HAMILTON, N.Y. - A complete team effort, with four players in double figures, gave Lafayette an 82-76 victory over Colgate on Wednesday night at Cotterell Court. Ryan Willen's 18 points paced the Leopards who shot 56 percent from the field as a team.

With the victory, head coach Fran O'Hanlon became the Patriot League's all-time winningest coach with 235 career wins. O'Hanlon passed former Bucknell head man Pat Flannery and now holds the Patriot League record for wins in addition to owning the overall (489) and league (218) games coached marks. The Leopards are 3-0 in road Patriot League games in 2011-12.

Reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week Dan Trist tied his career-high with 13 points and Joey Ptasinski also scored 13 in a career-high effort. Point guard Tony Johnson added 10 to go along with a season-high seven assists.

Colgate (6-14, 1-5) opened up a 15-6 advantage six minutes into the game after hitting seven of its first 10 shots. Lafayette then responded with a 9-2 run with three straight treys on consecutive possessions to pull within two at the 12:05 mark after Johnson's triple.

Lafayette (9-12, 4-2) led 32-30 with 5:15 to play in the first half following Ptasinski's jumper but the Raiders put together a 12-2 spurt to take its largest lead of the first half? (42-34). During the run, Sterling Melville scored nine of his 13 first-half points to lead the home side. With 1:28 showing, Lafayette answered with a pair of threes from Ptasinski and Johnson at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 42-40 at the break.

The Leopards' scored the first six points of the second half on layups from Jim Mower, Johnson and Trist to take a 46-42 lead 2:10 into the second session. Lafayette never trailed from that point on with the only tie coming at 57 apiece at the 9:45 mark.

Lafayette scored 12 of the next 16 points and led 69-61 with 4:08 to play. Levi Giese started the run with a short turnaround hook shot, followed by a Willen triple off a baseline inbounds play to extend the lead to five with 6:01 showing. A Nick Pascale layup pulled Colgate within three but Willen found Trist in traffic and the freshman converted a three-point play with a reverse lay-in. Melville, who finished with a game-high 19 points, made a basket for the Raiders, but Rob Delaney sank four free throws on two one-and-one situations to end the stretch.

Another Melville layup made it 69-63 but Johnson penetrated the lane and kicked to a wide-open Ptasinski three that gave Lafayette its largest lead of the night at 72-63 with 3:11 on the clock. Brandon James hit back-to-back threes surrounding a Willen bucket to pull Colgate within five at 2:03. Luke Roh's layup made it 77-73 with 50 seconds to go, but Lafayette sank 5-of-6 free throws to ice the game.

As a team, Lafayette was 18-of-22 from the charity stripe while Colgate made just 7-of-14. The Leopards' won the battle on the glass, 28 25.

Lafayette completes the first half of the Patriot League slate when it hosts American (14-7, 5-1) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Notes: Lafayette improved to 6-0 when outshooting its opponents this season (56% to 55.4%) and 3-0 when shooting better than 50 percent. Lafayette is now 4-2 when winning the rebounding battle.

Click here for a full breakdown of the game's stats.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.26.2012

Games played Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012, 2012

High School Girls

• St. Vincent 51, Chaffee 21

College Women

• Texas 79, Mizzou 72
• Ohio State 78, Pe
• Texas 75, Mizzou 58
• George Washington  68, Saint Louis 58
• South Florida 57, Seton Hall 45
• Holy Cross 62, Army 59
• Lafayette 66, Colgate 58
• Arkansas State 61, Denver 73

College Men

• Oklahoma State 79, Mizzou 72
• Lafayette 82, Colgate 76
• Duke 74, Maryland 61
• Kansas State 69, Texas Tech 47
• Memphis 74, Rice 51
• Arkansas 56, Auburn 53

 

With just two games left in the first time through the Patriot League slate, Lafayette (8-12) heads north to Hamilton, N.Y. for the first meeting of the season with Colgate. Lafayette is 3-2 in Patriot League play and looking to remain in the top half of the Patriot League standings, a place rewarded with a home game in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals in March. Colgate (6-13, 1-4) just picked up its first Patriot League victory of the season on Saturday, beating Navy 65-54 in overtime.

