Colgate – a must win, perhaps so

[LU65Participant]

Game Notes are up!

Lehigh Game Notes:
http://www.lehighsports.com/assets/spor … 021809.pdf

Colgate Game Notes:
http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/documen … OTES%20(36).pdf

This is as close to a "must-win" game as you can get, if Lehigh (4-6) has any intentions of climbing into 4th and nailing down "home team" designation when PL Championship play begins on March 4th. It only gets tougher when the Raiders (5-6) leave town, with arch rival Lafayette on the horizon Sunday and back-to-back road trips to Lewisburg and Worcester to close out the season next week. Beating Colgate and winning two of the last three should grant us access to the promised land – a home date with the number 5 seed. But, as any fan of the Patriot League knows, nothing is a sure thing.

Our odds of us getting by Colgate improved dramatically when it was announced that Alex Woodhouse (6’8" Forward, 28 minutes/game, 7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) will be sidelined for the rest of the year with a knee injury. Colgate will undoubtedly start in his place Freshman Nick Pascale (6’10" Center, 11 minutes/game, 2.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg). The starting lineup would include 3 freshmen, one junior and one senior. One freshman who is not playing like one, however, is Yaw Gwawu. Sure to be on LU’s radar, he stands 6’5” and sports equally tall 9.1 ppg and 2.9 rpg numbers. Other numbers (PL games only) that point in Lehigh’s favor would be:

Scoring Offense
LU 62.2
CU 58.3

Offensive Rebounds (per game)
LU 11.1
CU 9.7

Defensive Rebounds (per game)
LU 26.9
CU 23.2

Other games of interest around the league on Wednesday night include:

AU (9-1) @ Army (4-6)
Bucknell (3-8) @ Lafayette (2-8)
Navy (6-4) @ Holy Cross (8-2)

To improve our chances of landing in the #4 hole, scoreboard watchers may want to pull for: AU,
LC (I wish it weren’t so), and HC.

See you at Stabler !

[norcalfanParticipant]

I really like the new board. Thank you.

[RichHParticipant]

Any word on injured players, lack of a bench killed us against Army.

[LU65Participant]

That and 28 TO’s did us in at Army. Doubtful we’ll see Marquis turn it over 8 times again. Playing 47 minutes without Prentice Small entering the lineup to give him a "blow" was just too much to ask.

As for tonight, Small is set to go but Ojo and Adams are not.

[LU65Participant]

OK, we got what we wanted (see initial post above): a win coupled with victories by AU, HC, and LC. How sweet! We now sit alone in 4th as we prepare to roll out the welcome mat for Lafayette on Sunday. It should be fun. Do you think maybe, just maybe, the students will turn out for this one!? Last night’s headcount of the student section left me in double digits.

As for breathing room at 5-6, LU has little. Our nearest competitors in the race to finish 4th are Army (4-7), Colgate (5-7) and Lafayette (3-8). A win on Sunday, puts away Lafayette. As for Army, we’re glad to see them take to the road for their final three against Navy, LC, and BU. And, as for Colgate, they must prepare for HC at home and Navy on the road – each presumably without their money player, Alex Woodhouse. No, LU is not a lock for 4th but things are looking better than they were 24 hours ago. Who knows, should Navy (6-5) stumble along the way (home to Army, @ American, and home to Colgate), a third place finish is not out of the question.

Last night was not pretty unless you’re a fan of slow, methodical play punctuated by outstanding defense. Each team seemed content to bleed the clock but were, in fact, stymied by a pressing "Ds." Both squads took 49 shots with LU connecting on 5 more, 18 to 13. Threes were practically non-existent as the Mountain Hawks sank just 3 of 12 while the Raiders could only drop 5 of 18. Predictably, LU won the battle under the boards (no Woodhouse) and outscored Colgate 24 to 8 in the paint. LU’s bench play was superior to that of Colgate’s, as well, outscoring them 17-3 and hitting 7 out of 11 attempts from the field. Both teams minded the ball pretty well, only turning it over 12 (LU) and 13 (CU) times. Again, LU came away on top here, also, scoring 15 points off TO’s to Colgate’s 3.

The game was one without runs and you never felt confident we would pull it out. That is, until there were 3:12 left in the contest when we pushed what had been a three point lead (39-36) just 2:56 earlier to a nine point cushion (45-36) on the strength of two defensive stops, two CU turnovers, a CU foul, and sleek work on the offensive end resulting in buckets by Marquis Hall and Zahir Carrington, assisted by Phil Anderson and Matt Sz, respectively. LU would hold the Raiders to four points (2 FTs and one layup) over the final 6:08 – a period of time in which CU would go on to miss one layup, one jumper, one free throw, and two 3’s and commit two turnovers and three fouls. Just maybe "D" is the key to winning in the Patriot League. If so, don’t count us out.

[lfnadminKeymaster]

I watched the game: the Matt Sz 3 was really the nail in the coffin. Hard to believe, but the Lehigh/Colgate game wasn’t even the ugliest basketball game in the state yesterday: that honor goes to Penn State’s 38-33 slopfest against nationally-ranked Illinois.

I could see Navy losing two of their last three games (Army, HC), but have a hard time seeing them lose to Colgate unless Woodhouse comes back. Is pretty much the only way we could manage a 3rd seed is to run the table and have Navy lose to Army and HC? Or does Army also need to lose to HC?

Come what may, HC and American seem to be the class of the league again. It’s hard to envision a PL final without both teams, but Lehigh could, with some luck, make it to the final.

[CHC8485Participant]

"lfnadmin" wrote:
I could see Navy losing two of their last three games (Army, HC), but have a hard time seeing them lose to Colgate unless Woodhouse comes back. Is pretty much the only way we could manage a 3rd seed is to run the table and have Navy lose to Army and HC? Or does Army also need to lose to HC?

Come what may, HC and American seem to be the class of the league again. It’s hard to envision a PL final without both teams, but Lehigh could, with some luck, make it to the final.

HC is done with both Academies for the regular season.

Navy’s remaining schedule:

Army
@ American
Colgate

Army’s remaining schedule:

@ Navy
@ Lafayette
@ Bucknell

Don’t know what all that means to Lehigh, but I think HC only matters to LU on the last game of the season!

PS – Glad to have Lehigh in the world of registerd boards. Makes for a much better exchange!

[lfnadminKeymaster]

You ought to be flattered I mixed up HC and American.

Thanks for the post. It’s looking like the only way that Lehigh can get the No. 3 seed is to win out and get help from Army by beating Navy, having Navy lose once more, and then have Army lose once to Lafayette or Bucknell. Unlikely, but after seeing how the Eagles made the playoffs and championship game this year, anything’s possible :mrgreen:

[Author]

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