Courtesy of PatriotLeague.org.
Center Valley, Pa. — After four days without games for any team a handful of schools get back at it this weekend. Two will do so against ranked BIG EAST opponents, as American visits No. 16/17 Georgetown on Saturday afternoon and Holy Cross is at No. 9/10 Connecticut on Sunday. Both games will be available on television as well as ESPN3.
Bucknell begins a very busy holiday season of games when it hosts Richmond on Saturday evening. It’s the first action for the Bison since Dec. 6, and a re-play of a memorable game last season where the Bison beat the Spiders 62-61 in Richmond on a buzzer-beater by Mike Muscala. It is the first of six games in just over two weeks for the Bison heading into Patriot League action.
Army also returns to its home arena when it welcomes Texas-Pan American on Sunday. The Black Knights play five more games before Patriot League play begins, with four of them at West Point. Patriot League squads are 25-7 at home this season.
Colgate will be the next team to return to the court when it welcomes Dartmouth on Monday. Lafayette is back in action at Vanderbilt on Dec. 21, while Lehigh (at No. 21/23 Michigan State) and Navy (at Presbyterian) play their next game on Dec. 22.
The eight Patriot League teams went into the exam break with a cumulative record of 41-42 for the season, which has been highlighted by the success at home. American (6-0), Bucknell (4-0), Lehigh and Colgate (3-0) are all undefeated on their home court this season.
The League’s mark also includes a strong performance against regional competitors. Patriot League teams are 14-7 against the Northeast Conference, clinching the 26-game season series between the schools. League squads are also 6-3 against teams from the America East Conference.
Patriot League play begins on Jan. 7. Every team will have at least three more non-League games before the tip-off to the League schedule.
Patriot League Notebook
Home Cooking
The home court has not played a major role in Patriot League games in recent seasons, but it looks like that could change in 2012 as League squads are having great success at home so far. Patriot League teams are a combined 25-7 at home, with American (6-0), Bucknell (4-0), Lehigh (3-0) and Colgate (3-0) all perfect on their home court. Every team has at least two wins at home, and none of the eight squads has a losing record. Bucknell has won 17 straight home games dating back to last season. The Bison will try to continue that run when they welcome Richmond on Saturday, while Army hosts Texas-Pan American on Sunday.
National Exposure
Patriot League teams take on some of the top programs in the country heading into Christmas, and the games will be available to wide audiences. A pair of contests will be on ESPNU next week, as Bucknell visits No. 1 Syracuse on Tuesday and Lehigh heads to No. 21/23 Michigan State on Thursday. American’s matchup at No. 16/17 Georgetown on Saturday will be shown on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, while on Sunday, Holy Cross’ game at No. 9/10 Connecticut will be televised on SportsNet New York. The Lafayette at Vanderbilt game will be shown on Fox Sports South on Dec. 21. Each of the games will also be available online through ESPN3.
Eight Active 1,000-Point Scorers
The count of all-time 1,000-point scorers in Patriot League history is up to 80, and 10 percent of those players are active. Two more players added their name to the 1,000-point scorer list last week, as Army’s Julian Simmons (1,007) hit the mark on Wednesday at Marist and Holy Cross’ R.J. Evans (1,003) reached the milestone on Friday against Sacred Heart. A junior leads the group of active scorers, and Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum is into the top 20 in League history with 1,533 points. Following McCollum are Lafayette’s Ryan Willen (1,157), Holy Cross’ Devin Brown (1,153), Colgate’s Yaw Gyawu (1,141), Navy’s Jordan Sugars (1,127) and Lafayette’s Jim Mower (1,096) as well as Simmons and Evans. A pair from Bucknell could be next on the list, as junior Mike Muscala and senior Bryan Cohen are each closing in on 1,000 points.
Shining Stars
A handful of players have stood out early in the 2011-12 season. Most were expected to do so, but American’s Charles Hinkle has certainly surprised. The senior leads the Patriot League and is in the top 10 nationally with 22.2 points per game. He has a pair of 30-point games and eight 20-point outings, and has scored 244 points in 11 games after totaling 103 in 23 contests last year. Behind Hinkle on the scoring list is Lehigh junior C.J. McCollum. The Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year has lived up to expectations with 18.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a League-best 2.5 steals per contest. Last year’s Patriot League Player of the Year, Bucknell junior Mike Muscala, has picked up where he left off with 12.1 points and a League-best 8.9 rebounds per contest. Navy sophomore J.J. Avila, the 2011 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, is doing a bit of everything and stands in the top 10 in the League in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, field goal and free throw percentage. Mower, Brown and Willen have added to their status as 1,000-point scorers by placing among the top six in the League in scoring.
