facility, seating 17, 950 without sacrificing that close to the court feel for most of the seats. The seating areas behind the one baskets is a steep single deck, with an upper deck on the sidesand behind the other basket.
One nice feature is a little hidden from most of the crowds who enter from the front of the building. In a hallway that leads to the Terps' weight room and wrestling facility, the wall is lined with the center of the floors from the Final Fours where the Maryland men's and women's teams won national title.
The media is behind one basket on risers, much like they were in Cole Field House, with premium seats for high-rollers along courtside.
AU is trying to sneak back into this one. A little 10-3 run has cut the Maryland lead to 57-46 with 6:55 to play.
AU is getting nothing in the paint. The trio of Cornelio Guibunda, Brayden Billbe and Paulis Joneliunas has a combined 8 points on 4 of 15 shooting. Maryland has blocked 9 shots.
Maryland up 66-52 as the crowd empties with 1:38 to play.
AU fans looking for a moral victory (and you know Jeff Jones is not), Gary Williams still has three starters on the floor with a minute to go.
FINAL SCORE: Maryland 66, AU 54
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After a slow start -- for us, not the game -- after conflicting directions sent us a half-dozen places before we could find our game credentials, we are finally booted up and ready to go here at Marlyand's Comcast Center.
Through the first seven minutes, AU hanging right with the Terps, despite having trouble with Maryland's full court pressure early. Maryland jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead, but after a quick AU timeout, the Eagles right back in it, thanks in no small part to Andre Ingram, who has 10 of AU's first 12 points, including two treys.
To stay in it, though, AU will need to start doing a better job on the glass. Maryland got three shots its first possession and has been dominating the boards.
At the second media timeout, its AU 18, Maryland 16, 10:36 to go in the half.
Fouls are mounting for AU, they get their 7th at the 9:56 mark. Ingram with two is on the bench. Maryland with two team fouls at this point.
Not sure how long Jeff Jones can afford to sit Ingram. Other than a couple nice penetration layups by Derrick Mercer, offense has been scarce for the rest of the Eagles.
Expect the Lithuanian duo of Eitutavicius and Lekavicius to try to pick up the slack. They have acounted for the last four AU points. AU 21, Md. 21, 7:24 to go in the half.
A pair of back door layups, the first by Eitutavicius, the second by Paulis Joneliunas, gets Gary Williams off the bench for a quick time out. AU up 27-25. 5:30 to play first half.
Interesting use of the instant replay in the Comcast Center scoreboard. Whenever there is a call against the Terps, like a pair of charges that have wiped out Martyland baskets, the instant replay quickly brings a roar from the crowd.
When AU's Brayden Billbe has a shot blocked that sure looked like an uncalled goaltend, or when two, maybe even three, Eagles get hammered on an offensive possession that results in three shots, but no points, there is no reply to even watch.
Still, with 3:48 to go in the first half, AU up 27-26.
With 3:41 to go in the half, Jones rolls the dice with Ingram and sends him back on the floor, replacing Eitutavicius, who just got his second foul, the team's 9th.
AU getting no breaks from this ACC crew.
Just that quick, Maryland gets on a run, scoring 12 straight points to take a 37-27 lead with 1:40 to go in the half.
AT THE HALF:
Ingram scores at the buzzer to cut Maryland's lead to 37-31, AU scoring the last four points of the half -- the other coming on a tough layup by Mercer on the break after a steal.
Mercer, who stands 5-9 on his tip-toes, now with 6 points, all in the paint among Maryland's trees.
Ingram leading all scorers with 14 points in just 13 minutes of action.
AU shooting 50 percent from the floor (14 of 28) with 2 treys on 5 tries. Maryland 14 of 29, 3 for 6 at the arc.
Both teams with 11 turnovers in the first half. Maryland better at converting those, has scored 18 off AU giveaways. Au has 15 off Maryland turnovers.
The biggest differences right now: Maryland with a 19-12 edge on the boards -- including 7 offensive. The Terps also have been to the foul line 9 times, making 6; AU has shot two free throws, making one.
Scoreboard watching: Navy trails Georgetown by 10, 33-23, at the half.
Catching up on some tidbits missed by arriving on press row just moments before the tip: The Comcast Center is maybe three-quarters full, with a huge block of red seats empty at the one end, presumably where the students usually sit.
Despite break, Maryland's pep band is out in full force. That's the difference between real hoops schools and wannabes like Penn State, where break usually means a high school band in free t-shirts filling in for the departed college students.
Second half to follow.
Maryland's first bucket of the second half comes on a slam following am AU giveaway. After an empty possession for AU, a three=pointer puts the Terps back up by 11.
Hard as it is to believe, the refs actually called a travel on Maryland at the 17:02 mark. Most of the game they have been allowed drives that NBA players would envy. The last time somebody around here carried a ball that far, he was wearing a Redskins uniform.
At the other end, an Eitutavicius bucket that would have cut the lead to 10 (maybe nine if he converted a free throw) is wiped out by an official away from the play, who comes in to overrule the guy under the basket, turning potential AU three-point play into Eitutavicius' third personal and another AU turnover.
Meanwhile, D.J. Strawberry is heating up at the arc. His back-to-back threes (part of three treys in a row by the Terps) have pushed the Maryland lead to 48-33 with 15:34 to play.
With 13:09 to go, Jeff Jones inserts Garrison Carr in an effort to find some offense. The Eagles have scored only 5 points through the first 7 minutes of the second half.
It is not the turnovers killing AU on offense as much as it is Maryland's lack thereof. AU has just two giveaways, but Maryland only has two, also, and the Terps are making shots, forcing AU to play halfcourt offense instead of getting some points in transition.
The result, American's shooting percentage has plummeted to 38 percent for the game. Do the math at home for the second half -- AU is 2 for 14 so far. that is why the score is Maryland 56, AU 38 with 11:22 to play.
Elliott from Basketball U. is seated next to us. At the last timeout, he observed, "It's like watching ninth graders against seventh graders."
After Ingram hits his fourth trey of the game, he has more than half AU's points (22 of 43). Ingram is 8 for 14 from the field; the rest of the Eagles a combined 10 for 33.
With 8:18 to go, it's Maryland 57, American 43.
If you have never been to the Comcast Center, you ought to try to catch a game there some time. It is a beautiful facility, seating 17, 950 without sacrificing that close to the court feel for most of the seats. The seating areas behind the one baskets is a steep single deck, with an upper deck on the sidesand behind the other basket.
One nice feature is a little hidden from most of the crowds who enter from the front of the building. In a hallway that leads to the Terps' weight room and wrestling facility, the wall is lined with the center of the floors from the Final Fours where the Maryland men's and women's teams won national title.
The media is behind one basket on risers, much like they were in Cole Field House, with premium seats for high-rollers along courtside.
AU is trying to sneak back into this one. A little 10-3 run has cut the Maryland lead to 57-46 with 6:55 to play.
AU is getting nothing in the paint. The trio of Cornelio Guibunda, Brayden Billbe and Paulis Joneliunas has a combined 8 points on 4 of 15 shooting. Maryland has blocked 9 shots.
Maryland up 66-52 as the crowd empties with 1:38 to play.
AU fans looking for a moral victory (and you know Jeff Jones is not), Gary Williams still has three starters on the floor with a minute to go.
FINAL SCORE: Maryland 66, AU 54
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The "General" barks orders back in his Indiana days |
Unless you live in a cave (and then how the heck are you here?), you know the whole storyline for this afternoon's Bucknell-Texas Tech game (4:30, ESPN2) (matchup). Bobby Knight, love him or hate him, going for win No. 879, which would tie him with former North Carolina coach Dean Smith as the all-time winningest coach in Division 1 hoops.
A few weeks ago, this would have seemed like a "pencil it in" win for Knight. But Bucknell has recovered from its 0-4 start to win five of its last six, including picking up a big-name scalp at Xavier the Bison's last time out.
We plan to get to a TV as soon as we can this afternoon, but first we'll stop in College Park, Md., where American takes on Maryland (matchup)in a 1 p.m. tip.
On the other side of town, Navy visits Georgetown (matchup), also a 1 p.m. tip.
A win by any one of the three league teams would be a tremendous early Christmas present for the Patriot League.
Labels: AU, BU, Navy, previews
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Close, but no cigar for Lehigh again, losing on the road at Rutgers. Back in the Lehigh Valley, Lafayette had better luck at home against Mount St. Mary's.
Lafayette 58, Mount St. Mary's 56 -- The Leopards hang on to win despite going the final 5:52 of the game without a field goal. It is Lafayette's fifth win in its last six and pulls the 'Pards (6-7), who played without two starters and lost another in the first half, to within one game of .500.
Lafayette started strong, with a 14-2 run to open the game, and shot 51.9 percent (14 of 27) from the field, including 7 of 16 three-point tries (43.8 percent), en route to a 38-29 halftime lead.
But late in the half, freshman Jesper Andersson, who had 11 of those points and three of the treys at the time, rolled an ankle and had to leave the game. Andersson's injury, called a severe sprain, put him on the bench alongside senior Jamaal Hillard, who had an MRI Friday on a bad foot, and junior Paul Cummins, who missed the game due to a stomach bug.
Without Andersson's shooting, and the other two starters, the depleted Leopards managed only 5 field goals (on 19 tries) in the second half (26.3 percent), and were just 1 of 9 from the arc. But Lafayette played tough defense throughout, keeping Mount Saint Mary's below 40 percent shooting in each half, The Mount, which went 21 for 55 (38.2 percent) for the game, just 2 of 20 on three-pointers.
The biggest of those missed shots came at the buzzer, when Mount freshman Kelly Beidler, who led MSM with 16 points, got an open look to tie the game from the left block on an inbounds play with 0.9 seconds left. His hook rolled off the rim.
Like Lafayette, MSM went cold at the end, going without a field goal the last 4:56. Unlike Lafayette, the Mount did not get to the line enough in that stretch. While the 'Pards were 6 for 6 on free throws in the last five minutes, Mount Saint Mary's shot only three and made only two.
Bilal Abdullah, who saved off the braids he has sported since high school prior to the game, led Lafayette with 22 points, a career high.
Box score | AP | Express-Times | Morning Call | LSN postgame show (video)
Rutgers 67, Lehigh 61 -- What if Lehigh were to defeat a major conference team on the road, just an hour or so from the Lehigh Valley, and none of the valley's papers were there to report it? Almost happened last night in Piscataway, N.J., when the Mountain Hawks lost a tough decision to Rutgers in a game they led by 10 points with 8 minutes to play.
Playing without starting center Jason Mgebroff, out with a stress fracture in a leg, Lehigh started the game with a 6-0 run and was up as many as 8 in the first half before poor shooting by the Hawks helped Rugters take a 31-27 lead at the break.
Lehigh was just 9 for 27 from the floor in the first half (33.3 percent). But the Hawks heated up after the intermission, shooting 14 for 24 (58.3 percent) in the second half.
That strong shooting, and tough defense that held Rutgers to 38.2 percent from the field (21 of 55), enabled Lehigh to build a 10-point lead. But Rutgers responded with a 19-2 run that ultimately decided the game.
Sophomore Phil (in) Anderson, starting in the place of Mgebroff, held his own, grabbing five rebounds. Anderson split time with freshman Zahir Carrington, who struggled offensively, going 1 for 5 from the field, his 5 rebounds negated by 6 turnovers.
The turnovers were a problem for Lehigh, who gave the ball away 17 times, leading to 26 Rutgers points. The Hawks held their own on the glass, (38-32 rebound edge to Rutgers), but gave up 18 offensive boards that the Scarlet Knights converted for 20 second chance points.
Lehigh actually made more shots -- 23 field goals to 21 for Rutgers. But Rutgers had an 8-3 edge from the arc and hit 17 of 24 from the free throw line to Lehigh's 12 of 17.
Jose Olivero led Lehigh with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Bryan White added 17, 15 in the second half. Freshman point guard marquis Hall added 11 points and 6 assists.
The loss was Lehigh's 18th in a row to Rutgers and the Hawks' third in a row against Division 1 opposition. Lehigh is now 0-9 on the road and has not won a game on an opponents floor since beating Army on Feb. 10 of last season.
Box score | AP | Newark Star Ledger
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Lafayette 58, Mount St. Mary's 56 -- The Leopards hang on to win despite going the final 5:52 of the game without a field goal. It is Lafayette's fifth win in its last six and pulls the 'Pards (6-7), who played without two starters and lost another in the first half, to within one game of .500.
Lafayette started strong, with a 14-2 run to open the game, and shot 51.9 percent (14 of 27) from the field, including 7 of 16 three-point tries (43.8 percent), en route to a 38-29 halftime lead.
But late in the half, freshman Jesper Andersson, who had 11 of those points and three of the treys at the time, rolled an ankle and had to leave the game. Andersson's injury, called a severe sprain, put him on the bench alongside senior Jamaal Hillard, who had an MRI Friday on a bad foot, and junior Paul Cummins, who missed the game due to a stomach bug.
Without Andersson's shooting, and the other two starters, the depleted Leopards managed only 5 field goals (on 19 tries) in the second half (26.3 percent), and were just 1 of 9 from the arc. But Lafayette played tough defense throughout, keeping Mount Saint Mary's below 40 percent shooting in each half, The Mount, which went 21 for 55 (38.2 percent) for the game, just 2 of 20 on three-pointers.
The biggest of those missed shots came at the buzzer, when Mount freshman Kelly Beidler, who led MSM with 16 points, got an open look to tie the game from the left block on an inbounds play with 0.9 seconds left. His hook rolled off the rim.
Like Lafayette, MSM went cold at the end, going without a field goal the last 4:56. Unlike Lafayette, the Mount did not get to the line enough in that stretch. While the 'Pards were 6 for 6 on free throws in the last five minutes, Mount Saint Mary's shot only three and made only two.
Bilal Abdullah, who saved off the braids he has sported since high school prior to the game, led Lafayette with 22 points, a career high.
Box score | AP | Express-Times | Morning Call | LSN postgame show (video)
Rutgers 67, Lehigh 61 -- What if Lehigh were to defeat a major conference team on the road, just an hour or so from the Lehigh Valley, and none of the valley's papers were there to report it? Almost happened last night in Piscataway, N.J., when the Mountain Hawks lost a tough decision to Rutgers in a game they led by 10 points with 8 minutes to play.
Playing without starting center Jason Mgebroff, out with a stress fracture in a leg, Lehigh started the game with a 6-0 run and was up as many as 8 in the first half before poor shooting by the Hawks helped Rugters take a 31-27 lead at the break.
Lehigh was just 9 for 27 from the floor in the first half (33.3 percent). But the Hawks heated up after the intermission, shooting 14 for 24 (58.3 percent) in the second half.
That strong shooting, and tough defense that held Rutgers to 38.2 percent from the field (21 of 55), enabled Lehigh to build a 10-point lead. But Rutgers responded with a 19-2 run that ultimately decided the game.
Sophomore Phil (in) Anderson, starting in the place of Mgebroff, held his own, grabbing five rebounds. Anderson split time with freshman Zahir Carrington, who struggled offensively, going 1 for 5 from the field, his 5 rebounds negated by 6 turnovers.
The turnovers were a problem for Lehigh, who gave the ball away 17 times, leading to 26 Rutgers points. The Hawks held their own on the glass, (38-32 rebound edge to Rutgers), but gave up 18 offensive boards that the Scarlet Knights converted for 20 second chance points.
Lehigh actually made more shots -- 23 field goals to 21 for Rutgers. But Rutgers had an 8-3 edge from the arc and hit 17 of 24 from the free throw line to Lehigh's 12 of 17.
Jose Olivero led Lehigh with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Bryan White added 17, 15 in the second half. Freshman point guard marquis Hall added 11 points and 6 assists.
The loss was Lehigh's 18th in a row to Rutgers and the Hawks' third in a row against Division 1 opposition. Lehigh is now 0-9 on the road and has not won a game on an opponents floor since beating Army on Feb. 10 of last season.
Box score | AP | Newark Star Ledger
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Friday, December 22, 2006
The Lehigh Valley contingent will carry the patriot League flag into action tonight, with Lafayette playing host to Mount Saint Mary's while Lehigh is at Rutgers.
For Lehigh, which has not won away from Stabler Arena this season, the challenge of taking on a Big East team got even tougher with the loss of senior center Jason Mgebroff. With 7-foot sophomre John Gourlay also out with an injury, Billy Taylor will have to use skinny 6-9 Phillip Anderson at the five.
Rutgers' J.R. Inman is 6-9 and leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring (12.7 ppg) and rebounding (7 rpg). But after that, Rutgers is not real big. Freshman Hamady N'Diaye is 6-11 with tremendous upside, but the native of Senegal is still learning the game. Senior Adrian Hill (6-8) starts and averages 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds.
It has been an interesting season for normally defensive-minded Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks are averaging over 72 points per game. Rutgers, on the other hand, has just one guy (Inman) averaging in double figures and is scoring 62.2 points per game.
As we wrote in the Lehigh preview for Blue Ribbon, with Jose Olivero, Lehigh always has a punchers chance.
Matchup | Scarlet Nation preview
Mount St. Mary's at Lafayette -- (Matchup) A winnable game for the Leopards, who have won four of their last five after an 0-5 start. Admittedly, two of those wins have been against Division 3 teams, and the Leopards had trouble putting D3 Kings away their last time out. But from afar we tend to view that as a rare situation where Lafayett might actually have taken an opponent lightly.
Mount St. Mary's comes in 2-8, with losses in six of its past seven, including a 59-46 loss at home to American. The Mount has yet to win in 6 games away from Knott Arena.
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For Lehigh, which has not won away from Stabler Arena this season, the challenge of taking on a Big East team got even tougher with the loss of senior center Jason Mgebroff. With 7-foot sophomre John Gourlay also out with an injury, Billy Taylor will have to use skinny 6-9 Phillip Anderson at the five.
Rutgers' J.R. Inman is 6-9 and leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring (12.7 ppg) and rebounding (7 rpg). But after that, Rutgers is not real big. Freshman Hamady N'Diaye is 6-11 with tremendous upside, but the native of Senegal is still learning the game. Senior Adrian Hill (6-8) starts and averages 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds.
It has been an interesting season for normally defensive-minded Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks are averaging over 72 points per game. Rutgers, on the other hand, has just one guy (Inman) averaging in double figures and is scoring 62.2 points per game.
As we wrote in the Lehigh preview for Blue Ribbon, with Jose Olivero, Lehigh always has a punchers chance.
Matchup | Scarlet Nation preview
Mount St. Mary's at Lafayette -- (Matchup) A winnable game for the Leopards, who have won four of their last five after an 0-5 start. Admittedly, two of those wins have been against Division 3 teams, and the Leopards had trouble putting D3 Kings away their last time out. But from afar we tend to view that as a rare situation where Lafayett might actually have taken an opponent lightly.
Mount St. Mary's comes in 2-8, with losses in six of its past seven, including a 59-46 loss at home to American. The Mount has yet to win in 6 games away from Knott Arena.
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With a crowd of only 352 at the U.C. Riverside Student Rec Center, Colgate must have felt right at home while beating the host Highlanders, 59-56.
Kendall Chones scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Raiders, who improved to .500 (5-5) with the win. Willie Morse added 14 points, a career-high, off the bench for Colgate.
The game was close throughout, featuring six lead changes and five ties. Colgate led by one, 24-23, at the half, and managed to extend its lead to 11 in the second half before UC Riverside battled back to take a 54-53 lead with 1:22 to play on a three-pointer by Henrick Thomsen.
An Alex Woodhouse jam at the other end put Colgate back on top and a three-pointer and a foul shot by Morse (along with a Highlanders' missed three at the buzzer) were enough to preserve that lead.
Neither team shot well. Colgate was 22 for 61 (36.1 percent) from the field, 4 of 15 from the arc. UC Riverside hit 21 of 64 (32.8 percent), 3 of 15 from three-point range.
Jon Simon, the raiders leading scorer, was limited to 4 points on 2 of 8 shooting. Simon was 0 for 5 from the three-point arc.
Box score | AP | Press-Enterprise
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Kendall Chones scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Raiders, who improved to .500 (5-5) with the win. Willie Morse added 14 points, a career-high, off the bench for Colgate.
The game was close throughout, featuring six lead changes and five ties. Colgate led by one, 24-23, at the half, and managed to extend its lead to 11 in the second half before UC Riverside battled back to take a 54-53 lead with 1:22 to play on a three-pointer by Henrick Thomsen.
An Alex Woodhouse jam at the other end put Colgate back on top and a three-pointer and a foul shot by Morse (along with a Highlanders' missed three at the buzzer) were enough to preserve that lead.
Neither team shot well. Colgate was 22 for 61 (36.1 percent) from the field, 4 of 15 from the arc. UC Riverside hit 21 of 64 (32.8 percent), 3 of 15 from three-point range.
Jon Simon, the raiders leading scorer, was limited to 4 points on 2 of 8 shooting. Simon was 0 for 5 from the three-point arc.
Box score | AP | Press-Enterprise
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Reality set in last night for the Black Knights of the Hudson, who saw their six-game win streak crash to a halt at Notre Dame.
After fattening up on the likes of SUNY Purchase and SUNY Maritime in the past week, Army jumped into the deep end against No. 20 Notre Dame and found out it still needs a few swimming lessons, falling 88-47.
The quickie version of the game story goes like this: Army could not make shots all night; Notre Dame hardly missed, and when they did, often they got their own rebound. The Black Knights shot under 40 percent each half, finishing the night 16 for 46 (34.8 percent) from the field. Army made just 3 of 14 three-pointers it tried. Notre Dame, on the other hand, was over 50 percent each half, finishing 31 of 59 (52.5 percent) even though only two of the Irish starters played as many as 25 minutes. The Fighting Irish nailed 15 threes (out of 28 tries) and outrebounded Army 45-22, including a 15-5 margin on the offensive glass.
Indiana native Matt Bell was the only Black Knight to reach double figures, finishing with 15 in his homecoming. Army's leading scorer, Jarrell brown, was 2 for 10 from the field with 5 points, well below his 16.6 ppg average.
Most telling stat: the halftime score was 46-20. Those 46 points were more than Army had allowed in its past three entire games.
Box score | AP | South Bend Tribune | Irish Illustrated | Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
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After fattening up on the likes of SUNY Purchase and SUNY Maritime in the past week, Army jumped into the deep end against No. 20 Notre Dame and found out it still needs a few swimming lessons, falling 88-47.
The quickie version of the game story goes like this: Army could not make shots all night; Notre Dame hardly missed, and when they did, often they got their own rebound. The Black Knights shot under 40 percent each half, finishing the night 16 for 46 (34.8 percent) from the field. Army made just 3 of 14 three-pointers it tried. Notre Dame, on the other hand, was over 50 percent each half, finishing 31 of 59 (52.5 percent) even though only two of the Irish starters played as many as 25 minutes. The Fighting Irish nailed 15 threes (out of 28 tries) and outrebounded Army 45-22, including a 15-5 margin on the offensive glass.
Indiana native Matt Bell was the only Black Knight to reach double figures, finishing with 15 in his homecoming. Army's leading scorer, Jarrell brown, was 2 for 10 from the field with 5 points, well below his 16.6 ppg average.
Most telling stat: the halftime score was 46-20. Those 46 points were more than Army had allowed in its past three entire games.
Box score | AP | South Bend Tribune | Irish Illustrated | Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
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A little break for Christmas couldn't come soon enough for the Holy Cross, which lost to George Mason last night.
The visiting Patriots jumped on the Crusaders early, shooting 11 for 21 (52.4 percent) with 5 three-pointers (on 9 tries) in the first half, building a 29-22 lead at the break. It was a lead a "tired and beat-up" (Ralph Willard's words) Holy Cross team could not come close to overcoming.