Lafayette has beaten Colgate in three straight and in four of the last five. The Leopards swept the season series in 2010-11, using 40 points in two games from Jared Mintz '11.

Nineteen second-half points by Lehigh's C.J. McCollum and a pair of key runs in the final 20 minutes helped Lehigh pull away to a 90-76 decision over Lafayette on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center.

The Leopards had four players in double figures in Ryan Willen (17), Rob Delaney (16), Dan Trist (13) and Jim Mower (11). Lafayette is 1-5 when four players score in double figures.

Forward Dan Trist has been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week after scoring in double figures in Lafayette's last two games. Trist contributed a career-high 13 points against Lehigh when he shot 6-of-8 from the floor. At Holy Cross, Trist scored 11 points and grabbed three boards. The Economics major has started 10 games this season and is averaging 5.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Trist leads Lafayette with 13 blocked shots and ranks sixth in the league in that category.

Preseason All-Patriot League selection Tony Johnson has made an impact in the four games in which he has played after returning from his back injury. Johnson is averaging 6.3 points and 3.5 assists per game. He has started the last three games, playing 26 minutes per game.

In the fall semester, Lafayette basketball posted a 3.13 GPA. Neuroscience major Ryan Willen led the way with a 3.77 GPA while freshmen Seth Hinrichs and Joey Ptasinski contributed with 3.65 and 3.53 marks.

Scouting the Raiders

Colgate rests in seventh place in the conference standings, just one game removed from a three-way tie for fifth. The Raiders lost the first four games to open conference play (at American, Bucknell and Army and at home vs. Lehigh), part of a longer, eight-game losing streak. That skid came to an end with Saturday's overtime win over Navy during which the Raiders outscored the Mids 13-2 in the overtime session for a 65-54 victory.

The Raiders are averaging 63.4 points per game and guards Mike Venezia (10.2 ppg), Pat Moore (10.1 ppg) and Mitch Rolls (9.6 ppg) account for 47 percent of the team's scoring. All three are threats from outside, combining for 101 of the team's 127 three-pointers in 2011-12. Colgate shoots 38 percent from the arc.

Up front senior forward Nick Pascale is the team's top rebounder at 5.4 rpg and is one of six players contributing six points or more per game. Junior Brandon James (5.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg) started the Navy game and three others this season. Also in the mix is senior forward Yaw Gyawu (6.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg), a 2009 All-Rookie selection.

Colgate is coached by Matt Langel (Penn '00) who is in his first season.

You can stream the game at GoLeopards.com, as well as listen to the radio broadcast at WJRH.org.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The newest MBCA Polls are in, and the Lady Bearcats have moved up to No. 4 in the state in Class 4. Miller Career Academy still has a slight edge over LBB, and wound up in the No. 3 slot.

In the MaxPreps.com polls, the Phoenix and Lady 'Cats both retained their respective No. 1 and No. 3 rankings in Class 4; LBB moved to No. 20 in the state overall, and currently sit at No. 999 in the nation.

In Class 3, the Kennett Lady Indians secured the No. 6 slot with a 15-2 record; the Lady Bearcats have been the only team to slow down Aubrey Wynne and the Tribe so far this season.

In Class 2, Meadow Heights picked up the No. 7 slot with a 13-3 record. LBB and Meadow Heights are set to face off on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at the Bearcat Event Center.

On the Boys side, the Charleston Blue Jays are the team to beat in Class 3; their 18-1 record secured the No. 1 slot. The Caruthersville Tigers locked in the No. 5 spot with a 10-3 record.

The Sikeston Bulldogs are ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 4 with a 15-3 record.

Click here to see the full Girls poll, and here for the full Boys poll.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.25.2012

Games played Monday, Jan 24, 2012

High School Boys

Stoddard County Tournament

• Bloomfield 73 Puxico 65
• Advance 69, