Lafayette Hoops Takes on No. 13 Pittsburgh to Open 2008
Jan. 1, 2008
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
GAME 13 Series: Pittsburgh leads 15-6 AT A GLANCE: Lafayette (8-4) opens 2008 by continuing its eight-game road swing on Wednesday night when the Leopards travel to No. 13 Pittsburgh. It's the first meeting between the two teams since 1997. The Leopards are coming off an 88-76 loss at Robert Morris on Sunday while Pitt emerges from its first loss of the season, an 80-55 decision at Dayton on Dec. 29 that dropped the Panthers seven spots in the national polls. LAST TIME OUT: Robert Morris (8-5) put four players in double figures and used 71 percent shooting and a 20-5 run in the second half to hand Lafayette an 88-76 loss on Sunday night. The Leopards led 35-34 at halftime, but trailed for the majority of the second stanza, managing to cut the Robert Morris lead to eight twice in the final four and a half minutes. Andrew Brown led the Leopards with 21 points on five three-pointers to go along with five assists. Bilal Abdullah chipped in with 16 points. The Leopards were just 11-of-31 from three-point land (36%). A TURNOVER CORRELATION?: Lafayette has averaged 16.5 turnovers per game in its four losses while averaging 17.1 turnovers per game in its eight wins, which includes three overtime victories. Lafayette has forced 18 turnovers per game in games won and just 15.5 in games lost. PITTSBURGH TIES: The Lafayette and Pittsburgh basketball programs share one obvious tie. Roy Chipman was the head coach at Lafayette for three seasons from 1977-80 when he posted a 60-28 mark. He left Lafayette for Pittsburgh and coached the Panthers from 1980-86, posting a 102-76 record. BROWN SETS SCHOOL RECORD: Andrew Brown's nine three-pointers at Mount St. Mary's (12/21) set a Lafayette single-game record. Brown snapped his own record of eight that he netted at Holy Cross last season (2/28/06), a mark he shared previously with Tyson Whitfield (12/29/00 vs. La Salle) and Larry Spigner (12/3/91 vs. Yale). DIALING UP LONG DISTANCE: A big part of Lafayette's offense has been its perimeter play, as three-point attempts account for 46 percent of the Leopards' shots. Lafayette is averaging nearly 11 three-pointers per game (10.7) and has made 128 on the season while shooting at a 41 percent clip. Lafayette has hit 10 or more in every game but the season-opener vs. Wagner. The high-water mark was 14 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (11/16). The Leopards were ranked fifth in the nation in three-pointers per game (10.7) and 15th in three-point shooting percentage (42.5) in the latest update of the NCAA statistics which have not been updated since Dec. 16. Andrew Brown was 21st in the NCAA in three's per game (3.4) and is now averaging 4.1 per game. He was 28th in three-point shooting percentage and is now shooting 48 percent from long range. Last season, Lafayette made a single-season record 256 three-pointers to finish 25th in the country in three-pointers per game (8.5 per game). The total snapped a seven-year-old mark from 1999-2000 when Lafayette hit for 249 trifectas led by Tyson Whitfield's '01 single-season record of 91. This season, the Leopards are on pace to make 319 over the course of 30 games. At this point last season, Lafayette had converted 104 three-pointers compared to 128 this season. PASSING THE BALL: According to Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon, a key to the Leopards' success has been sharing the ball in their motion offense. Lafayette is averaging 16.1 assists per game in contrast to its opponents who are doling out 12.2 assists per game. Lafayette has handed out an assist on 61 percent of its baskets. Versus Robert Morris, seven different players dished assists led by five from Andrew Brown and three from Matt Betley. For what it's worth, Pittsburgh, has recorded an assist on 57 percent of its baskets. BROWN, VISOCKAS SWEEP HONORS (12/24): Guards Andrew Brown and Deirunas Visockas have been named Patriot League Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for Dec. 24. Brown sat out the Dec. 19 game at Towson, but his return at Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 21 saw him drop in a career-high 32 points and a school-record nine three-pointers in a 76-72 win. It was his first ever Anaconda Player of the Week nod. His backcourt teammate, Visockas, poured in 14 points including four three-pointers in Lafayette's 79-69 overtime victory over Towson on Dec. 19. He connected on a three-pointer and a layup as Lafayette outscored Towson, 17-7, in the extra session. He made 5-of-9 shots and 4-of-8 three-pointers in the game. Visockas also chipped in by making his only shot of the game, a three-pointer, at Mount St. Mary's. He leads the Patriot League in three-point shooting at 55 percent for the season (11-of-20). Visockas earned