You can read about the play by play aspects of the game in Jen Toland's Telegram & Gazette story, but an even better perspective on HC's situation comes from coach Ralph Willard himself, who updated his Web site after the game. According to Willard, Mason simply was "better prepared and seemed to have fresher legs" than the Crusaders, who have now lost four in a row heading, or should we say, limping, into the holdiays.
Part of the difference between the team that won its first five games and the team that has lost five of its last six has been a simple matter of scheduling. Four of the first five were in the Hart Center against teams like Fairfield, Hampton and William and Mary. Nothing against those foes, but they hardly are in the same league as the Syracuse-Dayton-Duke-Providence-Mason types the Crusaders have played during their skid. And all those except George Mason were road games.
On top of that, injuries have decimated Willard's rotation. The team's best player, senior Keith Simmons, is playing with a brace on the knee he sprained at Duke. Against George Mason he still played 36 minutes and scored 11 points, but Willard says Simmons is definitely not himself. The knee is affecting Simmons' shot, as was obvious by his 0 for 5 shooting from the three-point arc (4 of 14 overall) against Mason. Even more troubling, against Mason he experienced some cramping in his hamstring, leading to worries Simmons could be compensating for his knee in ways that could lead to further injury.
Simmons' knee is actually the good news on the injury front for HC. Pat Doherty is expected to miss at least a month with a broken hand, Lawrence Dixon had another MRI yesterday on the knee he had repaired in September and freshman Andrew Keister's bone scan this week confirmed a stress fracture in his leg, a problem likely to end his season.
Says Willard, "We are a tired and beat-up team that is trying too hard and breaking down in critical segments of the game."
The worn-out legs factor also seems to be catching up to Torey Thomas. Thomas is averaging 37.5 minutes per game this season, despite some lingering problems from the knee he had repaired over the summer. Thomas played all 40 minutes for the second game in a row last night and he played 39 in the two games before these past two. That followed a 38-minute game at Yale and the Syracuse game where he played only 37 minutes, not because Willard had the luxury of resting Thomas, but because he fouled out.
The wear is showing. Thomas was 3 for 12 from the field against Mason. In the past three games, the senior point guard has shot a combined 8 for 34 from the floor (23.5 percent).
With Simmons and Thomas struggling, HC's 8 for 34 shooting in the second half against Mason is probaly not a big surprise.
With three games in three days next week at LaSalle's Explorer Classic, it doesn't get any easier.
One note, attendance at the 14,800-seat DCU Center was just 3,114.
Box score | AP | T&G (gamer) | T&G (column)
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The visiting Patriots jumped on the Crusaders early, shooting 11 for 21 (52.4 percent) with 5 three-pointers (on 9 tries) in the first half, building a 29-22 lead at the break. It was a lead a "tired and beat-up" (Ralph Willard's words) Holy Cross team could not come close to overcoming.
You can read about the play by play aspects of the game in Jen Toland's Telegram & Gazette story, but an even better perspective on HC's situation comes from coach Ralph Willard himself, who updated his Web site after the game. According to Willard, Mason simply was "better prepared and seemed to have fresher legs" than the Crusaders, who have now lost four in a row heading, or should we say, limping, into the holdiays.
Part of the difference between the team that won its first five games and the team that has lost five of its last six has been a simple matter of scheduling. Four of the first five were in the Hart Center against teams like Fairfield, Hampton and William and Mary. Nothing against those foes, but they hardly are in the same league as the Syracuse-Dayton-Duke-Providence-Mason types the Crusaders have played during their skid. And all those except George Mason were road games.
On top of that, injuries have decimated Willard's rotation. The team's best player, senior Keith Simmons, is playing with a brace on the knee he sprained at Duke. Against George Mason he still played 36 minutes and scored 11 points, but Willard says Simmons is definitely not himself. The knee is affecting Simmons' shot, as was obvious by his 0 for 5 shooting from the three-point arc (4 of 14 overall) against Mason. Even more troubling, against Mason he experienced some cramping in his hamstring, leading to worries Simmons could be compensating for his knee in ways that could lead to further injury.
Simmons' knee is actually the good news on the injury front for HC. Pat Doherty is expected to miss at least a month with a broken hand, Lawrence Dixon had another MRI yesterday on the knee he had repaired in September and freshman Andrew Keister's bone scan this week confirmed a stress fracture in his leg, a problem likely to end his season.
Says Willard, "We are a tired and beat-up team that is trying too hard and breaking down in critical segments of the game."
The worn-out legs factor also seems to be catching up to Torey Thomas. Thomas is averaging 37.5 minutes per game this season, despite some lingering problems from the knee he had repaired over the summer. Thomas played all 40 minutes for the second game in a row last night and he played 39 in the two games before these past two. That followed a 38-minute game at Yale and the Syracuse game where he played only 37 minutes, not because Willard had the luxury of resting Thomas, but because he fouled out.
The wear is showing. Thomas was 3 for 12 from the field against Mason. In the past three games, the senior point guard has shot a combined 8 for 34 from the floor (23.5 percent).
With Simmons and Thomas struggling, HC's 8 for 34 shooting in the second half against Mason is probaly not a big surprise.
With three games in three days next week at LaSalle's Explorer Classic, it doesn't get any easier.
One note, attendance at the 14,800-seat DCU Center was just 3,114.
Box score | AP | T&G (gamer) | T&G (column)
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Thursday, December 21, 2006
Lehigh's senior center Jason Mgebroff will miss at least the first half of the conference season with a hairline fracture of his leg, Stephen Miller of the Morning Call reports.
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Labels: Leh
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Holy Cross hosts George Mason in the marquee game of a strong three-game bill for Patriot League teams tonight that also includes a reality check for Army.
One of the first signs of how good George Mason was going to be last season might have been the 33-point hurt they put on Holy Cross down in Fairfax, Va.
At the time, Mason's 71-38 win over the 'Saders seemed more like a horrendous night for HC than any sort of Mason statement. Of course at the time, the 'Saders were a struggling team that didn't look at all like the ballclub they became by the end of the season. Given the rash of injuries HC was experiencing, that wide final margin seemed more an indication of the Crusaders' woes than Mason's excellence. Nobody dreamt three months later Mason would be in the Final Four.
The team coming into Worcester's DCU Center tonight is not that same Mason team. Jai Lewis, Lamar Butler, and Tony Skinn are gone, Those three -- all fifth-year seniors last season -- combined for 54 points against HC last season. Also gone is Cross' Kevin Hamilton, who the Patriots managed to hold to 11 points on 3 for 12 shooting. Keith Simmons' cramping problems, which were in full effect around this time last year, are also gone (though thankfully for HC, Simmons remains and seems to be OK despite having to wear a brace on the knee he sprained at Duke).
Some things are the same, though. Just like last year, the Crusaders are experiencing a rash of injuries. Pat Doherty is out -- again -- this time with a hand injury instead of the foot problems that sidelined him last season). Lawrence Dixon's surgically repaired knee has been balking and at last report, freshman Andrew Keister was awaiting the results of a scan to determine if he has a stress fracture in one of his legs. No word on the status of Dixon and Keister in the HC game notes.
One place HC appears to have an advantage is in the frontcourt. Tim Clifford will be easily the biggest dude in the paint. Clifford had a big night in Tuesday's loss at Providence and ought to be able to do the same if A) Mason tries to play him straight-up in man and B) If the quickness of Mason's 6-7 Will Thomas doesn't get Clifford into foul trouble. That will be a matchup to keep an eye on.
With Doherty and Dixon out, the Crusaders don't have a lot of perimeter firepower. This would be a nice spot for sophomore Colin Cunningham to step up.
As for mason, while they are clearly not the team they were a year ago, it would be foolhardy to dismiss their 4-4 record. Take a look at those losses: Duke, Creighton, Wichita State and Bucknell.
One edge for HC: this is Mason's first time out after an 11-day break for finals. Two patterns HC must break: 1) Mason has alternated wins and losses all season and teh Patriots lost last time out (at Duke). 2) Their own three-game losing streak (and four losses in their last five, albeit all against major conference opponents).
Also worth noting: Mason senior Gabe Norwaood and HC freshman Eric Meister both come from the same State College (Pa.) High School. That is also the alma mater of Colgate's Willie Morse.
Matchup | Boston Globe (on Mason)
Army at No. 20 Notre Dame -- A reality check for Army against a team that appears to be trying to win the Patriot League title.
The Black Knights' 9-2 start has gotten them a mention in the "others receiving" category of the AP Poll. But as nice as it is to see Army finally winning games, how they stack up against the rest of the league is still a big question mark. They have played a string of nobodies since losing to Missouri in the second game of the season. Suffice to say ND is not a SUNY Division 3 team.
Then again, nobody is really sure how good the 9-1 Irish are. Since losing their opener against Butler, ND has run off nine straight wins, a streak that started with a win over Lafayette and includes another win over Lehigh. The Irish also have wins over Alabama and Maryland.
Worth noting: In 2004, a horrendous Army team was up on ND 23-7 early. Doubt the Irish will take the Black Knights lightly.
Matchup | South Bend Tribune | Fort Wayne Journal Sentinel | Fighting Irish Insider | Protrade
Colgate at UC Riverside -- In a 10 p.m. (eastern) nightcap, the Raiders try to get back to .500 against a University of California at Riverside team that is 3-7 and in the midst of a five-game losing streak, albeit against some pretty tough competition.
Matchup
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One of the first signs of how good George Mason was going to be last season might have been the 33-point hurt they put on Holy Cross down in Fairfax, Va.
At the time, Mason's 71-38 win over the 'Saders seemed more like a horrendous night for HC than any sort of Mason statement. Of course at the time, the 'Saders were a struggling team that didn't look at all like the ballclub they became by the end of the season. Given the rash of injuries HC was experiencing, that wide final margin seemed more an indication of the Crusaders' woes than Mason's excellence. Nobody dreamt three months later Mason would be in the Final Four.
The team coming into Worcester's DCU Center tonight is not that same Mason team. Jai Lewis, Lamar Butler, and Tony Skinn are gone, Those three -- all fifth-year seniors last season -- combined for 54 points against HC last season. Also gone is Cross' Kevin Hamilton, who the Patriots managed to hold to 11 points on 3 for 12 shooting. Keith Simmons' cramping problems, which were in full effect around this time last year, are also gone (though thankfully for HC, Simmons remains and seems to be OK despite having to wear a brace on the knee he sprained at Duke).
Some things are the same, though. Just like last year, the Crusaders are experiencing a rash of injuries. Pat Doherty is out -- again -- this time with a hand injury instead of the foot problems that sidelined him last season). Lawrence Dixon's surgically repaired knee has been balking and at last report, freshman Andrew Keister was awaiting the results of a scan to determine if he has a stress fracture in one of his legs. No word on the status of Dixon and Keister in the HC game notes.
One place HC appears to have an advantage is in the frontcourt. Tim Clifford will be easily the biggest dude in the paint. Clifford had a big night in Tuesday's loss at Providence and ought to be able to do the same if A) Mason tries to play him straight-up in man and B) If the quickness of Mason's 6-7 Will Thomas doesn't get Clifford into foul trouble. That will be a matchup to keep an eye on.
With Doherty and Dixon out, the Crusaders don't have a lot of perimeter firepower. This would be a nice spot for sophomore Colin Cunningham to step up.
As for mason, while they are clearly not the team they were a year ago, it would be foolhardy to dismiss their 4-4 record. Take a look at those losses: Duke, Creighton, Wichita State and Bucknell.
One edge for HC: this is Mason's first time out after an 11-day break for finals. Two patterns HC must break: 1) Mason has alternated wins and losses all season and teh Patriots lost last time out (at Duke). 2) Their own three-game losing streak (and four losses in their last five, albeit all against major conference opponents).
Also worth noting: Mason senior Gabe Norwaood and HC freshman Eric Meister both come from the same State College (Pa.) High School. That is also the alma mater of Colgate's Willie Morse.
Matchup | Boston Globe (on Mason)
Army at No. 20 Notre Dame -- A reality check for Army against a team that appears to be trying to win the Patriot League title.
The Black Knights' 9-2 start has gotten them a mention in the "others receiving" category of the AP Poll. But as nice as it is to see Army finally winning games, how they stack up against the rest of the league is still a big question mark. They have played a string of nobodies since losing to Missouri in the second game of the season. Suffice to say ND is not a SUNY Division 3 team.
Then again, nobody is really sure how good the 9-1 Irish are. Since losing their opener against Butler, ND has run off nine straight wins, a streak that started with a win over Lafayette and includes another win over Lehigh. The Irish also have wins over Alabama and Maryland.
Worth noting: In 2004, a horrendous Army team was up on ND 23-7 early. Doubt the Irish will take the Black Knights lightly.
Matchup | South Bend Tribune | Fort Wayne Journal Sentinel | Fighting Irish Insider | Protrade
Colgate at UC Riverside -- In a 10 p.m. (eastern) nightcap, the Raiders try to get back to .500 against a University of California at Riverside team that is 3-7 and in the midst of a five-game losing streak, albeit against some pretty tough competition.
Matchup
Labels: Army, CU, HC, previews
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(Originally posted Wed. at 10:44 p.m., updated with new links)
Bucknell showed reports of its demise are premature with a 68-67 win at Xavier. The victory, the first by a Patriot League team over a major conference foe this season, gave coach Pat Flannery his 300th career win and moved the Bison, who some had given up as dead after an 0-4 start, back to .500. Bucknell has now won three in a row and five of its last six.
Not only was the road win over a bigger name opponent reminiscent of the past two seasons, so was the way Bucknell got the win, with tough defense at the end of a close game.
Bucknell opened the scoring with a Jason Vegotsky three-pointer and Vegotsky didn't score again until the final two minutes of the game. His trey with 1:25 to play put the Bison back on top by one. Xavier could not score on a pair of possessions in the remaining time.
The Bison led most of the way, building a lead of as many as 11 points in the first half before settling for a 33-28 edge at the break. In the second half Bucknell again built its lead into double figures before Xavier clawed its way back, taking the lead for the first time with 2:30 left.
Xavier extended its lead to 3 points on a pair of Drew Lavender free throws, but Bucknell tied it at 65-65 when John Griffin hit his fourth three-pointer of the night with 1:47 to go.
At the other end, Lavender put Xavier back ahead with a layup, but he was unable to convert the and-one with 1:37 left, setting the stage for Vegotsky's game-winner.
Three players in double figures for Bucknell, which shot well the entire game (54.5 percent the first half, 54.2 the second), hitting 11 three-pointers (on 21 tries). Griffin led the way with 16 points. The junior guard also had 5 assists and just one turnover. Donald Brown added 12 points and 6 assists and Chris McNaughton scored 11 on 4 of 5 shooting from the field, including his first three-pointer of the season. Abe Badmus also had a strong night, with 5 assists and 1 turnover.
The math majors among you might have noticed those assists are starting to total up in impressive fashion. The Bison finished with 21 assists on 25 field goals.
The Bison won despite going to the foul line 15 times less than the Musketeers. Bucknell shot 9 free throws, making 7; Xavier was 10 of 24 at the stripe.
Box score | AP | Cincinnati Enquirer (gamer) | Cinci. Enq. blog | Cinci. Enquirer (notebook) | Cincinnati Post (Xavier page) | Daily Item
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Bucknell showed reports of its demise are premature with a 68-67 win at Xavier. The victory, the first by a Patriot League team over a major conference foe this season, gave coach Pat Flannery his 300th career win and moved the Bison, who some had given up as dead after an 0-4 start, back to .500. Bucknell has now won three in a row and five of its last six.
Not only was the road win over a bigger name opponent reminiscent of the past two seasons, so was the way Bucknell got the win, with tough defense at the end of a close game.
Bucknell opened the scoring with a Jason Vegotsky three-pointer and Vegotsky didn't score again until the final two minutes of the game. His trey with 1:25 to play put the Bison back on top by one. Xavier could not score on a pair of possessions in the remaining time.
The Bison led most of the way, building a lead of as many as 11 points in the first half before settling for a 33-28 edge at the break. In the second half Bucknell again built its lead into double figures before Xavier clawed its way back, taking the lead for the first time with 2:30 left.
Xavier extended its lead to 3 points on a pair of Drew Lavender free throws, but Bucknell tied it at 65-65 when John Griffin hit his fourth three-pointer of the night with 1:47 to go.
At the other end, Lavender put Xavier back ahead with a layup, but he was unable to convert the and-one with 1:37 left, setting the stage for Vegotsky's game-winner.
Three players in double figures for Bucknell, which shot well the entire game (54.5 percent the first half, 54.2 the second), hitting 11 three-pointers (on 21 tries). Griffin led the way with 16 points. The junior guard also had 5 assists and just one turnover. Donald Brown added 12 points and 6 assists and Chris McNaughton scored 11 on 4 of 5 shooting from the field, including his first three-pointer of the season. Abe Badmus also had a strong night, with 5 assists and 1 turnover.
The math majors among you might have noticed those assists are starting to total up in impressive fashion. The Bison finished with 21 assists on 25 field goals.
The Bison won despite going to the foul line 15 times less than the Musketeers. Bucknell shot 9 free throws, making 7; Xavier was 10 of 24 at the stripe.
Box score | AP | Cincinnati Enquirer (gamer) | Cinci. Enq. blog | Cinci. Enquirer (notebook) | Cincinnati Post (Xavier page) | Daily Item
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Lafayette needed to use its starters to the end to get past a Division 3 team last night. Navy had no such problems against its D3 foe.
Lafayette 89, King's 80 -- Fran O'Hanlon understanably not thrilled with the defensive effort after needing to keep his starters on the floor at the end of a game against a Division 3 team. It took the 'Pards 16 three-pointers to get past the Monarchs.
Box score | AP | Morning Call
Navy 83, Washington (Md.) 37 -- Seeing what happened to Lehigh's Jason Mgebroff in a game against a D3 foe, some might wonder why Billy Lange had Greg Sprink on the floor long enough to score 27 points in this one. But a look at the box score shows Sprink only played 22 minutes. Most on the team, but not a lot. Still, with the league play right around the corner, wouldn't this have been a place for Clif Colbert to play more than 7 minutes. Or maybe give seldom-used senior Calvin White some of Sprink's minutes and save your best player for when he is needed? Just a thought.
Box score | AP
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Lafayette 89, King's 80 -- Fran O'Hanlon understanably not thrilled with the defensive effort after needing to keep his starters on the floor at the end of a game against a Division 3 team. It took the 'Pards 16 three-pointers to get past the Monarchs.
Box score | AP | Morning Call
Navy 83, Washington (Md.) 37 -- Seeing what happened to Lehigh's Jason Mgebroff in a game against a D3 foe, some might wonder why Billy Lange had Greg Sprink on the floor long enough to score 27 points in this one. But a look at the box score shows Sprink only played 22 minutes. Most on the team, but not a lot. Still, with the league play right around the corner, wouldn't this have been a place for Clif Colbert to play more than 7 minutes. Or maybe give seldom-used senior Calvin White some of Sprink's minutes and save your best player for when he is needed? Just a thought.
Box score | AP
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Wednesday, December 20, 2006
In the rock, paper, scissors world of college hoops, Bucknell is at Xavier tonight. That is the same Xavier team that beat American by 18 last month and Arizona State by 18 last week -- the same ASU team that handled Colgate with ease last night. What will the results of this game tell us about the relative strengths of Bucknell, American and Colgate? Not a thing, but this sort of "six degrees of separation" stuff is great fodder for the message board folks.
If Bucknell's season had a soundtrack, it would have to feature Willie Nelson. This will be Bucknell's eighth game away from Sojka Pavilion, where they have played just twice all season. The Bison don't have another home game until conference play begins in January.
For Xavier, the game comas in the middle of finals week, a fluke caused by a change in the school's calendar after the game was scheduled.
Tempo will be a key in this one. Xavier has four guys averaging in double figures and likes to play at a much faster pace than Bucknell. The Musketeers average over 80 points per game at home and are shooting over 50 percent on the season in games at the Cintas Center. Bucknell will need to play two good halves -- something that has not been easy for the Bison thus far -- if they are to have any shot at scoring their first "name" win of the season.
One side note: BU coach Pat Flannery will be trying for his 300th career win in this one.
Matchup | Cincinnati Post preview | Cincinnati Enquirer preview
Also on tonight's slate: Division 3 King's is at Lafayette and Navy hosts Washington -- no, not the Pac 12 Huskies --- Washington College, a D-3 from Maryland's Eastern Shore.
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If Bucknell's season had a soundtrack, it would have to feature Willie Nelson. This will be Bucknell's eighth game away from Sojka Pavilion, where they have played just twice all season. The Bison don't have another home game until conference play begins in January.
For Xavier, the game comas in the middle of finals week, a fluke caused by a change in the school's calendar after the game was scheduled.
Tempo will be a key in this one. Xavier has four guys averaging in double figures and likes to play at a much faster pace than Bucknell. The Musketeers average over 80 points per game at home and are shooting over 50 percent on the season in games at the Cintas Center. Bucknell will need to play two good halves -- something that has not been easy for the Bison thus far -- if they are to have any shot at scoring their first "name" win of the season.
One side note: BU coach Pat Flannery will be trying for his 300th career win in this one.
Matchup | Cincinnati Post preview | Cincinnati Enquirer preview
Also on tonight's slate: Division 3 King's is at Lafayette and Navy hosts Washington -- no, not the Pac 12 Huskies --- Washington College, a D-3 from Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Labels: BU, Laf, Navy, previews
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It was not enough of a challenge for Holy Cross to face a Big East team in its own building, they had to do it with an arm tied behind their backs. The result was predictable -- a 77-68 loss at Providence.
The setback is the third straight loss for HC and their fourth in five games after a 5-0 start. All four losses have been on the road against major conference teams.
A slow start in this one put the Crusaders in an 18-point hole in the first half that proved more than they could overcome. Holy Cross did manage to claw its way back into the game, cutting the Providence lead to 46-45 with 14:45 to play. But the Friars answered with a 26-9 spurt to push their lead back to 18 (72-54) and coasted from there.
Four of the five HC starters played 30 minutes or more, with point guard Torey Thomas reprising his 40-minute man routine that became so familiar last season when Pat Doherty was out with foot problems. Keith Simmons, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, played 37 minutes despite needing a brace on the knee he sprained in the loss at Duke. Center Tim Clifford played 35 minutes, scoring 21 points while pulling down 7 rebounds and blocking two shots.
The only HC starter who played under 30 minutes was senior guard Kyle Cruze, who saw 17 minutes of action in his first career start.
The Crusaders were without played without guard Pat Doherty, swingman Lawrence Dixon and forward Andrew Keister. Doherty will miss 4 to 6 weeks with a broken hand. Dixon is still having trouble with the knee he had operated on before the season and Keister is awaiting the results of a bone scan that will tell if the pain in his leg is a stress fracture that would sideline him the rest of the season.
Box score | AP | Telegram & Gazette | Providence Journal (gamer) | Providence Journal (column) | Pawtucket Times
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The setback is the third straight loss for HC and their fourth in five games after a 5-0 start. All four losses have been on the road against major conference teams.
A slow start in this one put the Crusaders in an 18-point hole in the first half that proved more than they could overcome. Holy Cross did manage to claw its way back into the game, cutting the Providence lead to 46-45 with 14:45 to play. But the Friars answered with a 26-9 spurt to push their lead back to 18 (72-54) and coasted from there.
Four of the five HC starters played 30 minutes or more, with point guard Torey Thomas reprising his 40-minute man routine that became so familiar last season when Pat Doherty was out with foot problems. Keith Simmons, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, played 37 minutes despite needing a brace on the knee he sprained in the loss at Duke. Center Tim Clifford played 35 minutes, scoring 21 points while pulling down 7 rebounds and blocking two shots.
The only HC starter who played under 30 minutes was senior guard Kyle Cruze, who saw 17 minutes of action in his first career start.
The Crusaders were without played without guard Pat Doherty, swingman Lawrence Dixon and forward Andrew Keister. Doherty will miss 4 to 6 weeks with a broken hand. Dixon is still having trouble with the knee he had operated on before the season and Keister is awaiting the results of a bone scan that will tell if the pain in his leg is a stress fracture that would sideline him the rest of the season.
