I'm back, after a few weeks away from the game...
March 2, 2022
Code:
2021 Patriot League Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
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#19 Lafayette 11 3 .786 25 4 .862 34 75
Holy Cross 11 3 .786 21 8 .724 72 49
Bucknell 8 6 .571 19 10 .655 175 36
Army 6 8 .429 13 16 .448 196 39
Lehigh 6 8 .429 13 16 .448 120 35
American 5 9 .357 8 21 .276 219 43
Navy 5 9 .357 8 21 .276 325 32
Colgate 4 10 .286 9 21 .300 315 39
We win the conference via tiebreaker over a very good Holy Cross team.
Code:
#19 LAFAYETTE Schedule
Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
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01/08/22 at Army 13-16 196 W 69-65 14-1 (1-0)
01/12/22 at Holy Cross 21-8 72 L 67-64 14-2 (1-1)
01/15/22 at Colgate 9-21 315 W 78-53 15-2 (2-1)
01/19/22 American 8-21 219 L 82-73 15-3 (2-2)
01/22/22 Bucknell 19-10 175 W 83-61 16-3 (3-2)
01/26/22 at Navy 8-21 325 W 73-67 17-3 (4-2)
01/29/22 at Lehigh 13-16 120 W 60-44 18-3 (5-2)
01/31/22 at Longwood 4-23 346 W 77-65 19-3
02/02/22 Army 13-16 196 W 71-59 20-3 (6-2)
02/09/22 Holy Cross 21-8 72 W 73-68 21-3 (7-2)
02/12/22 Colgate 9-21 315 L 72-62 21-4 (7-3)
02/16/22 at Bucknell 19-10 175 W 83-75 22-4 (8-3)
02/19/22 at American 8-21 219 W 65-53 23-4 (9-3)
02/23/22 Navy 8-21 325 W 80-60 24-4 (10-3)
02/26/22 Lehigh 13-16 120 W 62-52 25-4 (11-3)
Army's
Damon Resnick lights us up for 28 points and 15 rebounds, but
Thomas Lucy puts up 28 and 8 of his own as we come from behind to win.
Our victory lifts us to #4 in the Mid Major poll. I notice there are four Big Ten teams in the Mid Major rankings; the Big Ten has fallen to a Level 4 conference.
Holy Cross shows us that they're the real deal, and after a comfortable victory at Colgate, we blow a lead and lose at home to American. At this point, I wonder if it's going to be a long, frustrating season.
Then, Coach Sims's boys reel off seven straight wins.
Byron Shores comes off the bench to drop 24 points on Navy, while
Asdrubal Cruz grabs 15 rebounds. We hold
Marlon Smith to 8 points on 2-11 shooting as we rout Lehigh.
As we head into February, we're tied with Army for second place in the conference, behind Holy Cross. The Crusaders are 6-1 in league play, with a loss to the Black Knights of the Hudson.
We break our tie with Army on February 2, behind 16 points and 16 boards from
Matt Robles. That sets up our biggest game of the season, as Holy Cross comes to the Kirby Center.
Code:
Lafayette 73, Holy Cross 68
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Holy Cross (17-8, 7-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Chung Hills C 28 2-5 1-1 2 5 3 5 5
Jerry Cofield PF 27 3-3 2-4 4 8 1 4 8
Will Davis SF 32 3-7 2-2 3 9 2 1 8
Brian McCrory SG 35 3-10 8-8 1 5 5 3 16
Rico Peterson PG 35 6-17 4-5 1 3 2 2 20
Jerry Hynes PG 13 1-3 0-0 0 1 0 1 2
Alonzo Kimes PG 3 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Harold Williams PF 14 3-4 1-3 0 1 0 1 7
Lawerence Pond C 8 0-1 0-0 2 4 0 1 0
Antonio Riffle PF 4 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 1 0
Turnovers: 19 (C.Hills 2, J.Cofield 2, W.Davis 2,
B.McCrory 6, R.Peterson 5, J.Hynes 2)
Blocked Shots: 5 (C.Hills 3, L.Pond 2)
Steals: 7 (J.Cofield 2, W.Davis 2, R.Peterson 1,
J.Hynes 1, H.Williams 1)
3P FGs: 6-26 (W.Davis 0-3, B.McCrory 2-8, R.Peterson
4-13, J.Hynes 0-1, A.Kimes 0-1)
Lafayette (21-3, 7-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Matt Robles C 28 6-10 7-8 1 3 1 4 19
Asdrubal Cruz PF 35 2-5 0-0 2 5 3 2 4
Thomas Lucy SF 32 6-11 2-4 0 6 1 4 18
Matthew Ackerman SG 23 3-7 0-2 0 1 3 5 7
Ben Miele PG 34 3-8 5-6 2 5 7 2 13
Byron Shores SF 24 3-7 4-4 0 1 0 2 12
Rob Prendergast PG 6 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Kurt Ritchie C 13 0-1 0-0 0 4 0 3 0
Jeffrey Hampton PF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Carlton McFadden PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 13 (M.Robles 2, A.Cruz 3, T.Lucy 5, B.Miele
2, J.Hampton 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (B.Miele 1)
Steals: 5 (T.Lucy 1, M.Ackerman 3, B.Miele 1)
3P FGs: 9-22 (T.Lucy 4-8, M.Ackerman 1-4, B.Miele 2-5,
B.Shores 2-4, R.Prendergast 0-1)
Player of Game: PG Ben Miele (LFYTE)
The Crusaders do a very good job of neutralizing
Matthew Ackerman, challenging him on defense and forcing him to the bench with foul trouble. His teammates pick up the slack, however, and
Ben Miele orchestrates a very rewarding victory.
Holy Cross had just lost to Lehigh, so we take the Patriot League lead after our victory...and we promptly lose to Colgate when we come out of the halftime break unable to shoot or defend.
Still, the Patriot League championship is ours to lose.
Matt Robles decides not to let that happen, as he dominates American with 6 blocks and posts a 23-point, 10-rebound double double against Navy.
Matthew Ackerman and
Rob Prendergast celebrate Senior Night with a victory over Lehigh, but we lose
Asdrubal Cruz to a bruised hip that will limit his effectiveness as we move into the conference tournament.
It's a wild ride, but it ends with
Graham Sims' ninth consecutive Patriot League regular season championship. The Leopards' 11-3 record in conference play represents our worst performance since 2012/13, when we went 10-4 and finished second.
We'll face Colgate in the first round of the Patriot League tourney.