March 17, 2019
The NCAA tournament selection committee awards us the #3 seed in the Midwest Region. Our first round opponent will be the #14 seed, Sam Houston State.
Army is placed in our bracket, too. They'll play Virginia Tech in the 12-seed play-in game; the winner faces #5 seed New Mexico.
American and Holy Cross will both play in the CIT. The 2-seed Eagles play Furman in the opening round; the 11-seed Crusaders face Texas-San Antonio.
Half the teams in the Patriot League are playing tournament basketball in March. This is the first time that's happened.
March 21, 2019
NCAA Midwest Region, First Round Game
(3) #14 Lafayette 55, (14) Sam Houston State 52
Anything can happen in tournament play, and our opponents from the Lone Star State come close to pulling off a bracket-busting upset.
Marcellin Decourchelle had a chance to send the game to overtime, but his three-point attempt hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
Decourchelle and
Daniel Warnock shared the scoring honors, each with 16 points.
Tim Hutchinson had 13 for us,
Todd DeHaven 12. We shot terribly from three-point range: 4-for-20.
Army won the play-in game, beating Virginia Tech 75-68. Our other conference mates don't fare as well; Furman upsets American, and Holy Cross loses, too.
Big Sazzy Block Watch: Two blocks for our senior center give him
384 for his career.
Record: 31-3.
March 23, 2019
NCAA Midwest Region, Second Round
(3) #14 Lafayette 78, (6) #19 Wisconsin 54
We're back in the Sweet Sixteen! Coach Sims earns his first win against a nationally ranked opponent, and his team does it in fine style. We're up 17 at halftime and put it on cruise control from there.
He doesn't earn Player of the Game honors, but in what many probably believed would be the last game of his collegiate basketball career,
Samuel Davis rejects
NINE Badgers' shots. That's a new Patriot League record.
The other four Lafayette starters all do their things well, too. We make 53% of our shots, and hold Wisconsin to 35%.
Daniel Warnock scores 21 points.
Todd DeHaven adds 14, and
Tim Hutchinson 14.
DeHaven grabs 9 rebounds, Hutch gets 7, and
Otis Hall has 8 off the bench.
Richard Leak hands out 6 assists.
A three seed is supposed to make the Sweet Sixteen, but it's still a lot of fun. Especially when you play in the Patriot League.
Speaking of the Patriot League: our other NCAA tourney team, Army, upsets New Mexico, 70-69, before Temple thrashes them, 94-59.
Big Sazzy Block Watch: 384 + 9 =
393.
Record: 32-3.
March 28, 2019
NCAA Midwest Region Semi-Final...the Sweet Sixteen
(3) #14 Lafayette 66, (7) Marquette 55
HTML Code:
Lafayette 66, Marquette 55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lafayette (33-3, 13-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Samuel Davis C 33 2-5 1-1 4 9 2 2 5
Todd DeHaven PF 36 3-8 6-6 4 7 0 3 12
Daniel Warnock SF 38 8-16 1-3 3 11 2 1 21
Tim Hutchinson SG 34 2-10 5-5 0 9 1 3 10
Richard Leak PG 36 2-11 6-7 3 3 4 2 10
Jack Senn SG 11 2-4 2-3 1 2 0 0 6
Otis Hall PF 11 1-1 0-0 0 3 1 0 2
Rob Prendergast PG 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Johnathon Blouin C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Turnovers: 14 (S.Davis 3, T.DeHaven 4, D.Warnock 1,
T.Hutchinson 3, O.Hall 2, R.Prendergast 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (S.Davis 4)
Steals: 3 (D.Warnock 1, R.Leak 2)
3P FGs: 5-21 (S.Davis 0-2, D.Warnock 4-11, T.Hutchinson
1-5, R.Leak 0-3)
Marquette (21-13, 11-7):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Kevin Berryman C 36 7-9 1-3 4 12 0 3 15
Joshua Donato PF 34 0-7 0-0 0 5 3 2 0
William Shouse SF 32 2-8 0-0 1 2 3 4 5
Elijah Lucky SG 27 7-16 0-0 2 3 2 5 18
Tony Greenwood PG 36 4-12 0-2 1 4 8 2 8
Monte Govan PG 16 2-3 2-2 1 2 0 2 7
Evan Partain SF 8 0-0 2-2 0 1 0 3 2
John Suazo PF 8 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 0 0
Douglas Dasilva C 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 14 (K.Berryman 1, J.Donato 1, W.Shouse 2,
E.Lucky 2, T.Greenwood 5, M.Govan 1, E.Partain 2)
Blocked Shots: 1 (J.Suazo 1)
Steals: 5 (K.Berryman 2, J.Donato 1, W.Shouse 1,
E.Lucky 1)
3P FGs: 6-18 (J.Donato 0-1, W.Shouse 1-4, E.Lucky 4-9,
T.Greenwood 0-2, M.Govan 1-2)
Player of Game: SF Daniel Warnock (LFYTE)
Almost everyone, myself included, think we're going to play Oklahoma next. Ranked #7 in the country, the Sooners won 30 games and went 11-5 in the super-tough Big 12. But Marquette pulled off a second-round upset, so we face the Golden Eagles instead.