Box score | AP | Telegram & Gazette | Providence Journal (gamer) | Providence Journal (column) | Pawtucket Times
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There is ugly, and then there is Colgate's 52-36 loss at Arizona State.
Imagine holding your opponent to 7 first half field goals and still trailing by 8 at the break. That was Colgate's fate.
Of course when you only make 5 field goals yourself, odds are you will be behind at the break. Colgate went 5 for 22 (22.7 percent) in a half that saw them hold Arizona State to three field goals in the last 10 minutes of the half and still fall further behind.
It was an 11-8 Arizona State lead when Daniel Waddy showed off for the friends back home with a dunk at the 10:09 mark. Colgate would not get another field goal until Kyle Chones laid one in with 10 seconds left in the half.
ASU was not exactly on fire during that stretch. Serge Angounou hit three treys, spread apart far enough for him to have actually spent a few minutes on the bench between the last two, to account for all of the Sun Devils' 9-0 (dare we call it a run) spurt.
Colgate's offensive ineptitude did not end there. Trailing 20-12 at the break, the Raiders came out and scored on their first possession after the intermission. Kendall Chones' jumper with 19:03 to play answered an ASU basket and kept the margin at 8, But by the time Colgate scored again -- a Kendall Chones layup at the 11:19 mark, they were down 25 thanks to a 16-2 ASU run.
Phoenix-native Jon Simon had 15 for Colgate before fouling out in his return to his home state. Nobody else scored more than 7 for the Raiders.
It was Arizona State's best defensive effort since Harry Truman was president. The last time a Colgate team had a worse offensive night, the current team was either unborn or in diapers (35 points in a loss to Hartford in their 1-24 1985-86 season).
Box score | AP | East Valley Tribune | Devils Digest | Arizona Republic
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Imagine holding your opponent to 7 first half field goals and still trailing by 8 at the break. That was Colgate's fate.
Of course when you only make 5 field goals yourself, odds are you will be behind at the break. Colgate went 5 for 22 (22.7 percent) in a half that saw them hold Arizona State to three field goals in the last 10 minutes of the half and still fall further behind.
It was an 11-8 Arizona State lead when Daniel Waddy showed off for the friends back home with a dunk at the 10:09 mark. Colgate would not get another field goal until Kyle Chones laid one in with 10 seconds left in the half.
ASU was not exactly on fire during that stretch. Serge Angounou hit three treys, spread apart far enough for him to have actually spent a few minutes on the bench between the last two, to account for all of the Sun Devils' 9-0 (dare we call it a run) spurt.
Colgate's offensive ineptitude did not end there. Trailing 20-12 at the break, the Raiders came out and scored on their first possession after the intermission. Kendall Chones' jumper with 19:03 to play answered an ASU basket and kept the margin at 8, But by the time Colgate scored again -- a Kendall Chones layup at the 11:19 mark, they were down 25 thanks to a 16-2 ASU run.
Phoenix-native Jon Simon had 15 for Colgate before fouling out in his return to his home state. Nobody else scored more than 7 for the Raiders.
It was Arizona State's best defensive effort since Harry Truman was president. The last time a Colgate team had a worse offensive night, the current team was either unborn or in diapers (35 points in a loss to Hartford in their 1-24 1985-86 season).
Box score | AP | East Valley Tribune | Devils Digest | Arizona Republic
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Tuesday, December 19, 2006
While some others are cutting their pre-conference teeth on Division 3 mush, Holy Cross and Colgate are biting off more challenging fare. (Full post includes readaround links)
The Crusaders return from a 12-day break for finals to meet Providence of the Big East at the Friar's Dunkin Donuts Center (matchup). Most would consider a Holy Cross win an upset, but we're not so sure that is accurate. Although the Friars are 7-2, their schedule has not been impressive. The Friars do sport a decent (49) RPI, but HC -- at 37 -- ranks higher.
Providence lost its only road game of the season, at Florida (86-67). Although they have wins at the Dunk was over Boston College and George Washington, the rest of the schedule has been a steady diet of New England mid-major road kills. Even those have not all gone as planned for Tim Welsh's team. The other loss was against Brown.
That game, a 51-41 final, was played at the type pace Holy Cross prefers, and Brown is not nearly as good at imposing that style on foes as the Crusaders are.
Add the RPI differences and that Brown game to the Crusaders past history of relative success against Providence and a 'Saders win would would not be nearly as big an upset as it will seem to the unknowing masses when they see the score. The Crusaders have played Providence in Providence 32 times and have won 11 of those. That is a pretty decent rate of winning on the road against a major conference team. The two have traded wins over their last five meetings, with Providence winning by 6 the last time they played (2000).
Of course if Keith Simmons is not at full speed, it changes everything. Simmons sprained his knee in the Crusaders' last game (at Duke). Last word out of Worcester was that he was unable to practice. HC coach Ralph Willard has not updated his Web site since that Dec. 12 post and there is no mention of any injuries in the HC game notes (pdf).
Kevin McNamara breaks it down in today's Providence Journal (you need to sign in to read the ProJo, feel free to use our old hotmail address -- hoop_time@hotmail.com and the password: hooptime). For another look, try the Pawtucket Times' preview (no sign-in in needed).
Colgate at Arizona State -- (matchup
| Az. Republic preview ) A pair of 4-4 teams meet in the desert. Colgate comes in off a nine-day break for finals, having lost at Syracuse its last time out. ASU played Saturday, losing by 18 at Xavier, the Sun Devils' second straight setback. They also have suffered home losses to Northern Arizona and Portland State.
It's a homecoming game for Colgate senior Jon Simon, the team's leading scorer. Simon is from Phoenix. Also home for the pre-holidays is Raiders sophomore Daniel Waddy, who comes from Tuscon.
Readaround links:
Patriot-News hoops writer David Jones breaks down the Patriot League in a column today.
Morning Call beat guy Stephen Miller profiles Lafayette's undersized four-man Matt Betley
Mike Garvey, of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, thinks Lafayette is nicknamed the "Cougars." get past that glaring miscue and his story about Division 3 King's excitement over the prospect of playing the D-1 LEOPARDS Wednesday night is an interesting read.
If there had not been a direct link posted from the Holy Cross message board, I am not sure I'd have discovered this hidden gem from Kyle Whelliston. It's a breakdown of Patriot League school's hoops budgets. You can also check out a complete D-1 spending ranking. While you are there, check this on-the-money analysis of the college hoops world.
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The Crusaders return from a 12-day break for finals to meet Providence of the Big East at the Friar's Dunkin Donuts Center (matchup). Most would consider a Holy Cross win an upset, but we're not so sure that is accurate. Although the Friars are 7-2, their schedule has not been impressive. The Friars do sport a decent (49) RPI, but HC -- at 37 -- ranks higher.
Providence lost its only road game of the season, at Florida (86-67). Although they have wins at the Dunk was over Boston College and George Washington, the rest of the schedule has been a steady diet of New England mid-major road kills. Even those have not all gone as planned for Tim Welsh's team. The other loss was against Brown.
That game, a 51-41 final, was played at the type pace Holy Cross prefers, and Brown is not nearly as good at imposing that style on foes as the Crusaders are.
Add the RPI differences and that Brown game to the Crusaders past history of relative success against Providence and a 'Saders win would would not be nearly as big an upset as it will seem to the unknowing masses when they see the score. The Crusaders have played Providence in Providence 32 times and have won 11 of those. That is a pretty decent rate of winning on the road against a major conference team. The two have traded wins over their last five meetings, with Providence winning by 6 the last time they played (2000).
Of course if Keith Simmons is not at full speed, it changes everything. Simmons sprained his knee in the Crusaders' last game (at Duke). Last word out of Worcester was that he was unable to practice. HC coach Ralph Willard has not updated his Web site since that Dec. 12 post and there is no mention of any injuries in the HC game notes (pdf).
Kevin McNamara breaks it down in today's Providence Journal (you need to sign in to read the ProJo, feel free to use our old hotmail address -- hoop_time@hotmail.com and the password: hooptime). For another look, try the Pawtucket Times' preview (no sign-in in needed).
Colgate at Arizona State -- (matchup
| Az. Republic preview ) A pair of 4-4 teams meet in the desert. Colgate comes in off a nine-day break for finals, having lost at Syracuse its last time out. ASU played Saturday, losing by 18 at Xavier, the Sun Devils' second straight setback. They also have suffered home losses to Northern Arizona and Portland State.
It's a homecoming game for Colgate senior Jon Simon, the team's leading scorer. Simon is from Phoenix. Also home for the pre-holidays is Raiders sophomore Daniel Waddy, who comes from Tuscon.
Readaround links:
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Another Division 3 foe bites the dust in the Black Knights 92-42 win over SUNY Maritime. Even senior Jimmy Sewell scored 10 points, his first double figures game since he scored 11 against Holy Cross as a sophomore. Army gets a true test Thursday when it travels to Notre Dame.
Box score | AP
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Box score | AP
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Monday, December 18, 2006
Bucknell junior Andrew Morrison has left the team. Morrison, a 6-7, 220-pound forward from Sea Isle City, N.J., played in eight of the Bison's nine games this season, averaging 7.7 minutes per game.
Morrison was a significant part of Pat Flannery's rotation at the start of the season, averaging 16 minutes per game in Bucknell's first four outings. Against Wake Forest, he played a career-high 21 minutes, scoring 10 points and pulling down 5 rebounds.
But after the Penn State game, in which he played 13 minutes, Morrison's playing time plummeted. He played 2 minutes at Yale, 1 at St. Francis and did not play against Northern Iowa. In Bucknell's last two games, against George Mason and at Cornell, Morrison played just a minute.
"The way things were going, it just was not for me," said Morrison, who informed his teammates of his decision after the Cornell game.
One of the few non-scholarship players on the team, Morrison was projected as a wing when he arrived on the Lewisburg campus. After a year in the weight room, Morrison developed the strength to play the four, and heading into last season he was expected to pick up some of the minutes graduated Chris Niesz had played there the previous year. A badly sprained ankle in early December forced him to miss six games and by the time he returned, Flannery's rotation was set and the Bison were on a roll.
Morrison considered transferring after last season, but was convinced to return.
"The beginning of the year, in scrimmages and stuff, it looked as if it was going well," Morrison said, adding that as his minutes shrank, he "saw where it was going."
Morrison plans to remain at Bucknell, where he carries a 3.4 gpa as a management major, with post-graduate plans to go to law school.
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Morrison was a significant part of Pat Flannery's rotation at the start of the season, averaging 16 minutes per game in Bucknell's first four outings. Against Wake Forest, he played a career-high 21 minutes, scoring 10 points and pulling down 5 rebounds.
But after the Penn State game, in which he played 13 minutes, Morrison's playing time plummeted. He played 2 minutes at Yale, 1 at St. Francis and did not play against Northern Iowa. In Bucknell's last two games, against George Mason and at Cornell, Morrison played just a minute.
"The way things were going, it just was not for me," said Morrison, who informed his teammates of his decision after the Cornell game.
One of the few non-scholarship players on the team, Morrison was projected as a wing when he arrived on the Lewisburg campus. After a year in the weight room, Morrison developed the strength to play the four, and heading into last season he was expected to pick up some of the minutes graduated Chris Niesz had played there the previous year. A badly sprained ankle in early December forced him to miss six games and by the time he returned, Flannery's rotation was set and the Bison were on a roll.
Morrison considered transferring after last season, but was convinced to return.
"The beginning of the year, in scrimmages and stuff, it looked as if it was going well," Morrison said, adding that as his minutes shrank, he "saw where it was going."
Morrison plans to remain at Bucknell, where he carries a 3.4 gpa as a management major, with post-graduate plans to go to law school.
Labels: BU
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Holy Cross stays at No. 18, but for the first time this season, Bucknell has dropped out of the Mid-Major Top 25.
The Bison are still in the "others receiving votes" category, with 34 points (unofficially No. 35). The voting in the poll rather curious in some respects. Navy, which was beaten soundly at home by Penn, received 53 points (unofficial No. 31); Penn only got 18. Army was the top others receiving team with 74 points. American also received 6.
In the other polls: Army again received a vote in the AP poll; No Patriot League votes in the ESPN-USA Today poll.
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The Bison are still in the "others receiving votes" category, with 34 points (unofficially No. 35). The voting in the poll rather curious in some respects. Navy, which was beaten soundly at home by Penn, received 53 points (unofficial No. 31); Penn only got 18. Army was the top others receiving team with 74 points. American also received 6.
In the other polls: Army again received a vote in the AP poll; No Patriot League votes in the ESPN-USA Today poll.
Labels: Army, AU, BU, HC, Navy
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The only game tonight features SUNY Maritime at Army in another exciting game mismatch. Army could beat up on the sea scouts when the Black Knights couldn't beat anybody else. This one could get ugly. No sense linking to the matchup -- nothing in there about Maritime.
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After struggling early, Navy held Division 3 Delaware Valley scoreless for an 8 1/2 minute stretch to pull away. Those who lament the recruiting difficulties of the military academies should take note of the name of Mids' soph. Brian Richards, who made his debut in this one. Think a few other schools in the league would love to have a 6-8 kid stashed on a jayvee team they could add to the roster right now.
Box score | AP
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Box score | AP
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Sunday, December 17, 2006
It would be easy to criticize Bucknell's defense after the way a bunch of Ivy League youngsters lit up the Bison in the first half of Saturday's 70-66 win at Cornell. It would be just as easy to point fingers at the impatient, jump-shooting offense the Bison played for the first 20-minutes of the game.
But after pulling off an impressive second half comeback, capped by a 12-0 end-of-the-game run that finally got them out of the hole they'd dug for themselves in the first half, Bucknell's glass was half-full as they rode the bus back to Lewisburg.
When Donald Brown tied the game with a little jumper in the key with 1:38 to play, thoughts of Cornell's hot first half shooting already were fading. When Jason Vegotsky hit a three-pointer with 42 seconds to go that put Bucknell on top for the first time since midway through the first half, the six treys the Big Red drilled in the first 20 minutes didn't seem to matter. When Abe Badmus stole the ball from Cornell freshman Louis Dale 32 seconds later to preserve the lead, the way Dale sliced and diced Bucknell's defense for 23 points seemed irrelevant. And when Donald Brown hit a free throw with 8 ticks on the clock to seal the come-from-behind win, the incredible 21-0 run Cornell put on the Bison in the opening stanza was reduced to an afterthought.
At the buzzer, all that mattered to the Bison was the final score and the team's fourth win in five games, a trend that has Bucknell seeing light at the end of the tunnel after an 0-4 start.
“We are a work in progress . . . We are still learning. We're still trying to get better at it,” said Bison coach Pat Flannery afterwards.
Without a doubt, there is still a lot of work to do. That was obvious the way the Bison played in the first half. Maybe it was a nasty case of finals lag. Or maybe it was a case of struggling to get into a game played in a glorified high school gym in front of a crowd so small the home team didn't even bother listing the attendance on the box score. Perhaps after thumping the Big Red by 44 points last season, the Bison simply thought they could mail this one in. Whatever the reason, Bucknell came out as laid back on defense as the hippies that staff the head shops that line Ithaca 's downtown Commons.
“The first half we were very lackadaisical on defense, giving players open shots,” admitted Bison forward Donald Brown, who finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds, both team-highs.
After using an early 9-0 run to take an 18-14 lead midway through the half, the Bison seemed to think they could run Cornell right out of its own sparse, cement-block, wooden-bleachers building. Quickly they learned the folly of trying to out-gun a team that shoots the ball as well as Cornell does. While Cornell was knocking down three-pointers left and right, Bucknell was a mirror image. In a span of 4:42, the Big Red drained four consecutive three-pointers. In that same span, the Bison went 0 for 4 at the arc.
“We started off well, and then as we got through that first timeout, it seemed were going to just outscore them,” said Flannery. “That is not is going to get it done for us, going up and down and shooting the basketball.”
It worked fine for Cornell though. The Big Red's impressive 21-0 Cornell put Bucknell in a 17-point hole with 5:45 to go in the half. Even though Bucknell managed narrow the margin to 13 when Jason Vegotsky tipped in a Patrick Behan miss at the buzzer, Cornell seemed in control.
“They went on that 21-0 run and it kind of stifled us. We were shocked,” Bucknell senior Donald Brown said.
Shocked might even be an understatement. The 17-point deficit was the largest Bucknell has faced all season. Cornell's 43-point first half was the most by anybody against Bucknell in a half this season and the most by a Bucknell opponent since Lehigh scored 44 in the second half of Bucknell's 81-70 win at Sojka on Feb. 22. That was also the last time anybody had hit six treys in one half against the Bison. Only Wake Forest and Saint Joseph's have shot the ball better in a half then Cornell's 14 for 24 (58.9 percent) effort prior to the intermission.
“We were 13 down and we could have been a lot more down,” Flannery said.
The second half was a different story. Bucknell opened the half with a 7-0 run and held Cornell without a field goal for the first 4:50 of the half. Even though the Big Red twice managed to push the lead back to 13, the tone was set, perhaps even as early as Cornell's first possession of the half, which ended with a turnover, one of three the Bison forced in the first 2:29 of the half.
“Anytime you disrupt a team's offense and make them turn the ball over, it gives the defense more energy. It's like the monster becomes bigger and bigger as they become smaller. The turnovers helped us a lot,” Brown said.
Cornell went on to cough up the ball nine times in the second half, none perhaps as costly as the one by Dale with 14 seconds to play and Bucknell up by three. Dale, a 5-11 freshman from Alabama, was all but unstoppable early, beating Bucknell defenders off the dribble time and time again. Dale hit five of the first six shots he took, including two treys. When he wasn't scoring from the field, he was doing it from the foul line, making 11 of 12 free throws. In the final nine minutes of the game, though, he was just 1 for 3 and did not get to the foul line.
Still, it seemed every time Bucknell got in position to take control of the game, Cornell managed to find an answer. Twice the Bison closed to within three points of Cornell, each time the Big Red answered. After the second time, when Cornell came up with three layups in a row to push the lead back to 8, even Flannery was skeptical of his team's chances to finish the comeback.
“When we came back the second time, I wasn't sure there was enough time,” Flannery said.
Turned out the 4:58 left on the clock after Dale's last bucket gave Cornell a 66-58 lead was just enough, thanks to a combination of a defense that didn't allow another point the rest of the way and an offense that didn't miss another shot. Bucknell went 4 for 4 from the field down the stretch. Cornell was 0 for 5.
“We got an early (Christmas present) getting out of here today,” said Bucknell coach Pat Flannery afterwards. “I actually feel awful for (Cornell coach Steve Donahue), but I'm not going to give it back.
Postgame audio |
Box score | Notebook | AP | Daily Item | Ithaca Journal
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But after pulling off an impressive second half comeback, capped by a 12-0 end-of-the-game run that finally got them out of the hole they'd dug for themselves in the first half, Bucknell's glass was half-full as they rode the bus back to Lewisburg.
When Donald Brown tied the game with a little jumper in the key with 1:38 to play, thoughts of Cornell's hot first half shooting already were fading. When Jason Vegotsky hit a three-pointer with 42 seconds to go that put Bucknell on top for the first time since midway through the first half, the six treys the Big Red drilled in the first 20 minutes didn't seem to matter. When Abe Badmus stole the ball from Cornell freshman Louis Dale 32 seconds later to preserve the lead, the way Dale sliced and diced Bucknell's defense for 23 points seemed irrelevant. And when Donald Brown hit a free throw with 8 ticks on the clock to seal the come-from-behind win, the incredible 21-0 run Cornell put on the Bison in the opening stanza was reduced to an afterthought.
At the buzzer, all that mattered to the Bison was the final score and the team's fourth win in five games, a trend that has Bucknell seeing light at the end of the tunnel after an 0-4 start.
“We are a work in progress . . . We are still learning. We're still trying to get better at it,” said Bison coach Pat Flannery afterwards.
Without a doubt, there is still a lot of work to do. That was obvious the way the Bison played in the first half. Maybe it was a nasty case of finals lag. Or maybe it was a case of struggling to get into a game played in a glorified high school gym in front of a crowd so small the home team didn't even bother listing the attendance on the box score. Perhaps after thumping the Big Red by 44 points last season, the Bison simply thought they could mail this one in. Whatever the reason, Bucknell came out as laid back on defense as the hippies that staff the head shops that line Ithaca 's downtown Commons.
“The first half we were very lackadaisical on defense, giving players open shots,” admitted Bison forward Donald Brown, who finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds, both team-highs.
After using an early 9-0 run to take an 18-14 lead midway through the half, the Bison seemed to think they could run Cornell right out of its own sparse, cement-block, wooden-bleachers building. Quickly they learned the folly of trying to out-gun a team that shoots the ball as well as Cornell does. While Cornell was knocking down three-pointers left and right, Bucknell was a mirror image. In a span of 4:42, the Big Red drained four consecutive three-pointers. In that same span, the Bison went 0 for 4 at the arc.
“We started off well, and then as we got through that first timeout, it seemed were going to just outscore them,” said Flannery. “That is not is going to get it done for us, going up and down and shooting the basketball.”
It worked fine for Cornell though. The Big Red's impressive 21-0 Cornell put Bucknell in a 17-point hole with 5:45 to go in the half. Even though Bucknell managed narrow the margin to 13 when Jason Vegotsky tipped in a Patrick Behan miss at the buzzer, Cornell seemed in control.
“They went on that 21-0 run and it kind of stifled us. We were shocked,” Bucknell senior Donald Brown said.
Shocked might even be an understatement. The 17-point deficit was the largest Bucknell has faced all season. Cornell's 43-point first half was the most by anybody against Bucknell in a half this season and the most by a Bucknell opponent since Lehigh scored 44 in the second half of Bucknell's 81-70 win at Sojka on Feb. 22. That was also the last time anybody had hit six treys in one half against the Bison. Only Wake Forest and Saint Joseph's have shot the ball better in a half then Cornell's 14 for 24 (58.9 percent) effort prior to the intermission.
“We were 13 down and we could have been a lot more down,” Flannery said.
The second half was a different story. Bucknell opened the half with a 7-0 run and held Cornell without a field goal for the first 4:50 of the half. Even though the Big Red twice managed to push the lead back to 13, the tone was set, perhaps even as early as Cornell's first possession of the half, which ended with a turnover, one of three the Bison forced in the first 2:29 of the half.
“Anytime you disrupt a team's offense and make them turn the ball over, it gives the defense more energy. It's like the monster becomes bigger and bigger as they become smaller. The turnovers helped us a lot,” Brown said.
Cornell went on to cough up the ball nine times in the second half, none perhaps as costly as the one by Dale with 14 seconds to play and Bucknell up by three. Dale, a 5-11 freshman from Alabama, was all but unstoppable early, beating Bucknell defenders off the dribble time and time again. Dale hit five of the first six shots he took, including two treys. When he wasn't scoring from the field, he was doing it from the foul line, making 11 of 12 free throws. In the final nine minutes of the game, though, he was just 1 for 3 and did not get to the foul line.
Still, it seemed every time Bucknell got in position to take control of the game, Cornell managed to find an answer. Twice the Bison closed to within three points of Cornell, each time the Big Red answered. After the second time, when Cornell came up with three layups in a row to push the lead back to 8, even Flannery was skeptical of his team's chances to finish the comeback.
“When we came back the second time, I wasn't sure there was enough time,” Flannery said.
Turned out the 4:58 left on the clock after Dale's last bucket gave Cornell a 66-58 lead was just enough, thanks to a combination of a defense that didn't allow another point the rest of the way and an offense that didn't miss another shot. Bucknell went 4 for 4 from the field down the stretch. Cornell was 0 for 5.
“We got an early (Christmas present) getting out of here today,” said Bucknell coach Pat Flannery afterwards. “I actually feel awful for (Cornell coach Steve Donahue), but I'm not going to give it back.