0-2 Start Could Not Stop this Trio
Starting the season with an 0-2 record would not deter Lehigh, American or Bucknell as each squad has bounced back nicely from the slow start. The Mountain Hawks have won nine of 10 games to record the best overall mark in the Patriot League at 9-3. Lehigh’s only loss during that span was in overtime at Cornell on Dec. 3, and the Mountain Hawks have won three straight since that defeat. American saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday at St. Francis (Pa.), but still stands at 8-3 overall after opening 0-2. Bucknell won five in a row after its 0-2 start, and stands at 6-4 after a win at Binghamton on Dec. 6.
Common Opponents
The Patriot League schedule features a number of games against the same teams and conferences, particularly those located in the northeast and mid-atlantic. The Patriot League has already clinched the season series against its most common competitior, the Northeast Conference, with a 14-7 record and five games remaining. The League is also 6-3 against the America East. Patriot League teams have combined for multiple wins against St. Francis (Pa.), St. Francis (NY), Fairleigh Dickinson, Quinnipiac and Binghamton.
Team Notebooks
American American had its eight-game win streak snapped with a 66-61 loss at St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday…The Eagles led 39-25 at halftime, but St. Francis (Pa.) stormed back in the second half for the 66-61 win….Troy Brewer led the Eagles with 23 points….Charles Hinkle scored just 10 points for his lowest output of the season, but the standout senior continues to lead the Patriot League and rank in the top 10 nationally with 22.2 points per game…American had extended its winning streak to eight with a 74-72 win over Hampton on Dec. 7…Hinkle led the way with 24 points, while Brewer added 19…The Eagles improved to 6-0 at Bender Arena for the season, and completed a perfect four-game homestand…American has won eight of nine games after starting at 0-2…The Eagles are second in the Patriot League in scoring defense at 63.8 points allowed per game…They have given up 70 or more just twice in 11 games, and have not allowed 75 or more in any contest…The Eagles have scored 70 points just three times, and only once have topped 75…The Eagles return to action on Saturday when they make the short trip to No. 16/17 Georgetown…The game will be shown on ESPN3 at Noon.
Army The Black Knights dropped a pair of games on the road last week, falling 76-64 at La Salle on Saturday and 59-56 at Marist on Wednesday… Army fell behind early and could never recover in the loss at La Salle…Ella Ellis led the Black Knights with 19 points, while Jordan Springer had 10 points and 12 rebounds…Julian Simmons went over 1,000 points in his career, but Army could not hold a double-digit lead in the loss at Marist…The Black Knights led by 11 points in the second half and still had a 56-52 edge with just over three minutes to play before Marist scored the final seven points to earn the win…The Red Foxes went ahead for good on a jumper with 23 seconds left..Simmons is Army’s first player to reach 1,000 points since Jarell Brown did it in 2007-08…Ellis stands fourth in the Patriot League with 16.1 points per game…The Black Knights return to action on Sunday when they host Texas-Pan American…Army won the matchup on the road last season.
Bucknell The Bison got back on the winning track with an impressive road victory in their last action on Dec. 6, leading Binghamton by 20 points at halftime on their way to a 77-63 triumph… Bucknell snapped a two-game losing skid in large part due to a great first half…The Bison raced to a 43-23 halftime lead after shooting 17-for-25 overall and 4-of-5 from three-point range in the first half…Joe Willman led the Bison with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting…Willman continues to lead the Patriot League in field goal percentage at 60.5 for the season, also placing him among the top 30 nationally…Muscala paces the League with 8.9 rebounds per game, nearly two per contest better than any other player…He is also up to 151 career blocks, just two off the Patriot League top 10…Ayers leads the League in three-point field-goal percentage at 55.6, while Steven Kaspar has the top assist/turnover ratio at 2.4 (33 assists/14 turnovers)…Kaspar stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals against Binghamton while committing just one turnover…The Bison lead the Patriot League in scoring defense at 61.8 points per game, and also top the chart in field-goal percentage defense (38.8) and rebounding margin (+6.1)…Bucknell returns to action on Saturday at home against Richmond…Muscala hit a memorable buzzer-beater for a 62-61 win at the Spiders last season…The Bison are the busiest team heading into Patriot League play with six non-League games in just over two weeks.
Colgate Colgate remained perfect at home by pulling out a 65-63 win over St. Francis (NY) on Saturday…The Raiders trailed 61-60 before baskets by Yaw Gyawu and Mitch Rolls gave them a 64-61 lead, and Pat Moore added a free throw for the 65-63 final…St. Francis (NY) missed a shot to tie at the buzzer…Rolls led Colgate with 15 points, while Gyawu and Sterling Melville had 14 apiece…The win over St. Francis (NY) was the first in program history…Colgate is 3-0 at home for the first time since 2002-03…The Raiders were 1-1 last week with an 87-63 loss at Albany on Wednesday…Gyawu also scored 14 points in that game in his return to the lineup after an injury, while Pat Moore led the way with 18 points…Moore has scored in double figures in seven straight games after totaling 12 in the win on Saturday…He leads Colgate and is 12th in the Patriot League with 12.3 points per game…Rolls is in the top three in both three-point (55.3) and overall (53.4) field-goal percentage…Mike Venezia leads the nation in free throw percentage, hitting 24-of-25 for the season for a 96.0 clip…The Raiders are back in action on Monday when they host Dartmouth…Colgate split a home-and-home with the Big Green last season.
