January 10, 2015
Lafayette 75, American 67
The Eagles might not be the team they were during the
Reed/Robinson era, but beating them in their gym still feels wonderful. They're the only team against whom
Graham Sims has a losing record; before today, we've only beaten American once.
American holds
Joe Lien to only 10 points, but the freshman finds other ways to contribute: 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and a blocked shot. All five Leopards starters score in double figures: 11 for
Dana Broughton, and 13 each for
Hubert Song,
Venceslás Castillo, and
James Sanders.
The Good King grabs 13 rebounds, too. We hold the Eagles to 36% shooting, and even less from three-point range.
Good teams win basketball games in more than one way. They can win even if their star isn't dominant. This game demonstrates those truths.
Record: 14-2 (1-0).
January 11, 2015
This season, it appears teams move around the
Mid Major poll more often. We go up two more spots, to
#4; ahead of us are Utah State, Ohio, and Creighton.
We also receive our
first votes in the Top 25 poll: eight of them. And we look even better according to RPI, where we're #10.
January 14, 2015
Lafayette 72, Holy Cross 48
Graduation hit Holy Cross hard, too. They lost all three of the big men who won post-season honors:
Robert Mallett,
Demetrius Woods, and
Lenny Catlin. We hold this edition of the Crusaders to only 17 points after halftime and pull away.
Again, our opponent deserves credit for controlling
Joe Lien; holding him to 16 points qualifies as such. But
James Sanders is more than the Holy Cross bigs can handle, with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Hubert Song scores 14, and
Venceslás Castillo adds 13.
Record: 15-2 (2-0).
January 17, 2015
Navy 72, Lafayette 71
We lose to the Midshipmen at home in heartbreaking fashion.
With 38 seconds left, we have the ball, trailing 72-71. There are several scenarios I'd consider a "good shot" in this situation. Getting the ball to
James Sanders on the low block is one of them.
Big Colonel, who has 20 points on the night, misses...but
Venceslás Castillo battles hard and grabs the rebound. As he goes back up, he's fouled by
Lon Schneider.
The clock reads all zeroes as
The Good King steps to the line.
He's a 72 percent free throw shooter. He misses both shots.
I'm not going to bash Castillo. He's been a warrior for us, especially this year.
Sanders has 11 rebounds to go with his game-high scoring total.
Joe Lien and
Hubert Song add 13 apiece, and
Dana Broughton finishes with 11.
Navy pulls ahead of us in the conference standings, at 3-1.
Record: 15-3 (2-1).
January 18, 2015
We fall to
#6 in the
Mid Major Top 25 rankings.
January 21, 2015
Lafayette 81, Army 42
We take our frustration out on the other service academy in our conference, nearly doubling up on Army in West Point.
Joe Lien recovers from his brief scoring slump, leading us with 20 points.
Hubert Song and
James Sanders help out with 12 apiece, and
Dana Broughton adds 10 more. Song has 6 assists, and
Venceslás Castillo 10 rebounds.
Army's high-scoring guard,
Jack Jessie, finishes with 16 points, but their next high scorer scores 6, and two of their starters don't score at all.
Bucknell moves to the top of the league table, with a 4-1 mark. Navy and Colgate are tied with us for second at 3-1.
Record: 16-3 (3-1).
January 24, 2015
Lafayette 77, Colgate 72
The Red Raiders' strong start has been driven by the play of two high-scoring perimeter players,
Shawn Domingo and
Irvin Schumacher. Domingo scores 14, right at his average, but we hold Schumacher to only 5. Irvin fouls out trying to guard
Joe Lien, whose 16 points are the most among five Leopards in double figures.
Besides Joe, that quintet includes
Dana Broughton (14),
James Sanders and
Hubert Song (13 each), and
Alvaro Kinard (11). Dana and Alvaro are both playing very well in their new roles.
Record: 17-3 (4-1).
January 25, 2015
We remain a fixture in the
Mid Major rankings, moving back up a spot to
#5. We also receive
15 votes in the
Top 25 poll.
January 28, 2015
Lafayette 67, Bucknell 58
The Bison have
Moses Washington, a senior point guard whom I consider one of the three best players in the Patriot League this season. Washington and
Joe Lien, another of my three best players of the year, basically cancel each other out in this game; Moses finishes with 8 points nad Joe with 6.
However, we have the stronger supporting cast. Today, it's
Hubert Song who takes the starring role, with 21 points and five rebounds.
Venceslás Castillo (8 points, 8 rebounds) and
James Sanders (7 points, 9 rebounds) do some dirty work beneath the baskets.
Our victory puts us back in sole possession of first place, with Bucknell, Holy Cross, and Colgate all one game behind us.
Record: 18-3 (5-1).
January 31, 2015
Lafayette 67, Lehigh 55
Lehigh has struggled this season, entering this game tied with Army for last place in the conference with a 1-5 record. But this is a rivalry game, and the Mountain Hawks bring their A game to the Kirby Center tonight.
The game is close until about eight minutes remain in the second half, when we go on a 9-1 run and pull away a bit.
Hubert Song is our leading scorer again, with 17 points;
James Sanders and
Joe Lien follow, with 14 and 12 respectively.
Clark Nolan lands badly, rolls his ankle, and has to leave the game. The post-game report isn't good: he's sprained it badly and won't be able to play for two weeks.
Rhett King will probably get most of Clark's minutes.
We're not usually a great free-throw shooting team; our .675 percentage ranks sixth in the eight-team Patriot League. Tonight, we sink 16-18 (.889). One of these nights we're going to need to shoot like that to win. I hope we do.
Record: 19-3 (6-1).
HTML Code:
2014 Patriot League Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
---------------------------------------------------------
Lafayette 6 1 .857 19 3 .864 20 35
Bucknell 5 2 .714 10 11 .476 222 28
Holy Cross 5 2 .714 14 6 .700 107 37
Colgate 4 3 .571 12 9 .571 241 16
Navy 4 3 .571 9 12 .429 162 15
American 2 5 .286 9 12 .429 158 42
Army 1 6 .143 5 16 .238 153 15
Lehigh 1 6 .143 6 15 .286 244 19