Postgame audio |
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Tidbits and trivia from the Bison's 70-66 win Saturday at Cornell:
Bucknell's big men were all but invisible in the first half. The combination of starters Chris McNaughton and Donald Brown and first guy off the bench Darren Mastropaolo had a combined 4 points (all by Brown) and 4 rebounds. Cornell center Andrew Naeve had 6 points and 4 rebounds himself. Cornell's nominal four-man, 6-6 freshman Ryan Wittman (who is really more of a small forward playing with three guards and Naeve) had 9 points, including three treys.
The second half was a different story, with McNaughton going 3 for 4 from the field and 3 for 3 at the line to finish with 9 points while Brown added 10 second half points on 4 for 6 shooting from the field. Wittman added just a pair of free throws in the second half and Naeve ended up with 10 points.
When John Griffin missed thre front end of a three-shot foul at the 5:15 mark of the first half, it was his first missed free throw of the season, ending a streak of 29 makes in a row, dating to last season. Griffin responded by starting a new streak, hitting the back two. That streak ended when Griffin went to the line for three with a chance to cut the Cornell lead to 1 with 8:11 to play. Griffin missed the first two.
Abe Badmus played the entire first half with one personal, then picked up three in the first 8:11 of the second, including a curious call on his fourth foul which came when Badmus got in the way of Louis Dale's forearm as Dale pushed him off . That foul was Bucknell's seventh, putting Cornell to the line the rest of the way. At that point, Cornell had a total of 9 personals for the game.
In a classic case of evening things up, the next three fouls were called on Cornell and the two teams actually picked up their 10th team fouls within 18 seconds of each other. In the end, Badmus managed to avoid fouling out while Cornell lost the services of senior point guard Graham Dow when he picked up his fifth personal with 3:22 to play. Bucknell ended up with 18 team fouls, Cornell 17 and both teams shot 20 free throws, with Bucknell making 15, Cornell 17.
Bucknell started the same five as started the George Mason game, with Donald Brown at the four, Jason Vegotsky at the three and Darren Mastropaolo coming off the bench. Pat Flannery used 11 guys in the first half, but shortened his rotation to 8 in the second, with freshman Patrick Behand and Stephen Tyree and junior Andrew Morrison stuck to the pine after the intermission.
The teams' field goal shooting in the two halves was a mirror image. The first 20 minutes, Cornell went 14 for 24 from the floor (58.3 percent), making 6 of 9 from the three-point arc. In the second, the Big Red made just 7 of 18 field goal tries (38.9 percent), 1 of 7 three-point tries. Bucknell was 13 for 23 (56.5 percent) in the second half (3 of 7 threes) after going 11 for 26 (42.3 percent) from the field in the first half (including 4 of 10 from the arc).
BISON CHIPS: Sophomore Justin Castleberry's 11 points tied his career-high set earlier this season at Yale . . . The Bucknell win, the Bison's fourth in a row over Cornell, either ties, or puts Bucknell up one, in the all-time series between the 'nells. Bucknell's pre-game notes said the series was tied at 21-21, Cornell claimed a 21-20 edge in its notes . . . The series is one of the oldest rivalries in college basketball, dating to 1898 . . . The Bison win evens the season series between the Ivies and the Patriots at 8-8 with four games between the two conferences yet to be played . . . With his 6 for 8 showing Brown is no shooting over 60 percent from the field . . . Brown is 34 for 51 in eight games since going 1 for 7 in Bucknell's season opener at Albany . . . The game was the second of a six-game stretch away from home for Bucknell, which has played in its own gym only twice thus far . . . Bucknell won't play a third game in Sojka Pavilion until it opens league play Jan. 6 against Navy . . . Brown's 14 points leave him one point shy of 600 for his career . . . Also one shy of a milestone: Bison coach Pat Flannery, who picked up the 299th win of his career . . . Cornell's nine-man rotation included two seniors, two sophomores and five freshmen . . . A third senior, guard Kevin App, shows up in the boxscore thanks to a 2 second cameo with 8 seconds to play in the first half when he was inserted long enough to intentionally use up Cornell's sixth team foul in an effort to shorten the clock at the end of the half . . . Bucknell, which has nobody averaging in double figures, had six players score 9 or more points against Cornell, including four in double figures for the fourth time this season . . . Bucknell's resumes its road warrior routine Wednesday in Cincinnati against Xavier . . . From there it is on to Lubbock, Tx. For a Saturday encounter with Texas Tech . . . Tech coach Bobby Knight will be looking to tie former North Carolina mentor Dean Smith as college basketball's all-time winningest coach in that game.
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The second half was a different story, with McNaughton going 3 for 4 from the field and 3 for 3 at the line to finish with 9 points while Brown added 10 second half points on 4 for 6 shooting from the field. Wittman added just a pair of free throws in the second half and Naeve ended up with 10 points.
BISON CHIPS: Sophomore Justin Castleberry's 11 points tied his career-high set earlier this season at Yale . . . The Bucknell win, the Bison's fourth in a row over Cornell, either ties, or puts Bucknell up one, in the all-time series between the 'nells. Bucknell's pre-game notes said the series was tied at 21-21, Cornell claimed a 21-20 edge in its notes . . . The series is one of the oldest rivalries in college basketball, dating to 1898 . . . The Bison win evens the season series between the Ivies and the Patriots at 8-8 with four games between the two conferences yet to be played . . . With his 6 for 8 showing Brown is no shooting over 60 percent from the field . . . Brown is 34 for 51 in eight games since going 1 for 7 in Bucknell's season opener at Albany . . . The game was the second of a six-game stretch away from home for Bucknell, which has played in its own gym only twice thus far . . . Bucknell won't play a third game in Sojka Pavilion until it opens league play Jan. 6 against Navy . . . Brown's 14 points leave him one point shy of 600 for his career . . . Also one shy of a milestone: Bison coach Pat Flannery, who picked up the 299th win of his career . . . Cornell's nine-man rotation included two seniors, two sophomores and five freshmen . . . A third senior, guard Kevin App, shows up in the boxscore thanks to a 2 second cameo with 8 seconds to play in the first half when he was inserted long enough to intentionally use up Cornell's sixth team foul in an effort to shorten the clock at the end of the half . . . Bucknell, which has nobody averaging in double figures, had six players score 9 or more points against Cornell, including four in double figures for the fourth time this season . . . Bucknell's resumes its road warrior routine Wednesday in Cincinnati against Xavier . . . From there it is on to Lubbock, Tx. For a Saturday encounter with Texas Tech . . . Tech coach Bobby Knight will be looking to tie former North Carolina mentor Dean Smith as college basketball's all-time winningest coach in that game.
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The Black Knights improved to 8-2 with a 61-point win over a team with nobody taller than 6-5 on its roster. How lopsided was the win? Even Jimmy Sewell got to play 7 minutes for the Black Knights. (Box score)
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Saturday, December 16, 2006
Two games on tap this afternoon; one that actually matters. Bucknell ends a 12-day break for finals with a trip to Ithaca to meet Cornell in the annual battle of the 'nells. Also back in action: Army hosting Division 3 SUNY Purchase.
Ealier in the season, the Bucknell-Cornell matchup looked a lot more interesting. Cornell won three of its first four, including an opening-night win over Northwestern of the Big Ten. The Big Red also beat Army in that span (the loss came at Lehigh). But star guard Adam Gore went down for the season with a torn ACL on Nov. 14 and since the, Cornell has struggled, going 2-4.
Cornell's record could be a little deceiving, though. Toss out a 19-point loss at Lehigh, and the three other losses came by a combined 8 points, the widest margin being a 5-point overtime loss at William & Mary the last time out (Dec. 2).
Bucknell has won the last three meetings between the two, including an 83-39 shellacking last season that you can bet Cornell would love to avenge.
SUNY-Purchase at Army matchup
Crews has Army basketball on winning track (Times Herald-Record)
Bonus link:
HE BLEEDS GREEN: Heinsohn has always been true to Celtics (Patriot-Ledger)
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Ealier in the season, the Bucknell-Cornell matchup looked a lot more interesting. Cornell won three of its first four, including an opening-night win over Northwestern of the Big Ten. The Big Red also beat Army in that span (the loss came at Lehigh). But star guard Adam Gore went down for the season with a torn ACL on Nov. 14 and since the, Cornell has struggled, going 2-4.
Cornell's record could be a little deceiving, though. Toss out a 19-point loss at Lehigh, and the three other losses came by a combined 8 points, the widest margin being a 5-point overtime loss at William & Mary the last time out (Dec. 2).
Bucknell has won the last three meetings between the two, including an 83-39 shellacking last season that you can bet Cornell would love to avenge.
Bonus link:
Labels: Army, BU, HC, previews
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Friday, December 15, 2006
Here are links to the latest news and notes about the Patriot League:
Tom Housenick's weekly college hoops column in The Daily Item breaks down Bucknell's 3-4 start, which he blames primarily on inconsistency.
Ron Snyder checks in with a look at Navy's strong start in the Washington Examiner. There is also a brief Navy mention in an article about local college team in the Examiner's Baltimore edition.
Recruitniks everywhere can start working themselves into a lather over Neil Hollingsworth, a 6-8 (or 6-7, depending who is writing the story) kid from Judge Memorial, Utah's defending 3A champions. Hollingsworth has a 3.95 GPA and a desire to major in computer science and electrical engineering, and while Stanford would be his first choice, he is realistically looking at unnamed Patriot and Ivy League schools, according to Matt Thurber, writing in the Salt Lake City tribune.
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Thursday, December 14, 2006
More than once we have lamented the Washington Post's lack of interest in any D.C. area teams not named after obscure Latin phrases or reptiles of the order Testudines (you are Patriot League types, you don't need me to tell you that means "turtles").
The D.C. area is actually a hotbed of college hoops, and as George Mason showed last season, it goes well beyond Georgetown and Maryland. Yet night after night, the Post seems content to treat most of the other teams in town like glorified high schools, packing all their games into a wrap. From time to time they actually cover one of the games (and their Steve Goff does a nice job with American and Navy when given the chance). Most of the time, though, the Mids and the Eagles seem to be relegated to one paragraph under a headline that doesn't even mention their game.
Somebody at the Post, or at least somebody at its affiliated Web operation, is starting to take more notice. Dan Steinburg writes the Web site's blog, or Bog as he calls it in deference to Washington's swamps.
Steinburg has begun a Washington-area Top 11 poll (the definition of Washington-area extends as far south as Norfolk-- which is actually about the same distance from D.C. as Lewisburg and the Lehigh Valley -- making pretty much every team in Virginia eligible). This week, the poll's 66 voters ranked Navy No. 9, American No. 11.
It's not to late to become a voter in the Bog's poll. Earlier in the season Steinburg posted an appeal for more voters from the Patriot League, so if you are interested, nominate yourself by e-mailing Steinburg. Be sure to tell him we sent you.
Meanwhile, here are two particularly interesting posts from the Bog's recent achivess:
American at Howard Blog (Poll Voters, Pay Attention)
BB&T Observations
Other links:
If somebody figures out what this blog has to do with Bucknell basketball (aside from its name), please let us know.
This slow finals week might be a good time to catch up on the exploits of Bucknell alum Brian McGlinchey's 10-games-in-10-days version of Kyle's 100-games project.
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The D.C. area is actually a hotbed of college hoops, and as George Mason showed last season, it goes well beyond Georgetown and Maryland. Yet night after night, the Post seems content to treat most of the other teams in town like glorified high schools, packing all their games into a wrap. From time to time they actually cover one of the games (and their Steve Goff does a nice job with American and Navy when given the chance). Most of the time, though, the Mids and the Eagles seem to be relegated to one paragraph under a headline that doesn't even mention their game.
Somebody at the Post, or at least somebody at its affiliated Web operation, is starting to take more notice. Dan Steinburg writes the Web site's blog, or Bog as he calls it in deference to Washington's swamps.
Steinburg has begun a Washington-area Top 11 poll (the definition of Washington-area extends as far south as Norfolk-- which is actually about the same distance from D.C. as Lewisburg and the Lehigh Valley -- making pretty much every team in Virginia eligible). This week, the poll's 66 voters ranked Navy No. 9, American No. 11.
It's not to late to become a voter in the Bog's poll. Earlier in the season Steinburg posted an appeal for more voters from the Patriot League, so if you are interested, nominate yourself by e-mailing Steinburg. Be sure to tell him we sent you.
Meanwhile, here are two particularly interesting posts from the Bog's recent achivess:
Other links:
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Four all-league players graduated after last season. Using Hoop Time's Alumni Tracker, we tracked down the whereabouts of all four.
Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt is the only one of the four not playing professionally, but he has not left the game. Bettencourt has joined the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at his high school alma mater in Peabody, Mass., where he also teaches phys. ed.
Meanwhile, over in Isreal, Bettencourt's old Bucknell teammate Charles Lee is averging 13 points per game through his first four games with Hapoel Gilboa/Afula of the Isreali premiere league.
Lehigh's Joe Knight has taken his game to Austria, where he is averaging 14.6 points per game for Güssing Knights.
Holy Cross grad Kevin Hamilton is also in Europe, playing for Polpak Świecie of the Polish League, where he is averaging 13.6 ppg.
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Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt is the only one of the four not playing professionally, but he has not left the game. Bettencourt has joined the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at his high school alma mater in Peabody, Mass., where he also teaches phys. ed.
Meanwhile, over in Isreal, Bettencourt's old Bucknell teammate Charles Lee is averging 13 points per game through his first four games with Hapoel Gilboa/Afula of the Isreali premiere league.
Lehigh's Joe Knight has taken his game to Austria, where he is averaging 14.6 points per game for Güssing Knights.
Holy Cross grad Kevin Hamilton is also in Europe, playing for Polpak Świecie of the Polish League, where he is averaging 13.6 ppg.
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Tuesday, December 12, 2006
On the heels of a 2005-06 season that was plagued by health woes, the injury bug is biting the Holy Cross Crusaders again.
In his latest update on CoachRalph.com, HC coach Ralph Willard spends most of the post recapping the Duke game. But after reviewing that tough road loss, Willard reveals some cracks in his team's foundation.
With Torey Thomas already not at full speed following summer knee surgery, Keith Simmons is now being slowed by a sprained knee suffered in the Duke game. Simmons has been unable to practice. Ditto for sophomore Lawrence Dixon, who is having pain in the knee he had operated on in September and is also out of action. On top of that, Pat Doherty, who missed almost all of last season with foot problems, broke his shooting hand in practice and will likely miss most of the Crusaders' first lap around the conference.
Willard plans to use Alex Vander Baan some at the three, with freshmen Eric Meister and Andrew Keister drawing more minutes up front.
BONUS LINK:
Blue Devils test Doherty Despite loss to Duke, Prep graduate gains experience for run to NCAA playoffs (Scranton Times=Tribune)
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In his latest update on CoachRalph.com, HC coach Ralph Willard spends most of the post recapping the Duke game. But after reviewing that tough road loss, Willard reveals some cracks in his team's foundation.
With Torey Thomas already not at full speed following summer knee surgery, Keith Simmons is now being slowed by a sprained knee suffered in the Duke game. Simmons has been unable to practice. Ditto for sophomore Lawrence Dixon, who is having pain in the knee he had operated on in September and is also out of action. On top of that, Pat Doherty, who missed almost all of last season with foot problems, broke his shooting hand in practice and will likely miss most of the Crusaders' first lap around the conference.
Willard plans to use Alex Vander Baan some at the three, with freshmen Eric Meister and Andrew Keister drawing more minutes up front.
BONUS LINK:
Labels: HC
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In Monday's update of the Mid-Major Top 25: Holy Cross down one spot to No. 18; Bucknell drops to No. 22. Still receiving votes: American, Navy and Army.
No league teams in either the Army receiving one vote in the latest AP poll. No votes for league teams in the ESPN/USA Today polls. (Correction thanks to Ken D., who noticed ESPN.com had cut off Army on its list of others receiving votes in the AP poll.)
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Labels: Army, AU, BU, HC, Navy
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Monday, December 11, 2006
With five games left in the Hoop Time-Basketball U. Challenge season series between the Patriot League and the Ivy League, the Ivies have taken an 8-7 lead after Columbia beat Lafayette Monday night in Easton. The Ivies have now won six of the last seven interleague games after the Patriot Leaguers had started the season by winning six of eight. Also in action Monday, Lehigh, which hosted Division 3 Haverford.
Columbia 75, Lafayette 58 -- Matt Betley was the only Leopard in double figures as the three-game win streak ends. Betley finished with 13.
The rims were not kind to the Leopards jump-shooters. Lafayette shot 18 for 47 (38.3 percent) and made just 7 field goals in the second half.
It was still a 5-point (35-30) game at the half. But Columbia opened the second half with an 11-3 run to push its lead to double digits, where it stayed the rest of the way.
Fran O'Hanlon's latest starting lineup saw Jamaal Hilliard, Everest Schmidt and Andrew Brown on the bench; freshman Andre Hines, and seniors Kerry Kenny and Marcus Harley on the floor. Along with Bilal Abdullah and Matt Betley, they made O'Hanlon's fifth different starting five this season.
It was a first career start for Hines and Kenny and the second start of the season for Harley. Hilliard and Schmidt had started all 10 previous games; Brown had started 9. Hines, a 6-7 forward, scored 8 points and pulled 4 boards in 18 minutes of action.
The 'Pards will break for nine days for finals, returning to action Dec. 20 when they host Division 3 King's.
Box score | AP | Morning Call | Express-Times
Columbia 75, Lafayette 58 -- Pad the stats night against the Division 3 Fords who managed just 14 field goals all night (14 of 48, 29.2 percent)
Lehigh is off the next 11 days off for finals. The Hawks will be back in action Dec. 22 when they visit Rutgers.
Box score | AP | Morning Call
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Columbia 75, Lafayette 58 -- Matt Betley was the only Leopard in double figures as the three-game win streak ends. Betley finished with 13.
The rims were not kind to the Leopards jump-shooters. Lafayette shot 18 for 47 (38.3 percent) and made just 7 field goals in the second half.
It was still a 5-point (35-30) game at the half. But Columbia opened the second half with an 11-3 run to push its lead to double digits, where it stayed the rest of the way.
Fran O'Hanlon's latest starting lineup saw Jamaal Hilliard, Everest Schmidt and Andrew Brown on the bench; freshman Andre Hines, and seniors Kerry Kenny and Marcus Harley on the floor. Along with Bilal Abdullah and Matt Betley, they made O'Hanlon's fifth different starting five this season.
It was a first career start for Hines and Kenny and the second start of the season for Harley. Hilliard and Schmidt had started all 10 previous games; Brown had started 9. Hines, a 6-7 forward, scored 8 points and pulled 4 boards in 18 minutes of action.
The 'Pards will break for nine days for finals, returning to action Dec. 20 when they host Division 3 King's.
Box score | AP | Morning Call | Express-Times
Columbia 75, Lafayette 58 -- Pad the stats night against the Division 3 Fords who managed just 14 field goals all night (14 of 48, 29.2 percent)
Lehigh is off the next 11 days off for finals. The Hawks will be back in action Dec. 22 when they visit Rutgers.
Box score | AP | Morning Call
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The Lehigh Valley is the center of the Hoop Time universe tonigh with two games on tap: resurgent Lafayette looks to continue its three-game win streak when it hosts Columbia (matchup) and Division 3 Haverford visits Lehigh (matchup). That is it until Saturday as finals get into full swing across the league.
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Sunday, December 10, 2006
The basketball gods were not smiling on the Patriot League Saturday. Lehigh and Colgate both lost, not unexpectedly, to big time schools. American's loss to Yale was somewhat less anticipated.
Yale 70, American 53 -- Casey Hughes put Yale ahead with a alley-oop dunk 11 seconds into the second half and Yale never again trailed, ending AU's four-game win streak and Yale's six-game losing streak.
American led 29-28 at the half. But Hughes' dunk was followed by six more Yale points, part of a 10-0 run that spanned the intermission. AU closed to within 4 with 11:10 on the clock, but Yale answered with a three-pointer and the Bulldogs lead was never fewer than 6 points the rest of the way.
Yale shot 15 of 29 (51.7 percent), including 4 of 8 from the three-point arc, in the second half. Au was under 40 percent from the field each half, finishing 19 of 55 (34.5 percent) overall, 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from the arc.
The Bulldogs dominant inside, outscoring AU 28-10 in the paint and outrebounding the Eagles 44-32. Yale had 15 offensive boards, yielding 14 second-chance points. Brayden Billbe lead AU in rebounds with 6, despite his fouling out in just 16 minutes of playing time.
In Billbe's stead, Georgetown-transfer Cornelio Guibunda saw an extended run and hit a career-high 13 points. Arvydas Eitutavicius led AU with 14 points. Andre Ingra added 10.
It was Yale's first win over a Division I team this season. The Bulldogs lost at home to Bucknell and Holy Cross during their losing streak.
Box score | AP | New Haven Register
(21) Syracuse 79, Colgate 52 -- Colgate managed to hang around for a half, then Syracuse turned on the jets. At the break it was 35-30 Syracuse. But while the Orangemen came out on fire and hit 64 percent of their shots (16 of 25) in the second half, including 8 of 14 from the arc, Colgate managed to make but 8 of the 31 (25.8 percent) shots it put up in the second half.
The Raiders were 1 of 10 from three-point range in the second half, 2 of 16 for the game.
Kyle Chones led Syracuse with a career-high 18 points. Jon Simon, who averaged 14.3 ppg coming in, was held to 5 points on 2 for 11 shooting and Kendall Chones managed just one point, almost 10 below his average.
The win was Syracuse's 41st in a row over Colgate, the longest such streak in the nation.
Box score | AP | Syracuse Post-Standard | Utica Observer-Dispatch
Miami (FL) 79, Lehigh 58 -- The Mountain Hawks managed to hang with the Hurricanes for a half, trailing 36-33 at the break, but could not keep pace with the ACC school in the second.
"We simply ran out of gas," said Lehigh coach Billy Taylor, who again juggled his starting lineup, with Phil Anderson replacing Bryan White at the strong forward spot, which has been a revolving door for Lehigh.
Lehigh's offense was not the problem. The Hawks shot 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field and were 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) from the arc. But Miami shot even better, going 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field the first half, 55.6 percent in the second (15 of 27). Miami also outrebounded Lehigh 33-23 and went 12 for 21 at the foul line. Lehigh shot only 6 free throws, making 3.
Jason Mgebroff led the Hawks with 12 points. Jose Olivero added 11 for Lehigh, which is still looking for its first win away from Stabler Arena.
Box score | AP | Sun-Sentinel | Miami Herald | Canes Time
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Yale 70, American 53 -- Casey Hughes put Yale ahead with a alley-oop dunk 11 seconds into the second half and Yale never again trailed, ending AU's four-game win streak and Yale's six-game losing streak.
American led 29-28 at the half. But Hughes' dunk was followed by six more Yale points, part of a 10-0 run that spanned the intermission. AU closed to within 4 with 11:10 on the clock, but Yale answered with a three-pointer and the Bulldogs lead was never fewer than 6 points the rest of the way.
Yale shot 15 of 29 (51.7 percent), including 4 of 8 from the three-point arc, in the second half. Au was under 40 percent from the field each half, finishing 19 of 55 (34.5 percent) overall, 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from the arc.
The Bulldogs dominant inside, outscoring AU 28-10 in the paint and outrebounding the Eagles 44-32. Yale had 15 offensive boards, yielding 14 second-chance points. Brayden Billbe lead AU in rebounds with 6, despite his fouling out in just 16 minutes of playing time.
In Billbe's stead, Georgetown-transfer Cornelio Guibunda saw an extended run and hit a career-high 13 points. Arvydas Eitutavicius led AU with 14 points. Andre Ingra added 10.
It was Yale's first win over a Division I team this season. The Bulldogs lost at home to Bucknell and Holy Cross during their losing streak.