his first Rookie of the Week honor. STREAKING: Lafayette has posted a four-game and a three-game win streak just 12 games into the season. The Leopards won four straight (UMBC, CCSU, Penn and NJIT) from Nov. 20 to Dec. 3. It was the first time since the 2003-04 campaign that the program has put together four or more in a row. That season, Lafayette finished 18-10. Lafayette's three-game win streak included victories over Columbia, Towson and Mount St. Mary's and was snapped with a loss at Robert Morris. PACK YOUR BAGS: The Leopards are in the midst of an eight-game road trip, the longest stretch of road games since 1970-71 when they played eight straight on the road. In the 98 seasons of Lafayette basketball, Lafayette has played eight in a row on the road on four previous occasions (1951-52, 1956-57, 1966-67, 1970-71). The Leopards' longest stretch away from home was a 10-game span in 1969-70 (12/5 to 1/14). Lafayette next faces Mississippi State on Jan. 5 and Princeton on Jan. 9. The team returns to the friendly confines of Kirby Sports Center on Jan. 12 to open Patriot League play versus Holy Cross. SWIFT START: The last time Lafayette started a season 8-3 or better was 2003-04 when the Leopards were 9-2. That team finished 18-10. ABOUT PITTSBURGH: Pittsburgh comes into the game with an 11-1 record and a No. 13 ranking in both of the Top 25 polls. The Panthers are nearly unbeatable at home, holding an 88-8 all-time record (including a 34-game win streak) in the Petersen Events Center which is in its sixth season as Pitt's home court. The Panthers opened the season with 11 straight victories, including wins over Washington, St. Louis and Oklahoma State. Their most recent win was a 65-64 overtime triumph over No. 7 Duke on a three-pointer by Levance Fields with six seconds remaining. Pitt's only loss was in its last game, an 80-55 setback at Dayton that pushed Dayton into the Top 25. Recently, Pitt has been hit hard by injuries, losing the team's second-leading scorer, Fields, for eight to 12 weeks with a broken bone in his foot. The team's third-leading scorer, fifth-year senior Mike Cook, will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury. Ronald Ramon (6.9 ppg, 2.4 apg), Keith Benjamin (6.0 ppg) and Gilbert Brown (4.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg) will be expected to pick up the slack in the backcourt. The Panthers get the bulk of their production in the frontcourt from junior forward Sam Young and freshman forward DeJuan Blair. Young leads the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg, is shoting 53 percent from the field and is grabbing 7.3 rpg. Blair (11.8 ppg) has been dominant on the boards, snatching 9.8 rpg, including 4.3 offensive rebounds per game. Pitt is coached by Jamie Dixon (TCU '87) who is 116-31 in his fifth season. SERIES NOTES: Today's matchup is the 22nd time the two teams have met. Pitt holds a 15-6 advantage in the all-time series and has won the last five meetings. The two teams have not met since Dec. 22, 1997 when Pitt eked out a 67-66 win. LAFAYETTE VS. RANKED OPPONENTS: Since 1948-49, Lafayette has played 39 games against ranked opponents, coming away with a 3-36 record. Lafayette hosted Bucknell, ranked No. 24 in both the ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press top-25 polls on Feb. 25, 2006. Prior to that, the last time Lafayette hosted a ranked opponent was January 14, 1987 when No. 19 Navy came to Kirby Sports Center and escaped with a 75-71 win. The last time Lafayette beat a ranked opponent was Dec. 2, 1978 when Lafayette topped No. 16 Rutgers, 77-70. In 2004-05, Lafayette faced Louisville (17) and Georgia Tech (9) on the road. FROM THE FIELD: Lafayette is coming off its second worst shooting night of the season, as the Leopards hit just 42.1 percent of their shots ar Robert Morris. In the game prior, Lafayette had its second-best shooting night, knocking down 55.1 percent at Mount St. Mary's (12/21). Lafayette's season-high shooting night came (57.4%) at Columbia (12/8) while the season low (40.9%) occurred at Towson (12/19) when the Leopards were without Andrew Brown and Paul Cummins who were out with injury. ON THE SIDELINE: The all-time winningest coach in Lafayette history and the second-longest tenured coach in the Patriot League, Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova, '70) is in his 13th season as the Leopards' head coach. A two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year recipient, O'Hanlon has twice led Lafayette's program to the NCAA Tournament and lays claim to three Patriot League regular-season titles among his credentials. With a 75-71 double-overtime victory over Lehigh on Feb. 18, 2007, O'Hanlon became the winningest coach in Lafayette history and now holds an all-time record of 179-177 on College Hill. O'Hanlon's overall record does not necessarily tell