April 1, 2014
Holy Cross falls at the last hurdle in the CIT, losing 83-75 to South Alabama in the championship game.
The NIT championship matchup is set. Missouri defeats Cincinnati to earn one spot in the final, while Maryland edges UCLA, 54-52, to take the other. They'll play on April 3.
April 3, 2014
In a battle of #3 seeds, Maryland beats Missouri, 63-49, to win the NIT championship.
April 7, 2014
Illinois are the 2014 NCAA champions, beating Michigan State, 99-85, in a high-scoring final contest.
Keith Lahr, usually a distributor, turns scorer, dropping a career-high 28 on the Spartans. All five Michigan State starters score in double figures, led by junior C
Lyndon Chen, who announces he will enter the draft. Chen will almost certainly be a lottery pick.
The Fighting Illini beat Louisville in their Final Four matchup, while Michigan State sent Marquette, a #10 seed Cinderella, home.
Here's one last look at the Patriot League standings:
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2013 Patriot League Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
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Lafayette 12 2 .857 26 7 .788 78 33
American 10 4 .714 19 13 .594 139 44
Holy Cross 9 5 .643 23 11 .676 162 40
Bucknell 8 6 .571 16 17 .485 137 28
Lehigh 5 9 .357 10 20 .333 232 21
Army 4 10 .286 11 20 .355 182 14
Colgate 4 10 .286 10 20 .333 215 18
Navy 4 10 .286 12 18 .400 191 19
While we set a new Patriot League record for wins in a season, our end-of-season RPI isn't as high as American's was in either 2012 or 2013.
The Patriot League awards are announced today, too.
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2013 PATRIOT LEAGUE AWARDS
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Player of the Year:
SR SG Victor Reed American 18.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.7 APG 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG
Freshman of the Year:
FR SG Alvaro Kinard Lafayette 8.6 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.4 APG 1.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG
Coach of the Year:
Graham Sims Lafayette 26 - 7 (12 - 2)
All-league 1st Team:
C SR Demetrius Woods Holy Cross 7.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 1.8 BPG
PF SR Lenny Catlin Holy Cross 17.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SF SO William Davis Navy 15.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.9 BPG
SG SR Victor Reed American 18.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.7 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG SR Patrick Robinson American 11.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 6.9 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.2 BPG
All-league 2nd Team:
C SR Robert Mallett Holy Cross 9.1 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.5 BPG
PF SR Gerald Bechtel Navy 7.2 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.4 SPG, 3.3 BPG
SF SO Charles Davis Holy Cross 11.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SG SO Hubert Song Lafayette 14.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG SO Dominick Hinman Holy Cross 10.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG
All-freshman Team:
C FR Hagan Loeffler American 7.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG
PF FR Rhett Barrett Navy 4.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SF FR Gerald Propst Lehigh 8.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SG FR Alvaro Kinard Lafayette 8.6 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG FR Justin Ceasar Navy 9.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
American's senior backcourt pair,
Victor Reed and
Patrick Robinson, add more accolades to their distinguished records. I'd be lying if I said I haven't enjoyed trying to beat them, and I wish both of them well as they continue their careers.
Hubert Song earns a well-deserved spot on the All-Conference second team, after his second productive season in a row. He should become the first of our players to score his 1000th point, sometime early next season.
But how on earth does
James Sanders not beat out at least one of the centers? When I post our stats in a moment, you should see what I mean.
I'm delighted with
Alvaro Kinard's freshman honors, too. I can see how
Justin Ceaser might have a case for Freshman of the Year, but I'm glad AK took the prize.
And I'm also delighted with
Coach Sims's first postseason honor.