Box score | AP | New Haven Register
(21) Syracuse 79, Colgate 52 -- Colgate managed to hang around for a half, then Syracuse turned on the jets. At the break it was 35-30 Syracuse. But while the Orangemen came out on fire and hit 64 percent of their shots (16 of 25) in the second half, including 8 of 14 from the arc, Colgate managed to make but 8 of the 31 (25.8 percent) shots it put up in the second half.
The Raiders were 1 of 10 from three-point range in the second half, 2 of 16 for the game.
Kyle Chones led Syracuse with a career-high 18 points. Jon Simon, who averaged 14.3 ppg coming in, was held to 5 points on 2 for 11 shooting and Kendall Chones managed just one point, almost 10 below his average.
The win was Syracuse's 41st in a row over Colgate, the longest such streak in the nation.
Box score | AP | Syracuse Post-Standard | Utica Observer-Dispatch
Miami (FL) 79, Lehigh 58 -- The Mountain Hawks managed to hang with the Hurricanes for a half, trailing 36-33 at the break, but could not keep pace with the ACC school in the second.
"We simply ran out of gas," said Lehigh coach Billy Taylor, who again juggled his starting lineup, with Phil Anderson replacing Bryan White at the strong forward spot, which has been a revolving door for Lehigh.
Lehigh's offense was not the problem. The Hawks shot 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field and were 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) from the arc. But Miami shot even better, going 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field the first half, 55.6 percent in the second (15 of 27). Miami also outrebounded Lehigh 33-23 and went 12 for 21 at the foul line. Lehigh shot only 6 free throws, making 3.
Jason Mgebroff led the Hawks with 12 points. Jose Olivero added 11 for Lehigh, which is still looking for its first win away from Stabler Arena.
Box score | AP | Sun-Sentinel | Miami Herald | Canes Time
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Friday, December 08, 2006
Three Patriot League teams in action today -- all on the road. Lehigh, still looking for its first road win, is at Miami (Fla.) (matchup), Colgate makes its annual visit to Syracuse (matchup, preview) and American seeks to continue the Patriot League's domination of Yale (matchup).
BONUS LINKS:
SU should be cranky for annual brush with Colgate (Syracuse Post-Standard)
Colgate at a glance (Syracuse Post-Standard)
With King out, team must step up, (Miami coach) Haith says (Sun-Sentinel)
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BONUS LINKS:
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Navy has played 11 times on Pearl Harbor Day. The Mids have lost 10 of those. The lone win came against Penn, but it was not last night.
Pennsylvania 79, Navy 58 --
Navy's young midshipmen ran into a quality, experienced, legitimate mid-major power last night and quickly learned they were not at Longwood anymore.
The Penn Quakers opened the scoring with a three-pointer 13 seconds into the game and Navy never got closer. Penn started with an 8-0 run, built the lead quickly to double figures, and save a brief flurry around a 9-0 Navy run midway through in the first half, the lead stayed in double figures.
At the half it as 41-29 and Penn opened the second half the same way it did the first, with a three-pointer. The Brian Grandieri trey made it a 15-point Penn lead and Navy never got any closer.
Freshman Troy Stanton was the only Mid in doubkle figures. Leading scorer Greg Sprink was limited to 8 second half points.
The two teams actually were even from the field, each scoring 54 points on field goals. But Penn went to the foul line 34 times, making 25. Navy shot only 8 free throws, making 4.
Penn, which was without the services of one of its usual starters, still placed all five who did start in double figures. Only one Quakers bench player even played double figures minutes -- the starters all played at least 32 and Penn's leading scorer, Ibrahim Jaaber, played 37, scoring 18 points with 7 rebounds and 7 steals.
Even though Penn's lead was around 20 points the final 8 minutes of the game, four of Glen Miller's starters were still on the floor with 31 seconds to go.
Navy is now off 10 days for finals. The Mids return to action Dec. 17 when they host Division III Delaware Valley.
Box score | AP | Baltimore Sun | Philly Daily News | Philly Inquirer
Lafayette 72, Lycoming 54 -- Everybody gets a run in the win over the D-3 Warriors.
Box score | AP | Express-Times
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Pennsylvania 79, Navy 58 --
Navy's young midshipmen ran into a quality, experienced, legitimate mid-major power last night and quickly learned they were not at Longwood anymore.
The Penn Quakers opened the scoring with a three-pointer 13 seconds into the game and Navy never got closer. Penn started with an 8-0 run, built the lead quickly to double figures, and save a brief flurry around a 9-0 Navy run midway through in the first half, the lead stayed in double figures.
At the half it as 41-29 and Penn opened the second half the same way it did the first, with a three-pointer. The Brian Grandieri trey made it a 15-point Penn lead and Navy never got any closer.
Freshman Troy Stanton was the only Mid in doubkle figures. Leading scorer Greg Sprink was limited to 8 second half points.
The two teams actually were even from the field, each scoring 54 points on field goals. But Penn went to the foul line 34 times, making 25. Navy shot only 8 free throws, making 4.
Penn, which was without the services of one of its usual starters, still placed all five who did start in double figures. Only one Quakers bench player even played double figures minutes -- the starters all played at least 32 and Penn's leading scorer, Ibrahim Jaaber, played 37, scoring 18 points with 7 rebounds and 7 steals.
Even though Penn's lead was around 20 points the final 8 minutes of the game, four of Glen Miller's starters were still on the floor with 31 seconds to go.
Navy is now off 10 days for finals. The Mids return to action Dec. 17 when they host Division III Delaware Valley.
Box score | AP | Baltimore Sun | Philly Daily News | Philly Inquirer
Lafayette 72, Lycoming 54 -- Everybody gets a run in the win over the D-3 Warriors.
Box score | AP | Express-Times
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Thursday, December 07, 2006
Two games tonight. Easily the headliner is Penn at Navy, the Mids at home on Pearl Harbor Day (PHD link is to a day job piece I highly reccomend) for their truest test of the young season. The Quakers (4-3) are still adjusting to new coach Glen Miller, but they are still one of the top teams in the Ivy League with a bonafide shot at returning to the NCAA Tournament for the third straigh time (and fifth time in six years). We will know a lot more about the Mids after this one. Listen on Sirus 107 at 8 Eastern.
Also on the schedule, former Bucknell assistant Don Friday takes his Division III Lycoming team to Easton for a game with Lafayette (matchup).
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Also on the schedule, former Bucknell assistant Don Friday takes his Division III Lycoming team to Easton for a game with Lafayette (matchup).
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Holy Cross gave Duke a scare and Lehigh lost a heart breaker at Princeton as league teams broke even in games against Division I opponents Wednesday night. The news was better for Army and American.
(7) Duke 57, Holy Cross 45 -- For 20 minutes Holy Cross was in control -- of the tempo and, to some extent, of the game. Forcing 12 turnovers and holding Duke to 8 of 25 shooting in the first half, the Crusaders were up 28-22 at the half.
"They took control of the tempo of the game and made us play every possession," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Their defense was not a pressing defense, but it forced us into standing."
Holy Cross stayed in the game for a while after the intermission, too. With 14:07 to play, HC was still up 4 after a Tim Clifford layup and after Clifford blocked Lance Thomas' shot at the other end, the 'Saders had a three-on-one break at the other end, with a chance to push the lead to 6.
Then came two charges. The first was of the personal foul variety, a whistle on Lawrence Dixon trying to finish the break. The second charge came in the form of Duke's 16-2 run that carried the Blue Devils from 4 down to a double digits lead. HC never got closer the 8 the rest of the way.
In the end, Duke simply wore the shorthanded Crusaders down. Pat Doherty, who moved into the starting lineup next to Torey Thomas at guard, played 33 minutes. That was the least minutes by any HC starter other than center Tim Clifford, who fouled out after 22 minutes of action.
After shooting 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) from the field in the first half, Holy Cross scored only 17 points in the second, shooting 7 for 24 (29.2 percent). Duke, in the meantime, went 11 for 18 (61.1 percent) in the second half.
As HC coach Ralph Willard told Jen Toland of the T&G:
Box score | Game notes | Duke quotes | Duke photo gallery | AP Photo gallery | AP wrap | AP gamer | Telegram & Gazette (gamer) | T&G notebook | Durham Sun-Herald | Wilmington (NC) Star-Journal | Greensboro News-Record | Winston-Salem Journal
Princeton 44, Lehigh 43 -- Princeton freshman Marcus Schroeder hit a free throw with no time left to give Princeton a win in its first home game, keeping Lehigh winless on the road. It was Princeton's 23rd straight win over Lehigh.
Schroeder was fouled while taking a desperation shot as time ran out (maybe after, according to Corky Blake of the Express-Times, but there was no TV replay available to check) after gathering in an offensive rebound.
Lehigh led 23-16 at the half, and played good enough defense in the second to win, holding Princeton to 7 for 18 (38.9 percent) shooting. But five of Princeton's seven field goals were three-pointers and the Tigers got to the foul line 14 times in the half, making 9. Lehigh was 9 for 14 at the line for the entire game.
The Mountain Hawks' problems came at the offensive end. Lehigh went 16 for 49 (32.7 percent) from the field and made only 2 (of 11) three-pointers. Leading scorer Jose Olivero was held to 10 points on 4 for 17 shooting and freshman point guard Marquis Hall did not make a shot (on 4 tries).
Strong forward Bryan White, back into the starting five as Billy Taylor struggles to find the right guy for that spot, did not even take a shot, his box score line a row of zeroes, save his 2 rebounds and 2 fouls.
Kyle Neptune led Lehigh scorers with 15 points. Center Jason Mgebroff turned in a 12-points, 11-rebounds double-double.
Box score | AP | Daily Princetonian | Trentonian | Trenton Times | Morning Call | Express-Times
Army 60, N.J.I.T. 40 -- Freshman Chris Walker posted his first career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead Army to the win.
Matt Bell added 12 points and Jarrell Brown 19 for the Black Knights (7-2). The seven wins is the most in a single season for Army under coach Jim Crews.
Box score | Army recap
American 85, Howard 75 -- American started the game up 1-0 and was never tied, never trailed in improving to 7-2, its best start in 25 years. The Eagles began with a lead thanks to an Andre Ingram free throw after Howard got hit with a technical for dunking during pregame warmups.
Ingram went on to put up 21 points, going 7 for 9 from the field, 3 of 4 from the arc.
Ingram was not the only one making shots for AU. Arvydas Eitutavicius had 17 first-half points en route to a 23-point showing. Eitutavicius was 6 for 6 at the foul line, extending his made free throws streak to 27 in a row. Derrick Mercer added 9 points and dished 8 assists for AU, which shot 59.6 percent from the field (31-52 and outrebounded Howard 42-23.
Paulius Joneliunas also in double figures for Au with 13 points.
Box score | AP | Washington Post
Colgate 82, Elmira 34 -- Everybody ran, everybody scored. Who cares?
Box score | Colgate wrap
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(7) Duke 57, Holy Cross 45 -- For 20 minutes Holy Cross was in control -- of the tempo and, to some extent, of the game. Forcing 12 turnovers and holding Duke to 8 of 25 shooting in the first half, the Crusaders were up 28-22 at the half.
"They took control of the tempo of the game and made us play every possession," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Their defense was not a pressing defense, but it forced us into standing."
Holy Cross stayed in the game for a while after the intermission, too. With 14:07 to play, HC was still up 4 after a Tim Clifford layup and after Clifford blocked Lance Thomas' shot at the other end, the 'Saders had a three-on-one break at the other end, with a chance to push the lead to 6.
Then came two charges. The first was of the personal foul variety, a whistle on Lawrence Dixon trying to finish the break. The second charge came in the form of Duke's 16-2 run that carried the Blue Devils from 4 down to a double digits lead. HC never got closer the 8 the rest of the way.
In the end, Duke simply wore the shorthanded Crusaders down. Pat Doherty, who moved into the starting lineup next to Torey Thomas at guard, played 33 minutes. That was the least minutes by any HC starter other than center Tim Clifford, who fouled out after 22 minutes of action.
After shooting 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) from the field in the first half, Holy Cross scored only 17 points in the second, shooting 7 for 24 (29.2 percent). Duke, in the meantime, went 11 for 18 (61.1 percent) in the second half.
As HC coach Ralph Willard told Jen Toland of the T&G:
"We really labored in the second half, probably because we had too many guys playing too many minutes."Keith Simmons led HC with 13 points. Simmons also had 4 steals and 7 rebounds. Torey Thomas, who was held to 6 points, had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals. But Simmons (5 TO) and Thomas (9 TO) combined for 14 of the Crusaders' 20 turnovers.
Box score | Game notes | Duke quotes | Duke photo gallery | AP Photo gallery | AP wrap | AP gamer | Telegram & Gazette (gamer) | T&G notebook | Durham Sun-Herald | Wilmington (NC) Star-Journal | Greensboro News-Record | Winston-Salem Journal
Princeton 44, Lehigh 43 -- Princeton freshman Marcus Schroeder hit a free throw with no time left to give Princeton a win in its first home game, keeping Lehigh winless on the road. It was Princeton's 23rd straight win over Lehigh.
Schroeder was fouled while taking a desperation shot as time ran out (maybe after, according to Corky Blake of the Express-Times, but there was no TV replay available to check) after gathering in an offensive rebound.
Lehigh led 23-16 at the half, and played good enough defense in the second to win, holding Princeton to 7 for 18 (38.9 percent) shooting. But five of Princeton's seven field goals were three-pointers and the Tigers got to the foul line 14 times in the half, making 9. Lehigh was 9 for 14 at the line for the entire game.
The Mountain Hawks' problems came at the offensive end. Lehigh went 16 for 49 (32.7 percent) from the field and made only 2 (of 11) three-pointers. Leading scorer Jose Olivero was held to 10 points on 4 for 17 shooting and freshman point guard Marquis Hall did not make a shot (on 4 tries).
Strong forward Bryan White, back into the starting five as Billy Taylor struggles to find the right guy for that spot, did not even take a shot, his box score line a row of zeroes, save his 2 rebounds and 2 fouls.
Kyle Neptune led Lehigh scorers with 15 points. Center Jason Mgebroff turned in a 12-points, 11-rebounds double-double.
Box score | AP | Daily Princetonian | Trentonian | Trenton Times | Morning Call | Express-Times
Army 60, N.J.I.T. 40 -- Freshman Chris Walker posted his first career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead Army to the win.
Matt Bell added 12 points and Jarrell Brown 19 for the Black Knights (7-2). The seven wins is the most in a single season for Army under coach Jim Crews.
Box score | Army recap
American 85, Howard 75 -- American started the game up 1-0 and was never tied, never trailed in improving to 7-2, its best start in 25 years. The Eagles began with a lead thanks to an Andre Ingram free throw after Howard got hit with a technical for dunking during pregame warmups.
Ingram went on to put up 21 points, going 7 for 9 from the field, 3 of 4 from the arc.
Ingram was not the only one making shots for AU. Arvydas Eitutavicius had 17 first-half points en route to a 23-point showing. Eitutavicius was 6 for 6 at the foul line, extending his made free throws streak to 27 in a row. Derrick Mercer added 9 points and dished 8 assists for AU, which shot 59.6 percent from the field (31-52 and outrebounded Howard 42-23.
Paulius Joneliunas also in double figures for Au with 13 points.
Box score | AP | Washington Post
Colgate 82, Elmira 34 -- Everybody ran, everybody scored. Who cares?
Box score | Colgate wrap
Labels: Army, AU, CU, games, HC, Leh
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Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Following a rare night off for all league teams, five games on tap tonight.
Topping the bill is Holy Cross at Duke on ESPN2. The Crusaders with their hands full (and then some) playing their fourth road game in 10 days against No. 7 Duke (matchup, preview) in front of the Cameron Crazies, a bunch HC coach Ralph Willard calls "a student section against which all others are measured." It's a challenge for even the top teams in the nation, let alone one with both leg and rotation issues; Duke has won 46 straight games in Cameron against nonconference opponents.
PREVIEWS: Durham Herald Sun | Devils Den (Scout.com) | AP
Another one to watch involves Lehigh, still looking for a road win, at Princeton (matchup), worth watching if only to check out the matchup between the Mountain Hawks' outstanding freshman point guard Marquis Hall and Princeton freshman Marcus Schroeder, one of three freshman starting for Princeton.
Elsewhere, it's NJIT at Army, American crosstown at Howard and Division III Elmira at Colgate
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Topping the bill is Holy Cross at Duke on ESPN2. The Crusaders with their hands full (and then some) playing their fourth road game in 10 days against No. 7 Duke (matchup, preview) in front of the Cameron Crazies, a bunch HC coach Ralph Willard calls "a student section against which all others are measured." It's a challenge for even the top teams in the nation, let alone one with both leg and rotation issues; Duke has won 46 straight games in Cameron against nonconference opponents.
PREVIEWS: Durham Herald Sun | Devils Den (Scout.com) | AP
Another one to watch involves Lehigh, still looking for a road win, at Princeton (matchup), worth watching if only to check out the matchup between the Mountain Hawks' outstanding freshman point guard Marquis Hall and Princeton freshman Marcus Schroeder, one of three freshman starting for Princeton.
Elsewhere, it's NJIT at Army, American crosstown at Howard and Division III Elmira at Colgate
Labels: Army, AU, CU, HC, Leh, previews
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Tuesday, December 05, 2006
League teams were expected to win all three games they were involved in last night and they did not dissapoint, despite Navy being pushed into two overtime periods.
Navy 79, Howard 75, 2OT -- It turned into a free throw shooting contest in Annapolis, where both Navy and Howard made more foul shots than field goals in a double-overtime marathon.
The Midshipmen opened the game with a 12-2 run, but Howard came back with an 8-0 spurt to tie it, setting the tone for a game that saw 13 ties and 6 lead changes.
It was 57-57 at the end of regulation. It 66-66 after the first extra period, even though Navy had gone up by 2 five times in the first OT. Then Navy held Howard without a field goal on its first 10 possessions of the second OT, leading to an 11-2 run that put the game away. Navy made just one field goal in each overtime, but went 18 for 24 at the line in the extra periods.
It is Navy's second straight overtime win, coming on the heels of Friday night's OT win at Longwood.
The two teams were whistled for a combined 54 fouls and shot 71 free throws between them. Navy was 24 for 32 at the line, with Greg Sprink (16 points, 9-10 FT) leading the way. Howard went 25 of 39 at the line.
By comparison, the Mids made 23 field goals (23 of 52, 44.2 percent). Howard made 23 field goals on 56 attempts (41.1 percent). Navy was 9 for 24 (37.5 percent) from the arc, but made no three-pointers in the overtime periods.
Kaleo Kina led the Midshipmen with 20 points. Corey Johnson added 17 and Troy Stanton had 11.
Howard outrebounded Navy 42-30 and had 15 offensive boards, leading to 22 second chance points.
Box score | AP | Wash. Post
American 60, Longwood 49 -- American remains unbeaten at home after holding off Longwood. The Eagles, who shot a scorching 16 for 26 (61.5 percent) from the field in the first half, were up by as many as 18 points before Longwood mounted a late run that cut the lead to 6 with 4:19 to play.
At that point, American put on the clamps defensively, allowing just 1 point the rest of the way. AU held Longwood to 20 of 60 shooting from the field (33.3 percent), the Eagles' best defensive effort of the season.
Brayden Billbe and Andre Ingram each had 13 to lead AU. Derrick Mercer added 12 for the Eagles, who are off to their best start since the 1989-90 season.
Box score | AP
Lafayette 76, N.J.I.T. 57 -- Not as easy as the score makes it look for the Leopards, who won for the second time in a row after an early season six-game losing streak.
NJIT actually led most of the first half and it was still a 4-point game with 13:43 to play when Lafayette went on an 11-0 run to pull away.
Lafayette shot 50 percent or better each half and pured in 13 three-pointers, but it was defense that made the difference. After allowing NJIT to shoot 11 of 22 in the first half, Lafayette held the Highlanders to 9 for 29 (31 percent) in the second half. The Leopards had 14 steals and forced 25 NJIT turnovers, leading to 23 Lafayette points.
Andrew brown led Lafayette with a career-high 20 points. Brown went 6 for 8 at the arc. Freshman Jesper Andersson added 11, his second straight double figures performance.
Box score | AP | Express-Times
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Navy 79, Howard 75, 2OT -- It turned into a free throw shooting contest in Annapolis, where both Navy and Howard made more foul shots than field goals in a double-overtime marathon.
The Midshipmen opened the game with a 12-2 run, but Howard came back with an 8-0 spurt to tie it, setting the tone for a game that saw 13 ties and 6 lead changes.
It was 57-57 at the end of regulation. It 66-66 after the first extra period, even though Navy had gone up by 2 five times in the first OT. Then Navy held Howard without a field goal on its first 10 possessions of the second OT, leading to an 11-2 run that put the game away. Navy made just one field goal in each overtime, but went 18 for 24 at the line in the extra periods.
It is Navy's second straight overtime win, coming on the heels of Friday night's OT win at Longwood.
The two teams were whistled for a combined 54 fouls and shot 71 free throws between them. Navy was 24 for 32 at the line, with Greg Sprink (16 points, 9-10 FT) leading the way. Howard went 25 of 39 at the line.
By comparison, the Mids made 23 field goals (23 of 52, 44.2 percent). Howard made 23 field goals on 56 attempts (41.1 percent). Navy was 9 for 24 (37.5 percent) from the arc, but made no three-pointers in the overtime periods.
Kaleo Kina led the Midshipmen with 20 points. Corey Johnson added 17 and Troy Stanton had 11.
Howard outrebounded Navy 42-30 and had 15 offensive boards, leading to 22 second chance points.
Box score | AP | Wash. Post
American 60, Longwood 49 -- American remains unbeaten at home after holding off Longwood. The Eagles, who shot a scorching 16 for 26 (61.5 percent) from the field in the first half, were up by as many as 18 points before Longwood mounted a late run that cut the lead to 6 with 4:19 to play.
At that point, American put on the clamps defensively, allowing just 1 point the rest of the way. AU held Longwood to 20 of 60 shooting from the field (33.3 percent), the Eagles' best defensive effort of the season.
Brayden Billbe and Andre Ingram each had 13 to lead AU. Derrick Mercer added 12 for the Eagles, who are off to their best start since the 1989-90 season.
Box score | AP
Lafayette 76, N.J.I.T. 57 -- Not as easy as the score makes it look for the Leopards, who won for the second time in a row after an early season six-game losing streak.
NJIT actually led most of the first half and it was still a 4-point game with 13:43 to play when Lafayette went on an 11-0 run to pull away.
Lafayette shot 50 percent or better each half and pured in 13 three-pointers, but it was defense that made the difference. After allowing NJIT to shoot 11 of 22 in the first half, Lafayette held the Highlanders to 9 for 29 (31 percent) in the second half. The Leopards had 14 steals and forced 25 NJIT turnovers, leading to 23 Lafayette points.
Andrew brown led Lafayette with a career-high 20 points. Brown went 6 for 8 at the arc. Freshman Jesper Andersson added 11, his second straight double figures performance.
Box score | AP | Express-Times
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Monday, December 04, 2006
You thought the only e-mails we get are those black market viagara spams and forwarded jokes from the brother-in-law. You thought wrong. We get lots of e-mails. The ones think you will find interesting, along with the ones we can think of a smarmy reply to, we share with you from time to time. Here's what some folks have written about since the start of the season:
Matt from Bucknell writes:
First of all, my compliments to the Bucknellian (Matt is a staffer there). The past two seasons you guys have really picked it up in terms of your coverage of the Bison. In the not so distant past, a place reserved for The Bucknellian along press row was a place you could sit your laptop case because nobody ever sat in it.
You were there Saturday, Matt. Surely you could have checked off one or two on the excuse list.
Bottom line, we don't care much for excuses. Not from the musicians in recitals or the acolyte for the candlelight service. We don't care about finals that are five days away, or papers, or studying, and neither do the folks at real basketball schools.