an accurate story of the job he has done at Lafayette. The Philadelphia native inherited a 2-25 team when he took over in 1995-96 and won 7, 11, 19, 22 and 24 games over the next five seasons. From 1997-2000, Lafayette was 65-24 overall and 31-5 in the conference with two NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1996, the Patriot League, which was originally founded based on the principle of need-based financial aid only, began allowing athletic scholarships. However, it was not until 2006 that Lafayette chose to do so. By no coincidence during that span, Lafayette posted a 79-91 mark and was 38-44 in the league. HANGING ON TO THE ROCK VS. TOWSON: A quick glance at the Leopards' turnover numbers at Towson (12/19) finds that 17 is not that impressive a total. However, Lafayette did not commit a turnover in the final 14 minutes of the game, including the entire overtime session, helping the Leopards to a victory in their worst shooting night of the season. DOUBLE TIMES FIVE TIMES FOUR: Including Lafayette's win at Towson (12/19). Lafayette has had five or more players score in double figures in four games this season. Lafayette holds a 3-1 record in those games, the only loss coming at Rutgers. At Towson, Matt Betley, Bilal Abdullah, Michael Gruner, Deirunas Visockas and Ted Detmer all reached double figures and combined to score 66 of the team's 79 points. Five players hit double figures vs. UMBC (11/20) and Rutgers (12/5) while Lafayette had six players do it against Penn (11/28). SENIOR FIVE: Lafayette will go as far as its corps of five seniors takes the squad in 2007-08. Bilal Abdullah, Matt Betley, Paul Cummins, Ted Detmer and Everest Schmidt will all play key roles, with three of the five expected to be in the starting lineup at Pittsburgh. As a group, the seniors have played in 461 games with 234 appearances in the starting lineup. WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?: Andrew Brown can distribute the ball. The Littleton, Colo. native led the team in assists his first two seasons on College Hill. Brown dished out 94 assists (3.1 apg) as sophomore and started 27 of 30 games. He had 84 assists as a freshman, starting all but three games, and was the first freshman during the Fran O'Hanlon era to lead the team in assists. This season, Brown has 34 assists in 11 games (3.1 apg) and again leads the team in assists per game, despite taking a more active scoring role. Brown can shoot the ball too. He averaged 9.3 ppg as a freshman when he hit 51 three-pointers and followed that by scoring 10.4 ppg while netting 69 three-pointers in his second season on College Hill. This season Brown has led the Leopards in scoring 10 times in 12 games, scoring 21 points at Stony Brook (11/12), 18 against FDU (11/16), 15 vs. UMBC (11/20), 17 against CCSU (11/25), 15 vs. Penn (11/28), 17 at Rutgers (12/5), 22 at Columbia (12/8), a career-high 32 at Mount St. Mary's (12/21) and 21 at Robert Morris (12/30). Brown is averaging a team-best 18.3 points per game and already has 45 three-pointers. Brown is stellar from the line. Last season, he shot 91 percent from the free throw stripe, connecting on 42-of-46 attempts. This season, Brown has been to the line 31 times and is shooting 84 percent from the foul line. Brown makes big shots. At Stony Brook, Brown went 7-for-8 at the line with five of those makes coming in overtime. Brown was responsible for the tying baskets that sent the Stony Brook and UMBC games to overtime. At Mount St. Mary's, Brown's ninth three-pointer of the game came in overtime and gave the Leopards a 76-72 win. ON THE STEAL: Lafayette's 15 steals vs. NJIT (12/3) were a season-high and the most by a Patriot League team this season. The mark surpassed the 14 that Navy recorded vs. Longwood earlier in the year. The last time Lafayette recorded at least 15 steals was Feb. 15, 2006 vs. Bucknell. Lafayette has had five or more steals in all but two games (UMBC, Rutgers) and is averaging 7.0 steals per game. JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME: Three of Lafayette's wins this season have taken an overtime period to decide the victor. At Stony Brook (11/12), Andrew Brown's jumper tied the game at 59-59 with 17 seconds left in regulation. The Leopards secured the 78-67 victory, forcing the Seawolves to foul while converting free throw opportunities into points. Brown was responsible for tying the game against UMBC (11/20) with 49 seconds left, and Lafayette once again pulled away to win 87-84. At Towson (12/19), with just 8.1 seconds remaining in the game, Michael Gruner's rebound and short put-back layup tied the game 62-62. The Leopards rallied to win 79-69. WIN NUMBER 175: Fran O'Hanlon coached his 350th game at Lafayette against Penn on Nov. 28. The 81-69 victory over the school where he spent six seasons as an assistant coach evened his career record at 