Holy Cross R.J. Evans went over 1,000 career points as Holy Cross earned a 71-60 win over Sacred Heart on Friday night…Devin Brown scored 22 points to lead the Crusaders, while Evans had 12 and Justin Burrell added 10…Holy Cross took control with an 18-2 first-half run and held the advantage the rest of the way…Evans now stands with 1,003 career points, becoming the eighth active Patriot Leaguer to reach 1,000…He joins Brown (1,153) to give Holy Cross a pair of players over 1,000…Holy Cross has 46 1,000-point scorers in its history…The Crusaders have won two of their last three games, with a heartbreaker at Columbia on Tuesday keeping them from a winning streak…Holy Cross fell 46-45 as Columbia hit the winning free throw with 2.4 seconds left…The Crusaders led by 16 points at halftime and 20 early in the second half, but saw the Lions rally from the deficit…Burrell leads the Patriot League with 4.2 assists per game, with six in the win over Sacred Heart…The Crusaders will have a daunting challenge in their return to the court on Sunday as they visit No. 9/10 Connecticut…The 1 p.m. tip-off will be shown on SportsNet New York as well as ESPN3.
Lafayette The Leopards went 1-2 in their three games last week, highlighted by a 61-57 win at Penn State on Dec. 7…Lafayette became the first-ever Patriot League team to beat the Nittany Lions…The Leopards used a 26-10 run to lead 37-32 at the half, and never relinquished the advantage even as Penn State closed to within two points on four occasions…Jim Mower hit a pair of free throws with six seconds left to seal the win…Mower and Seth Hinrichs led the Leopards with 14 points apiece…Mower scored 24 points and Hinrichs had a career-high 17 on Sunday, but it was not enough as Lafayette fell 84-79 at Sacred Heart…The Leopards got to within one point with just over a minute to play, but Sacred Heart hit a key three-pointer on the next possession to seal the win…Hinrichs was named Patriot League Anaconda Rookie of the Week for the third time…Lafayette also had a tough loss on Dec. 5 as Long Island held on for an 82-80 victory…Nick Petkovich scored a career-high 19 points, while Ryan Willen led the Leopards with 21 and had a career-high seven assists…Lafayette leads the Patriot League and ranks in the top 10 nationally with 9.8 three-pointers per game…The Leopards return to action on Dec. 21 at Vanderbilt…The game will be shown on Fox Sports South and ESPN3.
Lehigh The Mountain Hawks have won three straight and nine of the last 10 games after an 0-2 start…Lehigh pulled out a thrilling 70-69 win at Wagner on Saturday, as Anthony D’Orazio hit the game-winning three-pointer with eight seconds left..Lehigh used a 14-0 run to overcome an 11-point deficit in the second half, and rallied from a 68-64 deficit with 21 seconds left on three-pointers by Mackey McKnight and D’Orazio…C.J. McCollum led the Mountain Hawks with 22 points, while McKnight scored 15…It was much easier on Dec. 7, as the Mountain Hawks opened the game with a 26-2 run and went up by 42 points in the second half in a 71-50 win over St. Francis (Pa.)…Holden Greiner led the Mountain Hawks with 17 points, while McCollum scored 13…The Mountain Hawks are 4-0 against Northeast Conference opponents this season…McCollum was named Patriot League Anaconda Player of the Week for averaging 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and three steals in the two wins…It was his seventh career honor, one off the League record…He is up to 18th in League history with 1,533 career points…Lehigh has eclipsed 70 points in all 12 games this season, scoring 80 or more four times…It added to the numbers with a 95-55 thumping of Division III Arcadia on Monday…Lehigh leads the Patriot League with 79.1 points per game, and tops the chart in both field goal and free throw percentage…Lehigh returns to action on Dec. 22 when it visits No. 21/23 Michigan State in a game shown on ESPNU.
Navy Navy suffered a pair of losses last week, one at the wire and one to a top 10 team in the country…Navy fell 69-67 to Monmouth on Dec. 6, as Jordan Brickman’s three-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer…The Mids dropped an 84-59 final at No. 10 Missouri on Saturday…Despite the losses, sophomore J.J. Avila continued his brilliant play…Avila had 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists against the Tigers, with 14 points, seven boards and five assists versus Monmouth…He made 15-of-22 shots while averaging 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games…He was 11-of-12 from inside the three-point line…Avila is one of four freshmen or sophomores nationally averaging 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the year…He ranks in the Patriot League top 10 in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, field goal and free throw percentage…Navy returns to action on Dec. 22 at Presbyterian…The Mids lost the matchup by two points at home last season.
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