You don't find some Dukie saying he didn't spend the week before the Carolina game in Krzyzewskiville because they could watch the game on TV.
Bottom line (and when you get out in the real world Matt, you'll learn it is all about the bottom line): The Bucknell students (and the townie types who did not use their seats, too) left their team down when they perhaps needed them most.
This was a big game, and given the team's early season record, was one where they really needed all the support their fans could bring. And where were all those kids with the old Bison's Sixth Man" T-shirts?
I remember a game back in old Davis Gym where a Colgate player once told me it was so loud they couldn't hear their play calls. Sojka was nowhere near that level Saturday. Heck, those studious types could have brought their books to the gym to study, it was probably quieter than the library.
You are right, the ticket system at BU is broken. We've written about that before, and probably will again. But BU officials assure me all the student allotment was claimed prior to the game. All that were left Saturday were about 100 Northern Iowa returned. This time the problem was not getting tickets in the students' hands, it was getting the student to hand them back.
As for them showing up in the spring, we will see. If the Bison get on a roll and are competing for the league title, crowds will probably come, at least for perceived big games.
The true sign of being a hoops hotbed, though, is showing up even when things are not going your way.
observer@lehigh.edu writes:
A couple of observations:
1) I have my doubts about your e-mail address. I suspect most Lehigh students can spell "handicap". They probably can spell "probably" too.
2) Though I never saw the Sporting News hoops preview, I did glance at the USA Today special edition. Having been in this business a little while, let me explain to you about braintrusts at newspaper sports departments: They don't exist. At least not in the manner you seem to think they do. In all likelihood, the so-called brain trust that made their picks is one guy. More than likely one guy who has never covered a single Patriot League game. I promise you in all the years I have covered the league, I have yet to see anyone from Sporting News on the press row seating chart. Can't recall anyone from USA Today either, though it is possible they have covered a game or two somewhere along the line.
Besides, who ya gonna believe? Them or the greatest mind ever to handicap the Patriot League?
Mike from Lehigh wrote:
(In response to comments wondering about the absence of sophomore center John Gourlay and freshman forward Paul Bayer from the box score after the Swarthmore debacle.)
Even though I am the greatest mind to ever handicap the Patriot League, I am not all knowing. So I put the question to another Mike from Lehigh -- Mike Stagnitta, the Hawks' hoops contact in the sports information office. Here is what that Mike told us about Gourlay and Bayer:
Joe (who might be from D.C.) asks:
Something tells me I was just there for the Bucknell-Mason game is not the answer you are looking for. I suspect Joe is an American fan who wants to know if I am coming to see the Eagles.
The short answer to that part of the question is: yes. In addition to last week's trip to Emmittsburg, Md. to see AU take on Mount Saint Mary's, our tentative plans have us heading to D.C. for six AU games -- seven if I get my Christmas shopping done in time to get to College Park (close enough) for the Maryland game Dec. 23.
As for what games I actually see, while certainly not on a pace to break Kyle's 100-games mark, the plans for the season are pretty ambitious. I have covered eight-and-a-half so far, and expect to see over 30 more before the league tournament ends, including at least two days where we are hoping to take in two games the same day.
Basically, our strategy is to get to as many games as we can, with proximity and importance of the game as the two biggest determining factors.
Hope that answers your questions.
Thomas Walker of Atlanta, Ga. writes:
And you would say that even if he were not your son, right?
Actually, I am eager to see Walker play since this is not the first time I have heard from his dad. I recall a nice message following a post about Army's prep school last season.
Seems everybody is anxious to see Army, wondering if they are for real of playing a weak schedule.
Reality is probably in the middle, but right now, anyhow, they are making a certain preseason pundit who suggested the Black Knights would escape the basement look like the greatest mind ever to handicap the Patriot League.
Ken (who we think is a BU fan) writes:
When I talked to Emmitt Davis in August for the Blue Ribbon previews, that was how he referred to Pounds (sophomore eligibility). Pounds is also listed as a sophomore on the roster in the Patriot League media guide and on the Colgate Web site.
I thought I understood the explanation, which was similar to the Chones brothers, except Pounds left school (for one semester if memory serves) due to a personal situation at home, not due to academics.
Before typing anything authoritative, though, we decided to check in with Bob Cornell, the Raiders SID. His answer was a surprise:
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Matt from Bucknell writes:
Some reasons for low attendance by the students (thought it was certainly more than half-full in their sections):Dear Matt:
1. It is the end of the semester. There is a ton of work to turn in before exams and then exams themselves start on Thursday.
2. There was a live feed of the game being broadcast around campus. People could do work and watch the game that way.
3. The ticket policy distribution by the University has not been great. It is still struggling to find the best way to do it. Also, there were was not a lot of advertisement for the game - at least not in the past week or so.
4. When it was announced that there were left over tickets, it was only posted on the athletics' Web site, which a lot of students probably don't use. It was said that there were less than 150 tickets left, and this was not announced until yesterday evening. There was no general e-mail announcement.
5. The wrestling and track teams both had events today. Both teams are large supporters of the basketball program and account for a bunch of the missing seats.
6. There were some musical recitals today, as well as the football team awards banquet. Also, the school is in the midst of having its three candlelight Christmas services. The students who participate sacrifice a lot of time for it over the last few days and the next few days. Time has to give somewhere.
That all being said, yes attendance was less than it should have been. I was sad to see it less than full, but that happens. The place will fill up again once league play gets going and the spring semester starts up.
First of all, my compliments to the Bucknellian (Matt is a staffer there). The past two seasons you guys have really picked it up in terms of your coverage of the Bison. In the not so distant past, a place reserved for The Bucknellian along press row was a place you could sit your laptop case because nobody ever sat in it.
You were there Saturday, Matt. Surely you could have checked off one or two on the excuse list.
Bottom line, we don't care much for excuses. Not from the musicians in recitals or the acolyte for the candlelight service. We don't care about finals that are five days away, or papers, or studying, and neither do the folks at real basketball schools.
You don't find some Dukie saying he didn't spend the week before the Carolina game in Krzyzewskiville because they could watch the game on TV.
Bottom line (and when you get out in the real world Matt, you'll learn it is all about the bottom line): The Bucknell students (and the townie types who did not use their seats, too) left their team down when they perhaps needed them most.
This was a big game, and given the team's early season record, was one where they really needed all the support their fans could bring. And where were all those kids with the old Bison's Sixth Man" T-shirts?
I remember a game back in old Davis Gym where a Colgate player once told me it was so loud they couldn't hear their play calls. Sojka was nowhere near that level Saturday. Heck, those studious types could have brought their books to the gym to study, it was probably quieter than the library.
You are right, the ticket system at BU is broken. We've written about that before, and probably will again. But BU officials assure me all the student allotment was claimed prior to the game. All that were left Saturday were about 100 Northern Iowa returned. This time the problem was not getting tickets in the students' hands, it was getting the student to hand them back.
As for them showing up in the spring, we will see. If the Bison get on a roll and are competing for the league title, crowds will probably come, at least for perceived big games.
The true sign of being a hoops hotbed, though, is showing up even when things are not going your way.
observer@lehigh.edu writes:
What up Big Dog?Dear Observer:
While you are proabably the greatest mind ever to handicapp the Patriot League...The brain trusts at USA Today and the Sporting News have released their own PL predictions and have a much more favorable outlook for Lehigh. I understand you have great disdain for our school's basketball program, but I still don't know why. Lose the bias, gain some respect.
A couple of observations:
1) I have my doubts about your e-mail address. I suspect most Lehigh students can spell "handicap". They probably can spell "probably" too.
2) Though I never saw the Sporting News hoops preview, I did glance at the USA Today special edition. Having been in this business a little while, let me explain to you about braintrusts at newspaper sports departments: They don't exist. At least not in the manner you seem to think they do. In all likelihood, the so-called brain trust that made their picks is one guy. More than likely one guy who has never covered a single Patriot League game. I promise you in all the years I have covered the league, I have yet to see anyone from Sporting News on the press row seating chart. Can't recall anyone from USA Today either, though it is possible they have covered a game or two somewhere along the line.
Besides, who ya gonna believe? Them or the greatest mind ever to handicap the Patriot League?
Mike from Lehigh wrote:
(In response to comments wondering about the absence of sophomore center John Gourlay and freshman forward Paul Bayer from the box score after the Swarthmore debacle.)
Gourlay was wearing a suit on the bench, and Bayer was missing from the bench. However, I'm not sure what ails either player.Dear Mike:
Even though I am the greatest mind to ever handicap the Patriot League, I am not all knowing. So I put the question to another Mike from Lehigh -- Mike Stagnitta, the Hawks' hoops contact in the sports information office. Here is what that Mike told us about Gourlay and Bayer:
Gourlay is out with an injury right now (foot). He played in the Notre Dame game and re-aggravated it, so he sat out the last two games last week. He's day-to-day, and will hopefully return soon. As for Bayer, he is no longer on the team. He has asked for and has been granted permission to transfer.As they say at the day job; Now you know.
Joe (who might be from D.C.) asks:
I just wanted to ask what games do you actually see? Are you coming down to DC at all?Dear Joe:
Something tells me I was just there for the Bucknell-Mason game is not the answer you are looking for. I suspect Joe is an American fan who wants to know if I am coming to see the Eagles.
The short answer to that part of the question is: yes. In addition to last week's trip to Emmittsburg, Md. to see AU take on Mount Saint Mary's, our tentative plans have us heading to D.C. for six AU games -- seven if I get my Christmas shopping done in time to get to College Park (close enough) for the Maryland game Dec. 23.
As for what games I actually see, while certainly not on a pace to break Kyle's 100-games mark, the plans for the season are pretty ambitious. I have covered eight-and-a-half so far, and expect to see over 30 more before the league tournament ends, including at least two days where we are hoping to take in two games the same day.
Basically, our strategy is to get to as many games as we can, with proximity and importance of the game as the two biggest determining factors.
Hope that answers your questions.
Thomas Walker of Atlanta, Ga. writes:
Enjoyed your comeback and early ROY post. Bell is going to have a sensational senior season for Army, being 100% healthy now. For ROY Hall is definitely the front-runner. I submit another candidate for your consideration if the team's record significantly improves: Army s Chris Walker (7.7 ppg, 4.3 rbg through 3 games). He's not going to put up sensational numbers his freshman year, because the offense Army runs is designed to get Bell and Brown the bulk of the shots, but his inside presence will help B & B get better shots than last year, and he is a difference-maker defensively.Dear Thomas:
And you would say that even if he were not your son, right?
Actually, I am eager to see Walker play since this is not the first time I have heard from his dad. I recall a nice message following a post about Army's prep school last season.
Seems everybody is anxious to see Army, wondering if they are for real of playing a weak schedule.
Reality is probably in the middle, but right now, anyhow, they are making a certain preseason pundit who suggested the Black Knights would escape the basement look like the greatest mind ever to handicap the Patriot League.
Ken (who we think is a BU fan) writes:
Very interesting piece on the Colgate game. I do have one question. On a couple of occasions, you have mentioned that Tim Pounds has sophomore eligibility. I know he chose not to play last year and under NCAA regulations would have three more years. However, Patriot League regulations ban redshirting, so why would he still be allowed three more years if he voluntarily chose not to play? (According to some Colgate people I have talked to, it was not a case of any injury.) I'd be interested in any feedback you could provide. Thanks.Ken:
When I talked to Emmitt Davis in August for the Blue Ribbon previews, that was how he referred to Pounds (sophomore eligibility). Pounds is also listed as a sophomore on the roster in the Patriot League media guide and on the Colgate Web site.
I thought I understood the explanation, which was similar to the Chones brothers, except Pounds left school (for one semester if memory serves) due to a personal situation at home, not due to academics.
Before typing anything authoritative, though, we decided to check in with Bob Cornell, the Raiders SID. His answer was a surprise:
He's still on schedule to graduate in Spring 2008 and therefore only has this year (06-07) and next year (07-08) of eligibility remaining.Cue the day job jingle.
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Pretty exciting to click into the Mid-Major Top 25 poll and find darned near the whole league represented.
Holy Cross (187 points) checks in at No. 17 in this, the first edition of the poll since the start of the season. The 'Saders one spot ahead of Northern Iowa, two ahead of No. 19 Bucknell (149), which slips from No. 6 in the preseason poll after a 3-5 start. The Bison are the only team in the top 25 with a losing record, a sign of respect for a schedule that has included two teams in the poll (UNI and No. 24 George Mason), in addition to teams from the Atlantic 10 (St. Joe's), the Big Ten (Penn State) and the ACC (Wake Forest).
In the others receiving votes: (unofficial No. 29) Navy 82 points, (33) American 65,(46) Army 24.
On the downside, no votes for any league teams in either of the two major polls this week.
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Holy Cross (187 points) checks in at No. 17 in this, the first edition of the poll since the start of the season. The 'Saders one spot ahead of Northern Iowa, two ahead of No. 19 Bucknell (149), which slips from No. 6 in the preseason poll after a 3-5 start. The Bison are the only team in the top 25 with a losing record, a sign of respect for a schedule that has included two teams in the poll (UNI and No. 24 George Mason), in addition to teams from the Atlantic 10 (St. Joe's), the Big Ten (Penn State) and the ACC (Wake Forest).
In the others receiving votes: (unofficial No. 29) Navy 82 points, (33) American 65,(46) Army 24.
On the downside, no votes for any league teams in either of the two major polls this week.
Labels: Army, AU, BU, HC, Navy
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Three games tonight, two involving transitional Division I teams. Lafayette is at first-year DI New Jersey Institute of Technology, Longwood -- also in transition -- visits American and Howard is at Navy. Fair to say anything less than a three-game sweep for the Patriot League teams will be disappointing.
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Labels: AU, Laf, Navy, previews
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Bucknell coach Pat Flannery shook up his starting lineup and the Bison responded with a big win against George Mason.
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of Hoop Time
Donald Brown is not a three-man. Never has been. Probably never will be.
Not that Pat Flannery didn't try to make him one. And why not? It seemed like an obvious solution to Bucknell's need to replace Charles Lee at the small forward spot.
Brown has the athleticism. A long, springy 6-6 kid, he has the prototypical three-man body.
After two stellar seasons off the bench, moving Brown, who had already played starter-like minutes, into the starting lineup made sense.
Except for one small problem.
Donald Brown is not a three. Doesn't have the handle. Doesn't have the range.
Brown is what Dickie V. might call a Windex kind of guy. He needs to be around the glass to be effective.
So it was no surprise when Flannery called off the Brown-as-a-three experiment after seven games and reconfigured his starting lineup prior to Sunday's 60-57 win over George Mason in the BB&T Classic in Washington. How he did it might have been a little surprising, though, moving Brown to the power forward spot that has been occupied by junior Darren Mastropaolo for the better part of the past two seasons and inserting sophomore Jason Vegosky on a wing.
The move surprises a little because it results in the loss of Mastropaolo's beefy, 6-8 presence in the starting lineup. Even though Brown probably played more minutes at the four than Mastropaolo last season, he did it coming off the bench because of Flannery's desire to set a tone early with the officials.
Mastropaolo's physical presence lost out to Brown's offensive potency. With Bucknell struggling to find its rhythm on offense, making a strong first impression on the refs take a back seat to making a favorable impression on the scoreboard.
How well it works will best be judged at the end of the season, but for one game anyhow, it was a smash success. Brown went 6 for 6 from the field, finishing with 16 points and 9 rebounds. The guards tied a season high with 8 three-pointers, and the Bison won a showdown between two of the east coast's mid-major media darlings.
The move paid off early, with Vegotsky hitting a pair of early treys that stabilized Bucknell while it found its legs. Then Brown got going. It was his rebound of John Vaughn's missed three-pointer that got Bucknell the ball, down 8-6 with 15:05 to play in the first half. And it was Brown's offensive rebound putback 40 seconds later that tied the game at 8-8 and started a 9-0 run that gave the Bison a lead they never relinquished. Brown had another bucket in that run, a layin after he came up with his first of two steals.
The other five points on that run came from Justin Castleberry, who appears to have won the role of first guard off the bench. Castleberry, who grew up near D.C. and went to high school at Archbishop Spalding, finished with 7 points and three assists in 17 strong minutes of action.
"(Bucknell) hit a couple of threes early that gave them the lead and some confidence," said Mason coach Jim Larranaga.
Later in the half, after Mason had closed the gap to 5, Brown again got Bucknell going, putting together a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays to push Bucknell's lead to 10.
"We wanted to get another handler in there. That opened up the lane a little bit for Donald Brown," Flannery said. "We wanted to stretch the floor and get another shooter in there."
The Bison led by 13, 33-20, at the half and pushed it to 15 on their first possesion of the second half on a John Griffin off-balance jumper at the top of the key that came as the shot clock was expiring. It was the first of four shot-clock beaters in the second half for the Bison, who got some sort of karmic payback for all the threes Northern Iowa racked up Saturday in clock down situations. Badmus, who finished with 8 points, all in the second half, did it twice, once for a three-pointer, on back-to-back possessions with around five minutes to play. Griffin (13 points) also had a huge trey with the clock down to two seconds and just under two minutes to go.
"They were coming down and hitting big shots," said Mason's Folarin Campbell, who hit some big shots for the patriots, finishing with a game-high 20 points.
That proved to be a huge bucket. It was the last field goal Bucknell would score and provided a 53-44 margin that was big enough to allow a weary ballclub to hold on despite a desperate Mason charge in the final 1:34. Twice the Patriots cut the Bison lead to three, each time Bucknell responded by making clutch free throws, going 5 for 6 at the line in the final 16 seconds, all of which proved neccessary when Mason's Folarin Campbell hit a 40-foot heave at the buzzer.
NOTES: Chris McNaughton struggled on offense (1 for 4, 6 points, 3 turnovers), but his defensive presence was huge. Unable to find gaps in Bucknell's matchup zone much of the night, mason tried and tried to toss it down low to 6-7 junior Will Thomas, who then would try to back down McNaughton or Mastropaolo, Thomas, who came in averaging 13.8 points, finished with just 8 after a 4 for 12 shooting night . . . Bucknell outrebounded Mason 29-24 . . . In addition to leading Bucknell in scoring and rebounding, Brown also had two big blocked shots . . . Bucknell shot 56.5 percent in the first half (13 of 23) and finished the game at 52.8 percent from the field . . . The Bison shot fairly accurately in the second half, but not very often, going 6 for 13 (46.2 percent) . . . 3 of the 6 second half field goals for the Bison came outside the arc . . . For a change, no Bison in foul trouble, Nobody had more than 3 . . . Bucknell's defense solid throughout, especially in the first half when Mason shot 9 of 24 (37.5 percent) . . . Mason improved to 45.2 percent in the second half, finishing 23 of 55 (41.8 percent), 7 of 21 (33.3 percent) from the arc . . . In 24 back-to-back game situations under Flannery, Bucknell has now won the second game after losing the first 7 times . . . After 4 games in 8 days and 2 in 24 hours, the Bison are off until Dec. 16 for finals . . . after finals, the Bison will play five more non-conference games, all away from home, before opening league play against Navy Jan. 6
Box score
Postgame audio (Bucknell and GMU press conferences)
Gameblog
GAME STORY LINKS: Daily Item | AP | Examiner | Wash. Post | Wash. Times
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By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of Hoop Time
Donald Brown is not a three-man. Never has been. Probably never will be.
Not that Pat Flannery didn't try to make him one. And why not? It seemed like an obvious solution to Bucknell's need to replace Charles Lee at the small forward spot.
Brown has the athleticism. A long, springy 6-6 kid, he has the prototypical three-man body.
After two stellar seasons off the bench, moving Brown, who had already played starter-like minutes, into the starting lineup made sense.
Except for one small problem.
Donald Brown is not a three. Doesn't have the handle. Doesn't have the range.
Brown is what Dickie V. might call a Windex kind of guy. He needs to be around the glass to be effective.
So it was no surprise when Flannery called off the Brown-as-a-three experiment after seven games and reconfigured his starting lineup prior to Sunday's 60-57 win over George Mason in the BB&T Classic in Washington. How he did it might have been a little surprising, though, moving Brown to the power forward spot that has been occupied by junior Darren Mastropaolo for the better part of the past two seasons and inserting sophomore Jason Vegosky on a wing.
The move surprises a little because it results in the loss of Mastropaolo's beefy, 6-8 presence in the starting lineup. Even though Brown probably played more minutes at the four than Mastropaolo last season, he did it coming off the bench because of Flannery's desire to set a tone early with the officials.
Mastropaolo's physical presence lost out to Brown's offensive potency. With Bucknell struggling to find its rhythm on offense, making a strong first impression on the refs take a back seat to making a favorable impression on the scoreboard.
How well it works will best be judged at the end of the season, but for one game anyhow, it was a smash success. Brown went 6 for 6 from the field, finishing with 16 points and 9 rebounds. The guards tied a season high with 8 three-pointers, and the Bison won a showdown between two of the east coast's mid-major media darlings.
The move paid off early, with Vegotsky hitting a pair of early treys that stabilized Bucknell while it found its legs. Then Brown got going. It was his rebound of John Vaughn's missed three-pointer that got Bucknell the ball, down 8-6 with 15:05 to play in the first half. And it was Brown's offensive rebound putback 40 seconds later that tied the game at 8-8 and started a 9-0 run that gave the Bison a lead they never relinquished. Brown had another bucket in that run, a layin after he came up with his first of two steals.
The other five points on that run came from Justin Castleberry, who appears to have won the role of first guard off the bench. Castleberry, who grew up near D.C. and went to high school at Archbishop Spalding, finished with 7 points and three assists in 17 strong minutes of action.
"(Bucknell) hit a couple of threes early that gave them the lead and some confidence," said Mason coach Jim Larranaga.
Later in the half, after Mason had closed the gap to 5, Brown again got Bucknell going, putting together a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays to push Bucknell's lead to 10.
"We wanted to get another handler in there. That opened up the lane a little bit for Donald Brown," Flannery said. "We wanted to stretch the floor and get another shooter in there."
The Bison led by 13, 33-20, at the half and pushed it to 15 on their first possesion of the second half on a John Griffin off-balance jumper at the top of the key that came as the shot clock was expiring. It was the first of four shot-clock beaters in the second half for the Bison, who got some sort of karmic payback for all the threes Northern Iowa racked up Saturday in clock down situations. Badmus, who finished with 8 points, all in the second half, did it twice, once for a three-pointer, on back-to-back possessions with around five minutes to play. Griffin (13 points) also had a huge trey with the clock down to two seconds and just under two minutes to go.
"They were coming down and hitting big shots," said Mason's Folarin Campbell, who hit some big shots for the patriots, finishing with a game-high 20 points.
That proved to be a huge bucket. It was the last field goal Bucknell would score and provided a 53-44 margin that was big enough to allow a weary ballclub to hold on despite a desperate Mason charge in the final 1:34. Twice the Patriots cut the Bison lead to three, each time Bucknell responded by making clutch free throws, going 5 for 6 at the line in the final 16 seconds, all of which proved neccessary when Mason's Folarin Campbell hit a 40-foot heave at the buzzer.
NOTES: Chris McNaughton struggled on offense (1 for 4, 6 points, 3 turnovers), but his defensive presence was huge. Unable to find gaps in Bucknell's matchup zone much of the night, mason tried and tried to toss it down low to 6-7 junior Will Thomas, who then would try to back down McNaughton or Mastropaolo, Thomas, who came in averaging 13.8 points, finished with just 8 after a 4 for 12 shooting night . . . Bucknell outrebounded Mason 29-24 . . . In addition to leading Bucknell in scoring and rebounding, Brown also had two big blocked shots . . . Bucknell shot 56.5 percent in the first half (13 of 23) and finished the game at 52.8 percent from the field . . . The Bison shot fairly accurately in the second half, but not very often, going 6 for 13 (46.2 percent) . . . 3 of the 6 second half field goals for the Bison came outside the arc . . . For a change, no Bison in foul trouble, Nobody had more than 3 . . . Bucknell's defense solid throughout, especially in the first half when Mason shot 9 of 24 (37.5 percent) . . . Mason improved to 45.2 percent in the second half, finishing 23 of 55 (41.8 percent), 7 of 21 (33.3 percent) from the arc . . . In 24 back-to-back game situations under Flannery, Bucknell has now won the second game after losing the first 7 times . . . After 4 games in 8 days and 2 in 24 hours, the Bison are off until Dec. 16 for finals . . . after finals, the Bison will play five more non-conference games, all away from home, before opening league play against Navy Jan. 6
GAME STORY LINKS: Daily Item | AP | Examiner | Wash. Post | Wash. Times
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Sunday, December 03, 2006
Relive the game as we blogged it live from the Verizon Center.