175-175. His career coaching mark now stands at 179-177. MOVING UP THREE AT A TIME: Junior Andrew Brown is ranked fourth all-time at Lafayette with 165 three-pointers. With five three-pointers at Robert Morris, Brown surpassed Brian Ehlers '00, Lafayette's third all-time leading scorer, on the career three-point field goal list. Brown needs two more three's to move into third place. Senior Paul Cummins (146) rests seventh on Lafayette's all-time three-point field goal list, needing one trey to move into sixth place. MOVING ON UP: Senior Ted Detmer is in eighth place on the career blocks list at Lafayette with 56. Captain Matt Betley is 28th in career rebounding with 461 rebounds. GRUNER GETS IT DONE: Sophomore Michael Gruner has been a mainstay in the starting lineup this season. Gruner worked his way into the rotation with his defense and has remained there because he handles the ball efficiently, doling out 32 assists to just 17 turnovers while also chipping in with 8.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. The Bethesda, Md. native is a Marquis Scholar, recipient of the most prestigious academic scholarship awarded to Lafayette students. Gruner is also one of the Leopards' top perimeter defenders. Coming out of high school in Bethesda, Md., Gruner led his Walt Whitman squad to the Maryland 4A state title while earning Gazette Co-Player of the Year along with Montrose Christian's Kevin Durant. THE PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette was chosen to finish eighth (of eight) in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The poll is voted on by the conference head coaches and sports information directors. Holy Cross was selected first in the poll followed by Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh, American, Army and Navy. OUT OF CONFERENCE: Lafayette is playing 15 non-conference games in 2007-08. Of that group, eight of the teams were picked to finish in the top five of their conference while one opponent (NJIT) has no conference affiliation. LEOPARD LEADERSHIP: Senior forward Matt Betley is serving as the team captain for 2007-08. Betley came into the season as the team's top returning scorer and rebounder and has played in 95 career games. Betley is averaging 9.3 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game this season. The Mount Laurel, N.J. native posted his fifth career double-double, and second of the season at Rutgers with 13 points and 10 boards. Betley had eight points, five rebounds and three assists at Robert Morris. MINUTES FOR THE FRESHMEN: The blowout win over NJIT (12/13) afforded Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon the opportunity to get all of his freshmen significant playing time. The three healthy freshmen played a combined 55 minutes. Darion Benbow chipped in with eight points and two rebounds in a 20 minutes. Deirunas Visockas contributed nine points in 15 minutes before fouling out. Ben Wheeler saw his first collegiate playing time, logging 20 minutes with two points, two rebounds and two assists. Fellow rookie Jared Mintz has played in six games this season, but missed five games due to an ankle injury. He pulled down a critical offensive rebound and capitalized on both free throws against UMBC (11/20), giving Lafayette the 79-77 lead with two and half minutes remaining in overtime. He saw limited game action at Towson and Mt. St. Mary's but did not play at Robert Morris. ON THE BOARDS: The rebounding battle is one that Lafayette has looked to make strides in during the 2007-08 season. Lafayette out-rebounded an opponent for the first time since Jan. 13, 2007 (Navy) when the Leopards snatched 44 rebounds to UMBC's 43 on Nov. 20. They continue to be out-rebounded by an average of 4.1 rebounds per game and have out-rebounded their opponents just twice - UMBC and most recently Mount St. Mary's (33-27). Rutgers and Lafayette were even on the boards...Lafayette finished 319th out of 325 teams in Division I in rebounding margin in 2006-07, out-rebounded by an average of 5.5 rebounds per game. IN THE CLASSROOM: The Lafayette men's basketball team received the NCAA Public Recognition Award for recording an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate in the top 10 percent of all men's basketball teams. Lafayette College was also recognized by the NCAA for recording an 83 percent graduation rate, 20 percent better than the average federal graduation rates of all student-athletes. The information was collected from students entering Lafayette in 2000. Overall the Division I graduation rate for student-athletes in the fall of 2000 was 63 percent and the Patriot League conference have scored at least 20 percent better than the national average graduation rate for all student-athletes who have entered school from 1997-2000. HALF WAY THERE: Lafayette is 5-1 (CCSU, Penn, NJIT, Columbia, Mount