They're a good team, led by explosive guard
Elijah Lucky. They disrupt our game plan as thoroughly as any team has all year--we shoot only 36% from the field--but we take full advantage of our frequent visits to the free throw line. We take 24 foul shots and make 21 of them. Meanwhile, Marquette takes only 9, and makes 5. There's your ballgame, right there.
A rampant
Daniel Warnock becomes a much more familiar name to college basketball fans with a 21-point, 11-rebound performance on a big stage.
Todd DeHaven (12),
Richard Leak (10) and
Tim Hutchinson (10) join him in double figures.
Big Sazzy Block Watch:
Samuel Davis, determined to play another night, turns back 4 Marquette shots. His career total is now
397, and he ties
Lynwood "Stay In Your" Lane , VCU '17, for
5th place on the all-time leaderboard.
Meanwhile, Temple upsets second-ranked Illinois in the other Midwest semi-final. We'll face a semi-local rival for a spot in the Final Four.
Record: 33-3.
March 30, 2019
NCAA Midwest Region Final...the Elite Eight
(3) #14 Lafayette 73, (2) #9 Temple 30
You read that right. We dismantle Temple and...
we're in the Final Four!
HTML Code:
Lafayette 73, Temple 30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lafayette (34-3, 13-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Samuel Davis C 28 2-5 0-0 0 8 2 1 4
Todd DeHaven PF 31 6-7 0-3 2 12 2 1 12
Daniel Warnock SF 34 4-8 2-2 2 3 0 3 12
Tim Hutchinson SG 25 6-10 4-5 1 3 1 3 17
Richard Leak PG 31 3-6 0-0 0 4 9 0 8
Jack Senn SG 17 1-3 11-12 1 4 1 1 14
Otis Hall PF 14 0-0 2-2 2 3 0 2 2
Rob Prendergast PG 9 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Matthew Ackerman SF 6 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 2 1
Johnathon Blouin C 7 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 0 0
Turnovers: 13 (S.Davis 1, T.DeHaven 2, T.Hutchinson 1,
R.Leak 4, J.Senn 2, O.Hall 2, J.Blouin 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (S.Davis 3, O.Hall 1, M.Ackerman 1)
Steals: 5 (D.Warnock 2, R.Leak 1, R.Prendergast 2)
3P FGs: 7-17 (S.Davis 0-1, D.Warnock 2-6, T.Hutchinson
1-3, R.Leak 2-4, J.Senn 1-2, R.Prendergast 1-1)
Temple (32-5, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Joe Hubbell C 29 1-3 0-0 0 3 1 2 2
J.C. Gilmer PF 24 0-4 0-0 1 2 0 2 0
Michel Kutz SF 24 3-10 1-2 2 3 2 3 8
Sammy Shelby SG 29 4-14 1-2 0 5 0 2 11
James Vasquez PG 29 0-4 0-0 1 2 4 2 0
Wilton Brennan PG 14 0-3 0-0 1 1 1 1 0
Nolan Spellman PF 18 1-1 0-0 2 2 0 1 2
David Sale SF 15 0-4 2-3 0 1 0 1 2
F. Trentesaulx C 10 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2 2
Chris Erickson PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Armand Patterson SG 8 1-1 1-2 0 0 0 4 3
Turnovers: 13 (J.Gilmer 2, M.Kutz 3, S.Shelby 3,
J.Vasquez 2, W.Brennan 2, N.Spellman 1)
Blocked Shots: 0
Steals: 6 (J.Gilmer 1, M.Kutz 1, S.Shelby 1, W.Brennan
1, F.Trentesaulx 1, A.Patterson 1)
3P FGs: 3-21 (M.Kutz 1-4, S.Shelby 2-11, J.Vasquez 0-4,
W.Brennan 0-2)
Player of Game: SG Jack Senn (LFYTE)
The score at halftime is Lafayette 38, Temple 14. Nobody can believe we're blowing out a Top Ten team like this, including
Graham Sims.
The Leopards play a magnificent, complete game of basketball. We shoot .575 from the floor, and we hit 20 of our 26 free throws. We hold Temple to a
Jack Senn, in particular, excels from the charity stripe; he's a worthy Player of the Game.
Big Sazzy Block Watch: You see above that Mr. Davis blocks three Temple shots. He and his teammates make their season last long enough for him to get
#400. He's now in sole possession of
5th place on the all-time leaders list.
Look who we're playing in the National Semi-final:
Record: 34-3.