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Saturday, January 27, 2007
Something has to give
After a few weeks of ties up and down the Patriot League standings, things will shake out a little today.

For the first time all season, somebody will be alone at the bottom. Last place will be decided in Annapolis, where Navy hosts Colgate in a battle of 1-5 teams (matchup). Meanwhile, American visits Lafayette in a matchup of a pair of 2-4 clubs (matchup).

The winner of the AU-LC game could find itself suddenly tied for the all-important fourth spot in the standings, pending the outcome of tonight's Army at Bucknell matchup. A Bucknell win would leave Army tied with that AU-LC winner for the number four spot -- a spot magnified in importance this season by the league's higher seed homecourt playoffs system that has replaced the league's post-season tournament to determine the conference championship and what will likely be just one bid to the NCAA Tournament.

That Army-Bucknell game is the spotlight contest of the day. Army, coming off a loss at Lafayette on Wednesday after three-straight wins in West Point, needs bounce-back win to stay above .500 and even with Lehigh for third place in the standings. A loss and suddenly, despite their strong start in conference play, the Black Knights are back to battling just to stay out of the second division.

For Bucknell, the story is pretty simple. Win their 31st straight home conference game and keep pace one game behind Holy Cross, which has yet to visit Sojka this season.

In Easton, Lafayette will look to shoot its way past an American team that looked like a contender early in the season, but found itself needing a win over Navy Wednesday to stay out of the cellar. Conventional wisdom would tell you American's big, deep frontcourt should be a tremendous edge for the Eagles. But aside from up and down Brayden Billbe, production from those big guys have been mediocre at best.

If Lafayette can lure AU's gunners into a shootout, it could be another long bus ride home for American, which is 0-3 on the road in league play.

In Annapolis, Billy Lange's young Midshipmen badly need a win to stem the bleeding. After a promising 9-3 start, Navy has dropped 7 of its last 9, including its last three. Colgate, which has lost five straight and eight of its last 9, could be the first aid Navy needs. The Raiders rank 314th (out of 325) nationally in scoring and 294th in field goal percentage (40.3 percent).

Of course Bavy is just above Colgate in the league rankings for field goal percentage (41.5 percent, 263 nationally). Two areas where Navy has a big edge are at the foul line and behind the arc. Navy ranks 9th nationally in free throw percentage (76.1 percent, tops in the league); Colgate is last in the league at 69.5 percent (140 nationally). Navy is second in the league and No. 25 in the nation in three-pointers per game (8.4 per); Colgate is last in the league and 316 out of 325 nationally with 4.2 per game.

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Published at 10:13 AM by Hoop Time.
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