St. Mary's) when leading at halftime in 2007-08, the only exception was the Leopards' loss at Robert Morris. Lafayette is 3-3 when trailing at halftime. In 2006-07, Lafayette was 8-2 when holding a lead at halftime, but just 1-19 when trailing at halftime. THE HARDWOOD AND THE GRIDIRON: Lafayette did something it hadn't done in 15 years with its 81-69 victory over Penn on Nov. 28. The victory, combined with the 8-7 Lafayette football win at Franklin Field on Sept. 15, 2007, marked the first time the Leopards defeated Penn in football and basketball in the same season since 1991. In that year the football team won 20-12 at Franklin Field and the basketball team won 83-72. DEFENSIVE DETERMINATION: Lafayette was able to hold Central Connecticut State (11/25) to 32 percent shooting from the field. Lafayette shut down preseason All-NEC selection Tristan Blackwood, who was averaging 15.8 points per game, allowing three points in 28 minutes. At Columbia, defense once again played an important role as the Leopards held the Lions (12/8) to 35 percent shooting from the field and put the clamps on John Baumann. Baumann, who came into the game averaging 16.8 points per game, failed to make a field goal and finished with just six points. AN EARLY START: Lafayette's season opener on Nov. 9 marked the earliest start in program history. This season, Lafayette has played six games by Dec. 1. By contrast, in 1992-93, Lafayette did not open the season until Dec. 1. As recently as 2003-04, Lafayette did not open until Nov. 22. LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the 11th straight season, Lafayette features the most expansive television package in the Patriot League. The Leopards have 13 games televised with the possible addition of three more televised games during the three rounds of the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will produce 12 of the 13 games that will air. Each of those broadcasts will air live regionally to more than 10 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono region and all of Philadelphia on RCN-4 and WBPH-60. CSTV, Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and MASN will continue as LSN national distribution partners, airing three telecasts. Emmy-nominated broadcaster Gary Laubach handles all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties, while former Lafayette men's basketball coach John Leone provides color commentary. Additionally, RCN's Dan Mowdy will provide sideline reports. The Leopards will also garner national exposure on ESPNU when they battle Pittsburgh in January and on SportsNet NY vs. Rutgers. ON THE RADIO: The 2007-08 Lafayette men's basketball season will air on two of the top-rated AM stations in the Lehigh Valley, WGPA-AM 1100 and WSAN-AM 1470. Entering his 41st season as the radio voice of Lafayette athletics, Dick Hammer will continue to call the play-by-play action. Joining Hammer courtside for most contests will be Lafayette Sports Information Director Phil LaBella. WSAN 1470 will broadcast 18 games, including seven of the first eight, while WGPA 1100 will handle six contests. FDU HACKFEST: Lafayette's game vs. FDU (11/16) was the definition of a "hackfest," as the two teams were whistled for 57 fouls, 33 of which were handed out to Lafayette. Three Lafayette players (Brown, Abdullah, Betley) fouled out while one FDU player was also disqualified. FDU shot 46 free throws while Lafayette had 30 attempts. IN THE COMMUNITY: The Lafayette men's basketball team led by assistant coaches Drew Dawson and Mike Farrell finished first in their support of Juvenile Diabetes Research as they ran (not walked) the Manhattan JDRF Walk in October. Farrell, a type-1 diabetic, made a few calls and the Leopards answered. The entire team participated in the 12K walk through New York City. PETE CARRIL RETURNS HOME: On Nov. 16 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, National Basketball Hall of Famer and 1952 graduate of Lafayette Pete Carril returned to Lafayette to honor former Lafayette head coach Butch van Breda Kolff who passed away in September. Carril, who was an All-American during his Leopard playing days, went on to coaching stardom at Princeton and recently served as an advisor to the Sacramento Kings. JOINING O'HANLON: The assistant coaching staff features two former Lafayette players in top assistant Drew Dawson '03 and third assistant Mike Farrell '04. Pete Schwethelm is the team's second assistant and comes to Lafayette from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) where he was an assistant coach with former Lafayette assistant coach and currently USMMA head coach, John Krikorian. The Lafayette staff is a young one with Dawson (28), Schwethelm (32) and Farrell (25). BENCH SCORING?: Lafayette received 63 percent (41.1 of the Leopards' 65.0 points per game) of its scoring from the starting five and 36 