March 20, 2025
NCAA Midwest Region, First Round
(3) #8 Lafayette 71, (14) Loyola-Chicago 56
Drawn once again to the Midwest Region, the Leopards win their opening game in the NCAA tournament with a gritty, bare-knuckle style performance.
Kurt Ritchie and
Jeffrey Hampton decide they'd like to play more college basketball. Ritchie scores a single point, but he grabs 10 rebounds and blocks 4 shots. His fellow Blue Collar Man dominates with 11 points and 15 boards.
Kenton Lashley scores 14 points, but he makes only 3 of his 20 field goal attempts.
The victory clinches our third straight 30-victory season. Meanwhile, Colgate advances to the NIT's Sweet Sixteen with a 59-58 victory over Texas-San Antonio.
Record: 30-3.
March 22, 2025
NCAA Midwest Region, Second Round
(3) #8 Lafayette 92, (6) #24 Nevada-Las Vegas 83
Five Leopards score in double figures as Lafayette advances to the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time.
Carl McGriff leads the way with 18, but it's
Kamari Stone (17 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers) who earns PoG honors.
Jeffrey Hampton would have been a fine choice too, with a 16p/11r double-double.
Micah Rodriguez scores 13;
Kenton Lashley adds 11 with 5 assists.
Record: 31-3.
March 27, 2025
NCAA Midwest Region Semifinal...the Sweet Sixteen
(3) #8 Lafayette 71, (7) #17 North Carolina 60
Much of the buzz surrounding the Midwest Region centers on the presence of three of our universe's four winningest coaches:
Douglas Gillum of Kansas,
Mervin Heron of North Carolina, and
Graham Sims of Lafayette.
Gillum's Jayhawks match up with Heron's Tar Heels in the second round, and 7-seed UNC upsets 2-seed Kansas. That sets up a matchup between Heron and Sims, and it's the Lafayette coach who comes out on top this time.
It's no fluke: the Leopards make 51 percent of their shots and hold the Heels to 41 percent.
Kenton Lashley draws more than his share of attention from his former team, who limit him to 9 points. Carl McGriff picks up the slack, finishing with 21, and Micah Rodriguez has 11.
Jeffrey Hampton (9 pts/9 reb) and
Kurt Ritchie (6 pts/10 reb) both outplay UNC's dynamic freshman big, William Anglin (9 pts/3 reb).
Meanwhile, Purdue ends Colgate's season, beating them 91-86 in the NIT's Elite Eight.
Record: 32-3.
March 29, 2025
NCAA Midwest Region Final...the Elite Eight
(3) #8 Lafayette 83, (1) #4 Stanford 79 (OT)
With 30 seconds remaining in the second half, Stanford leads Lafayette, 70-64. The top-seeded Cardinal seem to be in control of the game, but
Micah Rodriguez has other plans.
The junior sixth man hits a pair of threes, the second coming with five seconds left, to send the game to overtime.
Kenton Lashley's three-pointer ties the score at 79 with 1:59 remaining in OT. The Leopards dig deep and force a shot clock violation and, on the ensuing possession, Kurt Ritchie is left open for a mid-range jumper.
It's good, and it turns out to be the game-winning basket. The points are Kurt's 14th and 15th of the game. He finishes with 15 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and a steal.
We're back in the Final Four!
Code:
Lafayette 83, Stanford 79
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Lafayette (33-3, 13-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Kurt Ritchie C 36 6-10 2-2 2 15 2 3 15
Jeffrey Hampton PF 29 2-7 1-1 2 6 1 2 5
Carl McGriff SF 13 0-1 5-6 1 2 1 5 5
Kenton Lashley SG 29 2-11 0-0 1 4 0 3 6
Kamari Stone PG 30 2-7 0-0 1 5 3 4 6
Micah Rodriguez PG 31 9-19 1-2 1 1 1 2 22
Charles Allen SF 26 4-13 6-6 1 5 5 3 18
Carter Todd C 21 3-5 0-0 2 4 1 2 6
Bret Bryant SF 8 0-2 0-0 0 2 1 4 0
Duncan Sims PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 10 (K.Ritchie 1, J.Hampton 1, C.McGriff 2,
K.Lashley 1, K.Stone 1, M.Rodriguez 1, C.Allen 1,
C.Todd 2)
Blocked Shots: 6 (K.Ritchie 2, K.Lashley 2, C.Todd 2)
Steals: 3 (K.Ritchie 1, K.Stone 1, C.Allen 1)
3P FGs: 12-34 (K.Ritchie 1-1, K.Lashley 2-9, K.Stone
2-5, M.Rodriguez 3-5, C.Allen 4-12, B.Bryant 0-2)
Stanford (29-7, 12-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Rodney Hetrick C 23 1-5 4-4 3 5 1 4 6
Gerald Bussey PF 34 3-5 0-2 1 11 3 1 6
Cary Rodas SF 26 6-13 4-6 1 6 3 4 19
Dionisio Molina SG 36 4-20 2-3 3 9 0 2 11
Peter Rude PG 30 4-7 4-4 2 4 1 3 14
Chris Agustin SG 30 2-6 4-4 0 3 3 1 9
Mark Nolte PG 12 1-2 1-4 1 3 0 0 3
Gary Mair PF 13 1-1 4-4 2 4 0 2 6
Edgar Bailey C 15 1-5 2-2 2 6 0 1 4
Timothy Forman PF 5 0-3 0-0 4 5 0 0 0
Irwin Partin SF 1 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1
Vito Shumaker SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 15 (R.Hetrick 4, G.Bussey 2, C.Rodas 1,
D.Molina 4, P.Rude 1, C.Agustin 1, G.Mair 1, I.Partin
1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (R.Hetrick 1, G.Bussey 1, C.Rodas 4,
T.Forman 1)
Steals: 4 (R.Hetrick 1, G.Bussey 1, C.Rodas 1,
C.Agustin 1)
3P FGs: 7-22 (C.Rodas 3-6, D.Molina 1-7, P.Rude 2-4,
C.Agustin 1-4, M.Nolte 0-1)
Player of Game: C Kurt Ritchie (LFYTE)
Record: 33-3.