March 1, 2015
For the first time, we're ranked in the Top 25 poll!
HTML Code:
Top 25
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. Tennessee (72) 27-3 1800 1 Southeastern Conference
2. Pittsburgh 24-4 1717 2 Big East Conference
3. Mississippi State 26-4 1652 3 Southeastern Conference
4. Washington 25-2 1589 4 Pacific-10 Conference
5. Kansas 24-5 1512 5 Big 12 Conference
6. Michigan State 22-4 1415 6 Big Ten Conference
7. Illinois 23-5 1341 8 Big Ten Conference
8. Vanderbilt 22-7 1274 10 Southeastern Conference
9. Boston College 23-4 1175 13 Atlantic Coast Conference
10. North Carolina 24-4 1151 9 Atlantic Coast Conference
11. Utah State 23-3 1062 7 Western Athletic Conference
12. Southern California 25-5 995 15 Pacific-10 Conference
13. Temple 22-5 992 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
14. Duke 22-6 849 11 Atlantic Coast Conference
15. Creighton 25-6 812 17 Missouri Valley Conference
16. Maryland 21-7 738 18 Atlantic Coast Conference
17. Wisconsin 20-8 721 14 Big Ten Conference
18. Texas 21-8 570 19 Big 12 Conference
19. Georgetown 20-7 461 23 Big East Conference
20. Villanova 20-8 433 12 Big East Conference
21. Oklahoma 19-8 319 20 Big 12 Conference
22. UCLA 19-9 203 NR Pacific-10 Conference
23. Kansas State 22-7 191 NR Big 12 Conference
24. Lafayette 25-4 138 NR Patriot League
25. Florida 19-10 112 25 Southeastern Conference
We're also ranked
#4 in the
Mid Major poll.
March 4, 2015
Patriot League Tournament
#24 Lafayette (1) 87, Army (8) 70
Our offense returns to its early-season form today. We hit over half our shots, including 11 of our 27 threes;
Dana Broughton, Joe Lien, and
Hubert Song combine for nine of those triples.
Lien is the high scorer with 24. It's good to see him back in the groove. Song has 16, Broughton adds 15 with 8 rebounds, and
Venceslás Castillo nets 10 before fouling out. Army does a good job defending
James Sanders, allowing him only eight shots and 9 points, along with 7 boards.
Army star
Jack Jessie gets into foul trouble trying to defend our high-scoring guards, and finishes with 9 points.
Bucknell knocks our bogey team, Navy, out of the tournament, beating them 64-60. Holy Cross beats Lehigh, and Colgate routs American. Bucknell, the 5 seed, is the only underdog to survive the first round.
Record: 26-4.
March 8, 2015
Patriot League Tournament
Bucknell (5) 60, #24 Lafayette (1) 55
Bucknell always brings their A game to the Patriot League tournament. For the second consecutive year, they upset us in the semifinal, and once again, they simply play a very good game of basketball.
Full credit to them for battling back from a 38-26 deficit with 13:07 to play. A furious 13-1 run by the Bison over the next eight minutes gives them the lead, and they close it out from there.
As the score might indicate, it's a fierce defensive battle. We limit
Moses Washington to 9 points. They hold
Joe Lien to 13.
Hubert Song asserts himself with 18 points, but their top six players all score between 7 and 10, and that balanced scoring is enough to tip the balance their way.
James Sanders leads all rebounders with 14.
Now we'll wait for the tournament selection committee to see if they invite us to the Big Dance. We're still listed as a Lock in the Bubble Watch.
Record: 26-5.
March 13, 2015
Bucknell defeats Holy Cross, 73-66, to win their second straight Patriot League tournament championship.
March 15, 2015
We receive the Patriot League's first at-large bid, and it's a flattering one. We're chosen as the #8 seed in the East Region. Our opponent will be #9 seed Alabama-Birmingham, and we'll play them on March 19.
The Blazers (24-9, 11-5) finished third in Conference USA during the regular season. They upset #1 seed Southern Mississippi, 50-49, in a thrilling tournament championship game.
Their 6'10" center
Edgar Gagliano, a Blue/Blue player with a great name, is a powerful inside presence. Redshirt junior
Michael Trainor (Green/Green) emerged as a scoring threat on the wing. They'll miss electrifying sixth man
Brian Kirsch and his 10.7 PPG; he's out with an injury.
Albert Koerner (16.8 PPG) knows where the basket is, but the man he guards often scores as many as he does. Perimeter defense is the Blazers' Achilles heel, and we happen to have pretty good perimeter scorers.
Bucknell earned the #15 seed in the Midwest. Their opponent is #11 ranked USC, whose 28-6 record earned them a 2 seed.
The CBI committee awarded Holy Cross the #7 seed, and they'll play #10 Valparaiso.
March 19, 2015
NCAA East Region
(8) Lafayette 68, (9) Alabama-Birmingham 50
I thought we might be able to win this game, but we don't win it for the reasons I chose.
Hubert Song and
Joe Lien don't feast on UAB's poor defenders. In fact, they hold Hubert to only three points, which I believe is a career low for him. Joe scores 14, but he takes 15 shots.
Instead, it's the
Big Colonel and
Dana Broughton whom the Blazers can't handle.
Edgar Gagliano limits
James Sanders' touches, but James does good things when he gets the ball and scores 14 on 6-10 shooting. Dana is a senior, and he decides he'd like to keep playing college basketball. His 14 points, including 4-6 from downtown, help us extend his career at least one more game.
We hold our opponents to 32.1% shooting and turn the ball over only seven times. That's a pretty solid recipe for a win.
Bucknell suffers the fate of most 15 seeds. The final: USC 56, Bucknell 35.
Moses Washington, one of my favorite opposing players, scores 14 points in his final collegiate game.
Holy Cross advances in the CBI with a 68-67 victory over Valpo.
Record: 27-5.
March 21, 2015
NCAA East Region
(1) #2 Pittsburgh 89, (8) Lafayette 52
Nobody's bracket is busted by this outcome, as the powerful Panthers rout us with ease.
Pitt's roster contains SIX Blue/Blue players and a Green/Blue guy. Forward
Thurman Pond was the #1 recruit in the Class of 2012. Point guard
Robert Hann was a top 10 recruit and a high school All-American the year before. Shooting guard
Gaylord Eggleston wasn't as highly regarded as either of those players, and he's now the best pro prospect of them all. The Panthers are clearly at least one cut above.
Their coach,
Blaine Boyd, is perhaps the best of an outstanding group of young head basketball coaches. He's 34, a year younger than
Graham Sims, and he has 112 wins to his credit already.
Boyd's boys follow their instructions to a T. Eggleston torches us for 34 points. Hann (12 points, 14 assists) and Pond (14 points, 15 rebounds) record dominant double-doubles.
Joshua Saari, a Blue/Blue player who comes off their bench, pours in 12 in 18 minutes.
No Leopard scores more than
Joe Lien's 11 points.
James Sanders has 9, with 8 rebounds.
It doesn't feel like it now, but our program took another significant step forward this season.
Record: 27-6.