percent from the bench in 2006-07. In 2007-08, Lafayette is receiving 51.0 of its 78.8 points per game from the starting five, a 65 percent clip. FROM THE LINE: Lafayette ranked 67th in the nation in free throw percentage in 2006-07, shooting 72.4 percent. Lafayette is shooting just 69.2 percent this season. INSIDE-OUTSIDE: Senior Matt Betley made the move from guard to forward for the 2006-07 season to bolster the team's rebounding efforts, but was still certainly comfortable outside. With Fran O'Hanlon's motion offense, Betley often finds himself with open three-point looks and mid-range jumpers against larger post players who will back off into the lane. With 33 three-pointers, Betley was one of five Lafayette players who made 30 or more three-pointers in 2006-07. Betley is 14-of-43 (33%) this season. THE O'HANLON SHUFFLE: The scorer's table has been a busy place during Fran O'Hanlon's 13 seasons at Lafayette. O'Hanlon frequently shuffles in players to keep them fresh while also looking for the best matchups on both ends of the court. The moves also force the opponents to spend a great deal of time figuring out their own defensive matchups. O'Hanlon will often play "offense-defense" at the end of the first half and in the final minutes of the game whenever there is a stoppage of play and a chance to substitute. The Leopards have consistently gone 10 deep. ...IN A RELATED NOTE: In 2006-07, O'Hanlon used 13 different starting lineups. This season, five different starting fives have graced the floor at the opening tip. HI, MY NAME IS...: Jeff Kari, who maintains sophomore eligibility after transferring from East Carolina University, is new on the Lafayette roster. Kari, who formerly went by Jeff Robinson, changed his name in 2007. Kari has played in 11 games with three starts. REPRESENTING IRELAND: Senior Paul Cummins had the opportunity to represent his home country of Ireland this summer. He traded in his Maroon and White for the green of the Emerald Isle. Cummins competed with talented players from several different leagues around the world against other European teams. Ireland's squad went on to a third-place finish in the qualifying tournament after facing several teams with multiple NBA players. DETMER ON DEFENSE: Senior Ted Detmer has led Lafayette in steals the past two seasons, registering 34 in 2006-07 and 47 in 2005-06. He also finished with a career-high 23 blocks last season to lead the team and finish fifth in the Patriot League. Detmer had one steal, two blocks and grabbed five rebounds, including three defensive, vs. CCSU (11/25). Against Penn (11/28), Detmer had three blocks and two steals. Detmer was the team leader with three steals at Columbia (12/8) and had two blocks. The Scarsdale, N.Y. native led the Leopards in steals at Towson (12/19) with four. LAFAYETTE VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 609 games against the seven members of the Patriot League, and has a 336-273 record in all games against them. In Patriot League play, Lafayette is 95-129 in the regular season and 10-15 in the Patriot League Tournament. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 80-77 in Patriot League regular-season play. American 16-19 Colgate 37-41 Navy 21-38 Army 33-19 Holy Cross 13-27 Bucknell 82-57 Lehigh 135-71 THE GARBAGE MAN: Senior forward Matt Betley spends a lot of time cleaning the glass, diving for loose balls and occasionally even picking up a "garbage" basket in the paint. Betley is certainly willing to get his hands and body a little dirty by diving on the court, but it's nothing compared to his summer job in 2006. Betley collected garbage on a garbage truck in his hometown of Mount Laurel, N.J. As one of the scrappiest players in the Patriot League, Betley has determined that he is also one of the most hated opponents because of his style of play. ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 98 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1189-1052 (.531). Lafayette's first basketball season was in 1900-01 when the team had a winning record of 4-3. ON THE WEB: As an element of Lafayette's long-term agreement with CSTV, all LSN telecasts are streamed live on the internet an available world-wide through LSN All-Access on www.GoLeopards.com . INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: Lafayette features four players from foreign countries. Senior Paul Cummins comes from Kildare, Ireland. Cummins spent two years at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, N.C. before spending a post-grad year at South Kent School in Connecticut. Sophomore Marek Koltun hails from Krakow, Poland and spent a year in Bear, Del. at Caravel Academy. Freshmen Jared Mintz is from Toronto, Canada while Deirunas Visockas is originally from Kaunas, Lithuania and currently resides in Los Angeles.
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