35 minutes to game time:
Looking at the rosters, Bucknell would seem to have an edge on George Mason inside. The Patriots have nobody on their roster over 6-7. But take a look at those 6-7 guys. They are strong, widebody types like Will Thomas -- 6-7 230 -- who leads the team in rebounds (7 rpg) and averages 13.8 points per game.
Thomas scores his points inside. He has taken one three-pointer all season.
That is actually the norm for this Mason team. For once Bucknell, which has struggled to find points on the arc, should not need to spend a lot of time worrying about the perimeter. John Vaughn, a 6-3 redshirt sophomore, has hit 11 of 29 in Mason's first five games. He leads the Patriots with a 15.2 ppg average. (Yes, Vaughn
would have been a perfect matchup for Charles Lee.)
Folarin Campbell, a 6-4 junior guard, has 7 threes. He is averaging 14.6 ppg. Nobody else has made more than three treys.
Mason's inside attack is reflected by its shooting percentage -- 48.6 percent from the field.
Four seniors on the Mason roster, but none start. Only one, Gabe Norwood, plays significant minutes (29.2 per game, he has started three times).
The the house for the BB&T Classic,Yoni Cohen and Kyle Whelliston. It must be a big event.
6 minutes to game time
From the looks of things, the lower bowl of this arena will be fairly empty for the opener. It appears most of the Bucknell fans are in the second level, in the corner behind the BU bench, with a few sprinkled behind the bench and behind the basket at that end.
The Mason crowd is distributed in similar fashion. The gar side of the lower bowl is nearly empty, though. Just guessing here, but I'd suppose Maryland had a pretty big chunk of the tickets sold for the three-game event.
Bucknell's pep band is here, but at pre-GKU strength. That is too say about a dozen kids, mostly reeds and woodwinds. We will have more thoughts on the BU students jumping off the bandwagon in the next day or so, including a defense of the sparse student turnout for the Northern Iowa game from the Bucknellian's basketball beat guy, who sent a thoughtful e-mail last evening.
Gametime
Bucknell changes up the starting lineup, Brown at the four, Vegotsky at the three. Mastropaolo sits.
Vegotsky with two threes on his first two tries. Mason all about the paint.
Bucknell 6, GMU 6 15:52 first
First BU subs at 15:52 ... Castleberry and Mastropaolo for McNaughton (who just picked up his first foul) and Badmus
Quick 6-0 run featuring two buckets by Donald Brown give Bison the lead and bring s a quick Mason timeout. Brown's first a put back of a Vegotsky miss (10-foot pull up j), The second on a nice one-on-one move on a semi-break.
Bucknell 12 GMU 8 (13:15 first)
Brown with a nice block of a Gabe Norwood layup attempt.
11:30 Rob Thomas makes a heads up play to call a timeout while lying on the floor after coming up with a loose ball in a scramble. Thomas, Andrew Morrison, McNaughton, Badmus and now the combo on the floor. Expect Flannery to rotate troops frequently to preserve legs after having played yesterday.
Bucknell 15, GMU 8 (11:09 first)
Bucknell shooting 57 percent from the floor, 4 for 8 from three-point arc through first eight minutes. Mason at 44 percent (7-16) , 1-3 from the arc. Nobody has shot a free throw.
Bucknell 20, GMU 15 (7:51 first)
Just noticed, Bison wearing white kicks with their orange uniforms for this one.
6:11 Donald Brown with a steal, draws an intentional foul. Bison fail to take full advantage when Griffin (shooting the T) and Brown each make just one of two
Brown is playing very well today. He will be at the line shooting one after being fouled while making a tough driving shot over Will Thomas. Brown now 5 for 5 from the field, 11 points, with 5 rebounds
Bucknell 27, GMU 17 (3:24 first)
Brown having a monster afternoon, gets his second block around the 2:00 mark.
Castleberry, who went to HS nearby at Archbishop Spalding, entertaining his friends from home with 7 first half points, shooting 3 for 4
At the half, Bucknell shooting 13 of 23 from the field (57 percent) 5 of 11 from the arc (45 percent). Mason is 9 of 24 (38 percent) 2 of 7 from the arc (29 percent). Bucknell leading in rebounding 15-10
Bucknell 33, GMU 20 (HALFTIME)
GMU opens the second half with a 6-2 spurt. Bucknell scored on its first possession, a John Griffin buzzer beater, but has not scored since, though McNaughton will be at the line to shoot two when play resumes.
Legs have to be a real concern in the second half for the Bison, who played yesterday afternoon, then bussed here. Watch for tell-tale signs, like jumpers that draw front iron or are just plain short.
Bucknell 35, GMU 27 (15:48 2nd)
The always talked about first five minutes of the second half are a draw, 5-5
14:27 You'd have to assume the intentional foul on Jason Vegotsky, trying to stop Folarin Campbell's breakaway layup, was a makeup call. Replays show Vegotsky clearly making a play on the ball, albeit one that missed.
Mason has begun pressing fullcourt and is giving the Bison a bit of trouble. Patriots on a little 6-2 spurt, fueled in part by BU turnovers against the press.
Bucknell 41, GMU 35 (10:45 2nd)
Badmus beats the shot clock for two at around the 5:50 mark. It is BU's first FG in over 4 minutes. Defense keeping them ahead. John Vaughan's fast break layup just before this timeout is Mason's first FG in around 5 minutes.
Bucknell 47, GMU 40 (4:48 left)
Badmus hits a three, again with the shot clock about to go off, pushing BU lead back to double digits
Bucknell 50, GMU 40 (3:57 to play)
Bison getting the karmic backside of all those buckets Northern Iowa hit late in the clock yesterday. Griffin hits a three with 2 seconds on the clock for a 53-44 lead.
Looks like it will be a free throw shooting contest the final 44.5 seconds if Bucknell can inbound the ball successfully against the pressure. Griffin starts the parade at the 41.2 mark, makes both of a one and one
Mason hanging in thanks to three-point shooting of Dre Smith, who has three of Mason's four in the second half with 30.8 seconds left.
With 30.8 left, Bucknell trouble inbounding after a Smith three, has to call a timeout. They have one left.
29.7: Abe Badmus misses front of a one and one -- other end, Campbell scores to cut it to 55-52. 16.5: Badmus again, this time he hits two that should ice it. Bison up 57-52
11:6: GMU still alive after Campbell gets the call, bailed out after missing a driving shot as Brown, trying to get out of the way, is called for the foul.
10.7 Vegotsky hits one of two, at the other end, McNaughton grabs a GMU miss. With 2.8 he will shoot two, he makes both. Campbell hits a desperate three from near midcourt at the buzzer. It doesn't matter.
Bucknell 60, GMU 57 (final)
If Bucknell goes on to a big season, this could well be the turning point. A gutty performance against a very good team, playing for the second time in 24 hours. A big, big win for Bucknell.
Brown leads BU with 16 points, 9 rebounds
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35 minutes to game time:
would have been a perfect matchup for Charles Lee.)
6 minutes to game time
Gametime
Bucknell 6, GMU 6 15:52 first
Bucknell 12 GMU 8 (13:15 first)
Bucknell 15, GMU 8 (11:09 first)
Bucknell 20, GMU 15 (7:51 first)
Bucknell 27, GMU 17 (3:24 first)
At the half, Bucknell shooting 13 of 23 from the field (57 percent) 5 of 11 from the arc (45 percent). Mason is 9 of 24 (38 percent) 2 of 7 from the arc (29 percent). Bucknell leading in rebounding 15-10
Bucknell 33, GMU 20 (HALFTIME)
Bucknell 35, GMU 27 (15:48 2nd)
Bucknell 41, GMU 35 (10:45 2nd)
Bucknell 47, GMU 40 (4:48 left)
Bucknell 50, GMU 40 (3:57 to play)
Bucknell 60, GMU 57 (final)
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All the talk in the Washington papers is about Maryland-Notre Dame and Virginia Tech-George Washington, but it's the opener of today's three-game BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center that Patriot League, and mid-major fans, have their eyes on. That first game, tipping at 1:30 p.m. on Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic, features Bucknell and last year's Final Four phenoms, George Mason. Here's the matchup.
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(Updated with new links at 8:17 a.m.)
Looking for five plays that were the keys to Northern Iowa's 57-48 win over Bucknell Saturday? Then look no further than the five three-pointers hit by the visiting Panthers.
Write the story of any one of the five. Highlight it. Ctrl-C. Ctrl-V. Repeat three more times. That's your ballgame in five paragraphs.
Sure, accuracy requires a little bit of tweaking here and there, but it would be a minor edit to what otherwise was a Groundhog Day afternoon for the Bison. Each three came on a Northern Iowa possession in which Bucknell played incredible defense. Each three came after UNI had all but run out of time on the 35-second shot clock. And each one came in key situations, each foiling any bucknell effort at a run or momentum swing.
There were other big plays. The four-points UNI got when Bucknell coach Pat Flannery got hit with a technical arguing Abe Badmus' third personal comes to mind as one. Coming with UNI holding a 45-42, and moments after a no-call when Badmus was knocked to the floor trying to finish inside against UNI's Eric Coleman, the four free throws -- two by Brooks McKowen on the T and two by Jared Josten on the Badmus foul -- turned a one-possession game into a three-possession affair.
It was not as big a swing, though, as. say the three McKowen hit two minutes later. That one came as the shot clock expired, just when it looked like Bucknell, which had clawed its way back to within three, might be about to get a huge defensive stop. Bucknell never again got within one possession.
It was one of three treys for McKowen, who scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half. All McKowen's three-pointers came in the final eight minutes of the game, each at similar key moments, in similar shot clock situations.
The first, with Bucknell up by one (40-39), came after UNI got an offensive rebound when Grant Stout missed a three with one second on the shot clock. The second came with 5:31 to play, after Bucknell had managed to get even again with a Darren Mastropaolo layup. Again it came after a missed three-pointer with the shot clock about to buzz, and an offensive rebound. For good measure, this one McKowen drilled with 33 of the shot clock's 35 seconds already gone.
"It came down to possessions, They hit a couple big corner shots and got a couple big offensive rebounds . . . That really hurt us," Flannery said,
"Late in the shot clock . . . every time they made a run, one of our guys would make a shot," said UNI forward Eric Coleman, who scored 12 of his 14-points in the first half, when he went 6 for 7 from the floor. Coleman, by the way, also had 10 boards to complete a double-double.
McKowen was not the only three-pointer hero for the Panthers. Grant Stout, a 6-8 senior forward, also had a pair of treys. Naturally, each came after Bucknell had UNI on the shot clock ropes. Stout's first, with 2:19 to play in the first half, came just after Bucknell center Chris McNaughton left the floor with his third personal. With Darren Mastropaolo also in foul trouble (2 in the first half), Flannery chose to use sophomore 6-11 Josh Linthicum down the stretch. With the shot clock running down, Linthicum got lost inside on a switch as Stout popped out to the arc on the right side. McKowen found him there, Stout beat the buzzer and what had been a 1-point UNI lead was back to four.
Stout's second came early in the second half, after Bucknell had cut UNI's 28-24 halftime lead to 30-29. The ball went out of bounds off a Bison with two second to go on the shot clock. Turned out two seconds was precisely how long it took Stout to step out to the arc off a Coleman screen, catch a long skip pass and drain the trey.
"The easiest shots to shoot are late in the shot clock. You know you are going to shoot as soon as you get it," Stout said.
There were other factors. Bucknell again struggled to find a third option on offense. With McNaughton's minutes limited to 27 by his foul woes, that was an even bigger problem. The big German played some of his best ball of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. But when he was off the floor, Bucknell had no inside threat. Mastropaolo, so assertive on offense early in the season, looked like a bobblehead doll, head faking and pump faking repeatedly each time he caught the ball down low, then kicking it out, for some reason hesitant to go to the rack against Stout, who guarded him much of the afternoon.
Badmus had 11 points on 5 for 12 shooting. He was 1 for 5 from the three-point arc, but at least was not passing up the open jumpers the way he has most of the season.
No other Bison made more than two shots. Donald Brown, who led the team in scoring in the wins over Yale and St. Francis, was on the panel of the milk carton opposite Mastropaolo. Jason Vegotsky, who only managed to get open for three shots (making one) is on the milk carton, too. Matter of fact, it is pretty crowded. John Griffin (6 points), who was 2 for 6 from the field and missed all three treys he took, was the only Bison other than McNaughton or Badmus with more than five points.
The way Stout and Coleman managed to light up anybody not named Mastropaolo or McNaughton was also a problem. Coleman had a monster first half, and is a heckuva ballplayer, undersized as a center at 6-6, but able to make up for it because he is strong as a plow horse, quick as a race horse and jumps like a show horse. Truth be told, his quiet second half was not so much because Bucknell made any defensive adjustments as it was because Mastropaolo or McNaughton was guarding him most of the time. Most of his points came against Linthicum, who Coleman treated like a 6-11 speedbump.
All those factors, though, the Bison might have been able to overcome. The big three-pointers, were too much.
"We were able to make a couple of shots in the second half as the shot clock ran down'"said UNI coach Ben Jacobson. "That was the difference,"
NOTES: The announced crowd was 4,011, the smallest crowd for a Saturday game in Sojka since the Cornell game Dec. 17 of last year. That game was with students on break . . . That figure is 11 over Sojka's official capacity, but the place was far from full. The student sections were only about half full and there were a number of no shows among the season ticket holders on each side . . . Bucknell now with two losses in Sojka for the first time since the 2003-2004 season when they went 10-2 there . . . Also on the Bison milk carton: brawny junior power forward Andrew Morrison, whose minutes have vanished since the Penn State game. Morrison, whose strength would seem to have made him a reasonable matchup on Coleman,did not get off the bench . . . Bucknell left Lewisburg a short time after the game, headed to D.C. for Sunday's meeting with George Mason . . . Northern Iowa's 54.2 percent first half marked the fifth half a Bison opponent has shot 50 percent of better from the field . . . Last season it happened in 10 halves the entire season, six outside of the two game mini-slide at Santa Clara and at Duke . . . Bucknell had a player foul out nine times all of last season. With Badmus and Mastropaolo each disqualified for the second time this season, the Bison have now tallied 8 foul outs already this season.
Box score
Postgame audio clips (Pat Flannery and John Griffin)
Gameblog
AP story
Daily Item
Sun Gazette
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Looking for five plays that were the keys to Northern Iowa's 57-48 win over Bucknell Saturday? Then look no further than the five three-pointers hit by the visiting Panthers.
Write the story of any one of the five. Highlight it. Ctrl-C. Ctrl-V. Repeat three more times. That's your ballgame in five paragraphs.
Sure, accuracy requires a little bit of tweaking here and there, but it would be a minor edit to what otherwise was a Groundhog Day afternoon for the Bison. Each three came on a Northern Iowa possession in which Bucknell played incredible defense. Each three came after UNI had all but run out of time on the 35-second shot clock. And each one came in key situations, each foiling any bucknell effort at a run or momentum swing.
There were other big plays. The four-points UNI got when Bucknell coach Pat Flannery got hit with a technical arguing Abe Badmus' third personal comes to mind as one. Coming with UNI holding a 45-42, and moments after a no-call when Badmus was knocked to the floor trying to finish inside against UNI's Eric Coleman, the four free throws -- two by Brooks McKowen on the T and two by Jared Josten on the Badmus foul -- turned a one-possession game into a three-possession affair.
It was not as big a swing, though, as. say the three McKowen hit two minutes later. That one came as the shot clock expired, just when it looked like Bucknell, which had clawed its way back to within three, might be about to get a huge defensive stop. Bucknell never again got within one possession.
It was one of three treys for McKowen, who scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half. All McKowen's three-pointers came in the final eight minutes of the game, each at similar key moments, in similar shot clock situations.
The first, with Bucknell up by one (40-39), came after UNI got an offensive rebound when Grant Stout missed a three with one second on the shot clock. The second came with 5:31 to play, after Bucknell had managed to get even again with a Darren Mastropaolo layup. Again it came after a missed three-pointer with the shot clock about to buzz, and an offensive rebound. For good measure, this one McKowen drilled with 33 of the shot clock's 35 seconds already gone.
"It came down to possessions, They hit a couple big corner shots and got a couple big offensive rebounds . . . That really hurt us," Flannery said,
"Late in the shot clock . . . every time they made a run, one of our guys would make a shot," said UNI forward Eric Coleman, who scored 12 of his 14-points in the first half, when he went 6 for 7 from the floor. Coleman, by the way, also had 10 boards to complete a double-double.
McKowen was not the only three-pointer hero for the Panthers. Grant Stout, a 6-8 senior forward, also had a pair of treys. Naturally, each came after Bucknell had UNI on the shot clock ropes. Stout's first, with 2:19 to play in the first half, came just after Bucknell center Chris McNaughton left the floor with his third personal. With Darren Mastropaolo also in foul trouble (2 in the first half), Flannery chose to use sophomore 6-11 Josh Linthicum down the stretch. With the shot clock running down, Linthicum got lost inside on a switch as Stout popped out to the arc on the right side. McKowen found him there, Stout beat the buzzer and what had been a 1-point UNI lead was back to four.
Stout's second came early in the second half, after Bucknell had cut UNI's 28-24 halftime lead to 30-29. The ball went out of bounds off a Bison with two second to go on the shot clock. Turned out two seconds was precisely how long it took Stout to step out to the arc off a Coleman screen, catch a long skip pass and drain the trey.
"The easiest shots to shoot are late in the shot clock. You know you are going to shoot as soon as you get it," Stout said.
There were other factors. Bucknell again struggled to find a third option on offense. With McNaughton's minutes limited to 27 by his foul woes, that was an even bigger problem. The big German played some of his best ball of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. But when he was off the floor, Bucknell had no inside threat. Mastropaolo, so assertive on offense early in the season, looked like a bobblehead doll, head faking and pump faking repeatedly each time he caught the ball down low, then kicking it out, for some reason hesitant to go to the rack against Stout, who guarded him much of the afternoon.
Badmus had 11 points on 5 for 12 shooting. He was 1 for 5 from the three-point arc, but at least was not passing up the open jumpers the way he has most of the season.
No other Bison made more than two shots. Donald Brown, who led the team in scoring in the wins over Yale and St. Francis, was on the panel of the milk carton opposite Mastropaolo. Jason Vegotsky, who only managed to get open for three shots (making one) is on the milk carton, too. Matter of fact, it is pretty crowded. John Griffin (6 points), who was 2 for 6 from the field and missed all three treys he took, was the only Bison other than McNaughton or Badmus with more than five points.
The way Stout and Coleman managed to light up anybody not named Mastropaolo or McNaughton was also a problem. Coleman had a monster first half, and is a heckuva ballplayer, undersized as a center at 6-6, but able to make up for it because he is strong as a plow horse, quick as a race horse and jumps like a show horse. Truth be told, his quiet second half was not so much because Bucknell made any defensive adjustments as it was because Mastropaolo or McNaughton was guarding him most of the time. Most of his points came against Linthicum, who Coleman treated like a 6-11 speedbump.
All those factors, though, the Bison might have been able to overcome. The big three-pointers, were too much.
"We were able to make a couple of shots in the second half as the shot clock ran down'"said UNI coach Ben Jacobson. "That was the difference,"
NOTES: The announced crowd was 4,011, the smallest crowd for a Saturday game in Sojka since the Cornell game Dec. 17 of last year. That game was with students on break . . . That figure is 11 over Sojka's official capacity, but the place was far from full. The student sections were only about half full and there were a number of no shows among the season ticket holders on each side . . . Bucknell now with two losses in Sojka for the first time since the 2003-2004 season when they went 10-2 there . . . Also on the Bison milk carton: brawny junior power forward Andrew Morrison, whose minutes have vanished since the Penn State game. Morrison, whose strength would seem to have made him a reasonable matchup on Coleman,did not get off the bench . . . Bucknell left Lewisburg a short time after the game, headed to D.C. for Sunday's meeting with George Mason . . . Northern Iowa's 54.2 percent first half marked the fifth half a Bison opponent has shot 50 percent of better from the field . . . Last season it happened in 10 halves the entire season, six outside of the two game mini-slide at Santa Clara and at Duke . . . Bucknell had a player foul out nine times all of last season. With Badmus and Mastropaolo each disqualified for the second time this season, the Bison have now tallied 8 foul outs already this season.
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(Updated at 7:53 a.m. with new links)
Lafayette ended a losing streak, Lehigh stayed unbeaten at home and Army kept a winning streak going. The news for Colgate and Holy Cross was not as good.
Lafayette 72, St. Peter's 69 -- Freshman Jesper Andersson hit six three-pointers en route to a career-best 18 points. But it was Ted Detmer's trey with 1.4 on the clock that proved to be the game-winner for Lafayette, which snapped a six-game losing streak.
Lafayette hit a total of 15 threes. That was the difference in a game in which both teams had 25 field goals and 7 free throws. Saint Peter's finished with 12 treys.
Bilal Abdullah and Andrew Brown were left out of Lafayette's starting lineup for the first time this season, replaced by Paul Cummins and Marcus Harley. Abdullah responded with 14 points, Brown with 11 points and 8 assists.
Box score | AP | Express-Times
Army 63, Citadel 55 -- Army shot 48.8 percent (20 of 41) for the game, 55 percent (11 of 20) in the second half when they battled back to pull out the win.
The Black Knights were up 32-24 at the intermission, but Citadel started the second half with a 13-0 run and was up as many as 8 points (46-38 with 12:34 to play) before Army stormed back.
Jarrell Brown with 23 points to lead Army. Matt Bell added 17 and freshman Chris Walker was 5 for 7 from the field, 11 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.
Box score | AP
Harvard 76, Colgate 64 -- Colgate shot 50 percent at home and still lost to Harvard. It didn't hurt Harvard to shoot 16 of 25 (64 percent) in the second half. The Crimson's 22 of 29 showing at the foul line also a factor in a game where Colgate shot only a dozen (making 6) free throws all afternoon.
Kendall Chones was 10 for 11 from the field for 21 points to lead Colgate. Jon Simon added 14 and Daniel Waddy had 12 for the Raiders.
Colgate was whistled for 22 fouls (to 12 for Harvard), including 5 on starting center Marc Daniels, who managed to last but 13 minutes against Harvard's Brian Cusworth, who finished with 23 points on 9 for 12 shooting.
Box score | AP
Dayton 69, Holy Cross 53 -- No way of telling when the last time a team shot 59.5 percent from the field against the defensive minded Crusaders, but it is not the kind of thing that happens very often (Minnesota was the last team to shoot 60 percent against HC ... 12-4-2004).
The Crusaders led 29-27 at the intermission, but wilted in the second half, making just 6 field goals (on 22 tries, 27.3 percent). Dayton opened the half with a 13-3 run and never looked back.
Keith Simmons with 15 to lead HC. Torey Thomas with 13.
Box score | AP | Telegram & Gazette | Dayton Daily News (gamer) | Dayton Daily News (notes)
Lehigh 55, Central Conn. St. 52 -- Marquis Hall hit a pullup jumper with 57 seconds to go to help Lehigh stay unbeaten at home despite shooting only 39.5 percent from the field. Hall's J gave the Hawks the lead for just the second time in the second half.
