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March 2, 2016
Patriot League Tournament
(1) #23 Lafayette (1) 65, (8) Army 57
We get very lucky here, playing badly and still managing to win. How badly? We shoot 32% for the day, miss 22 of our 28 three-point tries, and turn the ball over 18 times.
Joe Lien and Hubert Song score 17 and 16 points, respectively, but they're terribly inefficient; they need 31 shots to do so. Venceslás Castillo is even worse, going 2-10 from the floor. And James Sanders doesn't play like James Sanders (9 points, 8 rebounds). Army's Sterling Davies outplays him: 14 points, 12 boards.
And there's bad news from the medical staff. Rhett King dislocates his shoulder, effectively ending his Lafayette career. Rhett pulled down 10 rebounds in his final collegiate game.
Jack Jessie scores 21 points for Army in his final collegiate game. His career total of 2105 points is the highest in this universe's short history.
Two seed Colgate holds serve, but Navy and Bucknell score upsets and join us in the next round. I'm always wary of Bucknell during March.
Record: 26-4.
March 6, 2016
Patriot League Tournament
(5) Navy 89, (1) #23 Lafayette 81
For the second straight season, we lose the semifinal of our conference tournament. Navy deserves all the credit; they simply outplay us for 40 minutes.
Edward Jones, a conference All-Freshman selection last year, rips us for 27 points. Seniors William Davis (18 points) and Stephen Collins (11 points, his typical 15 rebounds) play like stars.
Three of our starters foul out, and the others end the game with four fouls. Joe Lien leads us with 17 points, but he shoots a ghastly 5-21 for the night.
The Midshipmen will face Colgate in the final.
Record: 26-5.
March 11, 2016
Colgate wins the Patriot League tournament with a 87-68 victory over Navy. The Red Raiders thereby earn our automatic bid, but their 25-7 record should be good enough to earn them an invitation anyway.
March 13, 2016
We're awarded the #6 seed in the South Region. Our opponent will be East Tennessee State, regular season champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Like us, the 24-7 Buccaneers lost in the semifinal of their conference tourney.
Colgate is headed to the West, where they're the #10 seed. Their first-round opponent will be 7-seed Purdue.
Holy Cross got the #4 seed in the CIT.
March 17, 2016
NCAA South Region
(6) #25 Lafayette 76, (11) East Tennessee State 71
It seems like ugly wins might be the best outcome we can expect without the steadying presence of big Rhett King. That's what we get today, as we nearly let the game slip away in the last five minutes.
Joe Lien's 21 points leads all scorers. James Sanders and Hubert Song each score 10 points, and Big Colonel pulls in 13 rebounds.
Purdue eliminates Colgate with a 78-57 victory. Holy Cross beats Campbell to advance in the CIT.
Record: 27-5.
March 19, 2016
NCAA South Region
(3) #6 Mississippi State 71, (6) #25 Lafayette 59
Our victory earns us a date with Mississippi State, one of the nation's best teams. They're deep and talented, and the final score doesn't reflect how competitive the game was for most of the second half.
The Bulldogs led, 41-20 at the break, but we go on a 16-2 run to cut their lead to four points with 14:23 to play. Six of those points are scored by Hubert Song, four of them on breakaway layups after stealing the ball. We're still only five points down at the 6:54 mark. We make them earn their victory.
Joe Lien finishes as the game's high scorer with 22 points, making five of his eight three-point attempts. And all three of our seniors make meaningful contributions in the last game of their collegiate careers.
Hubert Song makes 6 of his 8 shot attempts, scores 15 points, and adds 3 steals. James Sanders gets into foul trouble and plays only 20 minutes, but he claims 11 rebounds and scores 7 points. Venceslás Castillo finishes with 7 points and 6 boards.
Record: 27-6.
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