Jose Olivero led Lehigh with 14 points. Kyle Neptune added 12 points and 9 rebounds. The Hawks outrebounded CCSU 36-27 and had a huge edge at the foul line, where they went 16 for 23. CCSU only shot 9 free throws, making 4.
Box score | AP
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Lafayette ended a losing streak, Lehigh stayed unbeaten at home and Army kept a winning streak going. The news for Colgate and Holy Cross was not as good.
Lafayette 72, St. Peter's 69 -- Freshman Jesper Andersson hit six three-pointers en route to a career-best 18 points. But it was Ted Detmer's trey with 1.4 on the clock that proved to be the game-winner for Lafayette, which snapped a six-game losing streak.
Lafayette hit a total of 15 threes. That was the difference in a game in which both teams had 25 field goals and 7 free throws. Saint Peter's finished with 12 treys.
Bilal Abdullah and Andrew Brown were left out of Lafayette's starting lineup for the first time this season, replaced by Paul Cummins and Marcus Harley. Abdullah responded with 14 points, Brown with 11 points and 8 assists.
Box score | AP | Express-Times
Army 63, Citadel 55 -- Army shot 48.8 percent (20 of 41) for the game, 55 percent (11 of 20) in the second half when they battled back to pull out the win.
The Black Knights were up 32-24 at the intermission, but Citadel started the second half with a 13-0 run and was up as many as 8 points (46-38 with 12:34 to play) before Army stormed back.
Jarrell Brown with 23 points to lead Army. Matt Bell added 17 and freshman Chris Walker was 5 for 7 from the field, 11 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.
Box score | AP
Harvard 76, Colgate 64 -- Colgate shot 50 percent at home and still lost to Harvard. It didn't hurt Harvard to shoot 16 of 25 (64 percent) in the second half. The Crimson's 22 of 29 showing at the foul line also a factor in a game where Colgate shot only a dozen (making 6) free throws all afternoon.
Kendall Chones was 10 for 11 from the field for 21 points to lead Colgate. Jon Simon added 14 and Daniel Waddy had 12 for the Raiders.
Colgate was whistled for 22 fouls (to 12 for Harvard), including 5 on starting center Marc Daniels, who managed to last but 13 minutes against Harvard's Brian Cusworth, who finished with 23 points on 9 for 12 shooting.
Box score | AP
Dayton 69, Holy Cross 53 -- No way of telling when the last time a team shot 59.5 percent from the field against the defensive minded Crusaders, but it is not the kind of thing that happens very often (Minnesota was the last team to shoot 60 percent against HC ... 12-4-2004).
The Crusaders led 29-27 at the intermission, but wilted in the second half, making just 6 field goals (on 22 tries, 27.3 percent). Dayton opened the half with a 13-3 run and never looked back.
Keith Simmons with 15 to lead HC. Torey Thomas with 13.
Box score | AP | Telegram & Gazette | Dayton Daily News (gamer) | Dayton Daily News (notes)
Lehigh 55, Central Conn. St. 52 -- Marquis Hall hit a pullup jumper with 57 seconds to go to help Lehigh stay unbeaten at home despite shooting only 39.5 percent from the field. Hall's J gave the Hawks the lead for just the second time in the second half.
Jose Olivero led Lehigh with 14 points. Kyle Neptune added 12 points and 9 rebounds. The Hawks outrebounded CCSU 36-27 and had a huge edge at the foul line, where they went 16 for 23. CCSU only shot 9 free throws, making 4.
Box score | AP
Labels: Army, CU, games, HC, Laf, Leh
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Saturday, December 02, 2006
If there was a big crowd of Bucknell students someplace Saturday afternoon, maybe it was the infirmary, where unconfirmed reports say hundreds of BU kids were being treated for sprains, breaks and brusies, suffered while jumping off the Bison bandwagon.
Pregame
They are expecting a sellout, but as the Bison are introduced in Sojka Pavilion, the student sections at either end are about half full and still empty seats on each side. Especially the section usually reserved for visiting teams behind the UNI bench.
Reportedly UNI returned about 100 tickets that were put on sale today. The rest of the tickets have been sold, or claimed, for this one. But at the tip, still many unused.
The officials are a mystery. Nobody along press row can recall seeing any of the three before.
Badmus has looked for the three three times in the first 4 minutes, making one.
UNI scored the first 4 points of the game, Bison on an 8-0 run with McNaughton on the line looking to finish a three-point play.
Bucknell 8, UNI 4 (15:56 first)
By the way, the Bison sticking with the orange shoes. They switched to them for the Yale game and are 2-0 in them since.
Correction on the Badmus three-pointers. He was inside the arc for the one he made. Officially 0-2 from outside.
McNaughton just picked up his second personal with 11:40 to go in the half. Again their best player looking at a large chunk of time on the Bison bench. He has been playing well, too, 4 points and 4 rebounds thus far. Mastropaolo also sitting with two fouls.
Bucknell 13, UNI 11 (13:33 first)
With Mastropaolo and McNaughton on the bench, UNI is pounding the ball inside, especially to Eric Coleman, who is 5 for 6, 10 points already. Coleman picking up where he left off last season when he scored 11 of his 15 in the second half against the Bison.
UNI shooting 50 percent from the field (8 for 16), 0 for 4 at the arc. Bucknell is 7 for 17 (41.2 percent) from the field, 1 for 5 on threes.
Bucknell 17, UNI 17 (7:35 first)
Mastropaolo checks back in during the timeout at 7:35, along with Patrick Behan, whom Coleman has for lunch the first time he sees the ball. Seems like Andrew Morrison would be the better matchup defensively on the beefy Coleman.
At the 5:30 mark, McNaughton replaces Mastropaolo. Appears Flannery going to roll the dice on getting through the half with those two not getting a third foul. He has little choice. It is that or let Coleman romp in the paint. Linthicum and Behan have been mere speedbumps when they tried to guard him.
UNI 23, Bucknell 22 (2:50 first)
Flannery loses that gamble six seconds after the timeout when McNaughton picks up his third. Unwilling to risk Mastropaolo getting a third, Linthicum replaces McNaughton.
UNI 28, Bucknell 24 (HALFTIME)
Halftime stats: UNI shooting 54.2 percent from the field (13-24) due maainly to Coleman and 6-8 senior Grant Stout. Coleman is 6 for 7 with 12 points, Stout 4 for 7 for 9 (including 1 for 2 from three-point range).
Bucknell either more balanced or unable to get anybody going, depending how you look at it. Abe Badmus (3 for 8, 6 points) is the only Bison with more than one field goal. Bison 10 for 24 (41.7 percent) from the field.
McNaughton, who has 5 rebounds and three points, has three personals. Nobody else on either side with more than two.
By the way, it is not a late arriving crowd. Bucknell's students have bailed from the bandwagon in a big way. That this place is not packed for a game of this caliber borders on criminal.
UNI 28, Bucknell 24 (START 2nd HALF)
Now Badmus has a three, knocking one down top of the key to make it a 30-29 game. Badmus now 1 of 4 from the arc.
At the 17:@0 mark, UNI has an inbounds play with 2 seconds on the shot clock. Somehow BU leaves Stout wide open on the arc for an easy three.
16:10 Mastropaolo picks up his third personal on what looked a lot like an out of control travel by Coleman.
15:33 Travis Brown of UNi picks up his third personal. No other Panther has two.
UNI 36, Bucknell 29 (15:33 2nd)
Bison retake lead on McNaughton layin off a nifty feed from Griffin at the 8:36 mark.
UNI right back on top on a trey by Brooks McKowen after Stout chased down his own missed three in a corner and tipped it back to a teammate to retain possession
UNI 42, Bucknell 40 (7:31 2nd Half)
Mastropaolo hit with his fourth foul at the 6:43 mark. At the 5:20 mark he reenters when McNaughton needs a breather.
Flannery gets a technical at the 4:35 mark, arguing a foul called on Badmus on what looked like a tripped over his own two feet move by Josten. McKowen makes both on the T and Josten both ends of the one and one and suddenly UNI has a 49-42 lead. Flannery's ire was perhaps fueled by the no call on Coleman at the other end on a play where Badmus went to the hole and ended up on the floor.
3:56 Both McNaughton and Mastropaolo are on the floor for Bucknell. Flannery cannot afford to leave either out at this point.
UNI 49, Bucknell 44 (3:34 2nd Half)
McNaughton with a turnaround cuts it to 49-46, but at the other end, a buzzer-beating three by McKowen pushes the UNI lead back to 6. Not coincidentally, that is the same number of points UNI has on three-pointers with the shot clock running out.
Badmus now with four personals, called for his fourth while battling with Stout for a long rebound off a missed UNI three.
UNI 52, Bucknell 46 (1:57 to play)
Mastropaolo picks up his fifth with 48 seconds to play. It pays off when Stout misses both free throws, but Bucknell cannot convert at the other end, McNaughton missing a three, which Coleman rebounds. Badmus then gets his fifth and McKowen seals it by making both free throws for a 55-48 lead with 32.2 to play.
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Pregame
They are expecting a sellout, but as the Bison are introduced in Sojka Pavilion, the student sections at either end are about half full and still empty seats on each side. Especially the section usually reserved for visiting teams behind the UNI bench.
Reportedly UNI returned about 100 tickets that were put on sale today. The rest of the tickets have been sold, or claimed, for this one. But at the tip, still many unused.
Bucknell 8, UNI 4 (15:56 first)
Bucknell 13, UNI 11 (13:33 first)
Bucknell 17, UNI 17 (7:35 first)
UNI 23, Bucknell 22 (2:50 first)
UNI 28, Bucknell 24 (HALFTIME)
Halftime stats: UNI shooting 54.2 percent from the field (13-24) due maainly to Coleman and 6-8 senior Grant Stout. Coleman is 6 for 7 with 12 points, Stout 4 for 7 for 9 (including 1 for 2 from three-point range).
Bucknell either more balanced or unable to get anybody going, depending how you look at it. Abe Badmus (3 for 8, 6 points) is the only Bison with more than one field goal. Bison 10 for 24 (41.7 percent) from the field.
McNaughton, who has 5 rebounds and three points, has three personals. Nobody else on either side with more than two.
UNI 28, Bucknell 24 (START 2nd HALF)
UNI 36, Bucknell 29 (15:33 2nd)
UNI 42, Bucknell 40 (7:31 2nd Half)
UNI 49, Bucknell 44 (3:34 2nd Half)
UNI 52, Bucknell 46 (1:57 to play)
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Two marquee contests top today's six-game slate. In Lewisburg, Bucknell hosts 5-1 Northern Iowa in a return game from last season's BracketBusters. Then tonight, Holy Cross is at Dayton in a battle of two teams with one loss each. Live video of the HC-Dayton game, by the way, will be available for free from Dayton's Web site.
Here are today's matchups: UNI at BU | Army at Citadel | Harvard at 'Gate | Laf. at St. Peter's | Central Conn. at Leh. | HC at Dayton
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Here are today's matchups: UNI at BU | Army at Citadel | Harvard at 'Gate | Laf. at St. Peter's | Central Conn. at Leh. | HC at Dayton
Labels: Army, BU, CU, HC, Laf, Leh, previews
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Much has been made about Navy's ability to shoot the ball, but Friday night in Farmville, Va., the Mids showed they can get it done when the shots are not dropping, too, with a 61-59 win over Longwood.
Navy had its worst shooting night of the season, going 20 of 57 (35.1 percent) from the field. It was especially tough in the first half, when Navy made only 6 field goals on 26 tries (23.1 percent).
But down by 7 with 3:34 to go, the Mids battled back to tie the game at 50-50 in regulation, then opened the overtime with a 9-0 run that held up despite going without another field goal the rest of the way.
Greg Sprink led Navy with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Corey Johnson's 12 points included some of the biggest buckets for Navy. Johnson twice hit free throws to tie the game near the end of regulation and his jumper with 22 seconds to go sent the game to OT. Kaleo Kina also added 11 for the Mids.
Despite Navy's off night, they still shot well enough from three-point range (9 of 27, 33.3 percent) to make a difference. Longwood was just 3 of 17 from the arc. The Mids also played decent defense, limiting Longwood to 22 of 60 (36.7 percent) from the field.
Box score | AP
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Navy had its worst shooting night of the season, going 20 of 57 (35.1 percent) from the field. It was especially tough in the first half, when Navy made only 6 field goals on 26 tries (23.1 percent).
But down by 7 with 3:34 to go, the Mids battled back to tie the game at 50-50 in regulation, then opened the overtime with a 9-0 run that held up despite going without another field goal the rest of the way.
Greg Sprink led Navy with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Corey Johnson's 12 points included some of the biggest buckets for Navy. Johnson twice hit free throws to tie the game near the end of regulation and his jumper with 22 seconds to go sent the game to OT. Kaleo Kina also added 11 for the Mids.
Despite Navy's off night, they still shot well enough from three-point range (9 of 27, 33.3 percent) to make a difference. Longwood was just 3 of 17 from the arc. The Mids also played decent defense, limiting Longwood to 22 of 60 (36.7 percent) from the field.
Box score | AP
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HOOP TIME NOTEBOOK
It was a popular theme at media day, a party line all eight coaches recited during their comments. "The league is stronger this year," they said
They were right. Heading into Navy's game tonight at Longwood, the Patriot League is a healthy 30-25 against out of conference competition. Five of the eight teams sport winning records, two have RPIs in the top 100. Right now, the Patriot League is the No. 14 conference in the RPI. That is even ahead of the Atlantic Ten.
Last season the Patriot League went a combined 40-58 out of conference, with an RPI of 21.
One big difference this season: Nobody in the league is +300 in the RPI. Only three teams (Colgate -- 267, Lafayette -- 265, and Lehigh -- 254) are even above 200. If Bucknell (195) can improve, and the rest hold their current spots in the top 120 (Army -- 120, American -- 116, Holy Cross -- 90 and Navy --77), the league's top teams ought to see much less negative RPI impact from conference play.
BACK TO BACK: With Bucknell set to play a rare back-to-back set with Northern Iowa and George Mason this weekend, we decided to do a little digging to see how the Bison have fared in back-to-back games over the years. The results are half-empty or half-full, depending on your point of view. That is to say, if form holds, Bucknell will knock off somebody pretty good this weekend. By the same logic, though, they will also lose to such a team.
The split has definitely been the norm over the years. Our quick check back through the years showed 23 times in the Pat Flannery era where the Bison played on successive dates. Fifteen of those occasions resulted in splits. Bucknell has swept three of those sets and lost both ends five times.
The last time Bucknell won games on back-to-back days was at the start of the 1999-2000 season when they won the Marist Pepsi Classic with wins over Maine and Marist. The last they lost both was the start of the 2001-02 season, when they dropped games to Central Connecticut and vermont at the Mohegan Sun Classic.
Might be worth noting that in all of those situations, both games were played the same place, not one in Lewisburg and one on the road in D.C. like they will be this weekend.
FIRE WHEN READY: Looking for keys to Navy's turnaround. Try their shooting. The Midshipmen are shooting 48.7 percent from the field, second best in the league. The Mids lead the league in free throw percentage (81.5 percent) and their average of 10.29 three-pointer per game also tops the Patriot League.
The Mids have made 166 baskets thus far; 72 have been threes. Threes are accounting for 43.1 percent of Navy's scoring, which makes them the ninth most dependent on the three team in the nation, according to stats guru Ken Pomeroy, whose numbers we will have some fun with in future notebooks.
LEND A HAND: Another big plus for Navy has been its assists to turnover ratio, currently a league leading 1.04. The last time Navy finished a season with more assists than turnovers was the 1996-97 season.
Navy's 15.43 assists per game leads the league and the Mids have gone 9 straight games, dating to last season, without more than 20 turnovers in a game. That is the Midshipmen's longest such streak since they went 14 games without 20 turnovers during the 1998 season.
NEW YEAR: It has been quiet and under the radar, but Holy Cross sophomore center Greg mcCarthy is starting to emerge a little for the Crusaders. Last season, some speculated whether McCarthy would ever get off Ralph Willard's bench. The 6-11 McCarthy only played 15 minutes all season, finishing with 4 points and 1 rebound.
Through seven games, McCarthy has not been the second coming of Patrick Whearty, or even of Nate Lufkin. But he is contributing. McCarthy already has played 60 minutes, with 17 points and 6 rebounds to his credit.
LOTS OF EYES: The crowd that watched Holy Cross' loss at Syracuse on Wednesday was the biggest crowd to see a Crusaders regular season game since the school began keeping attendance records in 1982. A total of 19,235 were on hand in the Carrier Dome. That was the third-largest crowd HC has ever played in front of. The 6,612 on hand for their 2002 NCAA Tournament game with Kansas ranks No.1, followed by the Marquette game (20,960) in the following year's Big Dance.
CAUTIONARY TALE: A midst the intoxicating excitement of the unexpected fast starts teams like Army and Navy, a sobering
tale from the Army record books. Army's 5-2 start is the best at West Point since the 1994-95 team also started 5-2. A win at the Citadel Saturday would equal the 6-2 start of Army's 1978-79 team, coached by none other than Mike Krzyzewski.
The 94-95 start resulted in a 12-16 final record, 4-10, just ahead of last place Lafayette, in the Patriot League. Krzyzewski's team did a little better, finishing 14-11 in what would be Coach K's next to last season by the Hudson.
CONCENTRATION: Not hard to figure out where the ball is going in Army's offense. Through the first seven games, Jarrell Brown and Matt Bell have combined to score 235 of Army's 460 points (51.1 percent). At their current pace the duo will combine for 1,000 points this season.
Through the first seven, each has reached double figures six times. Brown, who leads the team with an 18.1 points per game average, has led the Black Knight's in scoring four time. Bell, who averages 15.4 ppg, has been top scorer for Army in the other three.
BALANCING ACT: If there is a team that is the antithesis to Army when it comes to scoring balance, it would be Bucknell, which has nobody averaging in double figures, but six guys averaging between 8.3 and 9.5 points per game. Chris McNaughton, the team's leading scorer, has tallied 57 points thus far. Donald Brown has 55. John Griffin, Abe Badmus and Jason Vegotsky each have 53 and Darren Mastropaolo has scored 50.
Each has led the team in scoring at least one game. Brown has done it in the past two. Rob Thomas shared the honors with Abe Badmus (16 points) against Wake Forest. Two others, Andrew Morrison and Justin Castleberry, have also recorded double figures games for the Bison.
BONUS LINKS: Bison center struggling to find form (Tom Housenick's column)
Freshman guard learning on the move (brown and White)
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It was a popular theme at media day, a party line all eight coaches recited during their comments. "The league is stronger this year," they said
They were right. Heading into Navy's game tonight at Longwood, the Patriot League is a healthy 30-25 against out of conference competition. Five of the eight teams sport winning records, two have RPIs in the top 100. Right now, the Patriot League is the No. 14 conference in the RPI. That is even ahead of the Atlantic Ten.
Last season the Patriot League went a combined 40-58 out of conference, with an RPI of 21.
One big difference this season: Nobody in the league is +300 in the RPI. Only three teams (Colgate -- 267, Lafayette -- 265, and Lehigh -- 254) are even above 200. If Bucknell (195) can improve, and the rest hold their current spots in the top 120 (Army -- 120, American -- 116, Holy Cross -- 90 and Navy --77), the league's top teams ought to see much less negative RPI impact from conference play.
BACK TO BACK: With Bucknell set to play a rare back-to-back set with Northern Iowa and George Mason this weekend, we decided to do a little digging to see how the Bison have fared in back-to-back games over the years. The results are half-empty or half-full, depending on your point of view. That is to say, if form holds, Bucknell will knock off somebody pretty good this weekend. By the same logic, though, they will also lose to such a team.
The split has definitely been the norm over the years. Our quick check back through the years showed 23 times in the Pat Flannery era where the Bison played on successive dates. Fifteen of those occasions resulted in splits. Bucknell has swept three of those sets and lost both ends five times.
The last time Bucknell won games on back-to-back days was at the start of the 1999-2000 season when they won the Marist Pepsi Classic with wins over Maine and Marist. The last they lost both was the start of the 2001-02 season, when they dropped games to Central Connecticut and vermont at the Mohegan Sun Classic.
Might be worth noting that in all of those situations, both games were played the same place, not one in Lewisburg and one on the road in D.C. like they will be this weekend.
FIRE WHEN READY: Looking for keys to Navy's turnaround. Try their shooting. The Midshipmen are shooting 48.7 percent from the field, second best in the league. The Mids lead the league in free throw percentage (81.5 percent) and their average of 10.29 three-pointer per game also tops the Patriot League.
The Mids have made 166 baskets thus far; 72 have been threes. Threes are accounting for 43.1 percent of Navy's scoring, which makes them the ninth most dependent on the three team in the nation, according to stats guru Ken Pomeroy, whose numbers we will have some fun with in future notebooks.
LEND A HAND: Another big plus for Navy has been its assists to turnover ratio, currently a league leading 1.04. The last time Navy finished a season with more assists than turnovers was the 1996-97 season.
Navy's 15.43 assists per game leads the league and the Mids have gone 9 straight games, dating to last season, without more than 20 turnovers in a game. That is the Midshipmen's longest such streak since they went 14 games without 20 turnovers during the 1998 season.
NEW YEAR: It has been quiet and under the radar, but Holy Cross sophomore center Greg mcCarthy is starting to emerge a little for the Crusaders. Last season, some speculated whether McCarthy would ever get off Ralph Willard's bench. The 6-11 McCarthy only played 15 minutes all season, finishing with 4 points and 1 rebound.
Through seven games, McCarthy has not been the second coming of Patrick Whearty, or even of Nate Lufkin. But he is contributing. McCarthy already has played 60 minutes, with 17 points and 6 rebounds to his credit.
LOTS OF EYES: The crowd that watched Holy Cross' loss at Syracuse on Wednesday was the biggest crowd to see a Crusaders regular season game since the school began keeping attendance records in 1982. A total of 19,235 were on hand in the Carrier Dome. That was the third-largest crowd HC has ever played in front of. The 6,612 on hand for their 2002 NCAA Tournament game with Kansas ranks No.1, followed by the Marquette game (20,960) in the following year's Big Dance.
CAUTIONARY TALE: A midst the intoxicating excitement of the unexpected fast starts teams like Army and Navy, a sobering
tale from the Army record books. Army's 5-2 start is the best at West Point since the 1994-95 team also started 5-2. A win at the Citadel Saturday would equal the 6-2 start of Army's 1978-79 team, coached by none other than Mike Krzyzewski.
The 94-95 start resulted in a 12-16 final record, 4-10, just ahead of last place Lafayette, in the Patriot League. Krzyzewski's team did a little better, finishing 14-11 in what would be Coach K's next to last season by the Hudson.
CONCENTRATION: Not hard to figure out where the ball is going in Army's offense. Through the first seven games, Jarrell Brown and Matt Bell have combined to score 235 of Army's 460 points (51.1 percent). At their current pace the duo will combine for 1,000 points this season.
Through the first seven, each has reached double figures six times. Brown, who leads the team with an 18.1 points per game average, has led the Black Knight's in scoring four time. Bell, who averages 15.4 ppg, has been top scorer for Army in the other three.
BALANCING ACT: If there is a team that is the antithesis to Army when it comes to scoring balance, it would be Bucknell, which has nobody averaging in double figures, but six guys averaging between 8.3 and 9.5 points per game. Chris McNaughton, the team's leading scorer, has tallied 57 points thus far. Donald Brown has 55. John Griffin, Abe Badmus and Jason Vegotsky each have 53 and Darren Mastropaolo has scored 50.
Each has led the team in scoring at least one game. Brown has done it in the past two. Rob Thomas shared the honors with Abe Badmus (16 points) against Wake Forest. Two others, Andrew Morrison and Justin Castleberry, have also recorded double figures games for the Bison.
BONUS LINKS:
Labels: Army, BU, HC, Navy, notebook
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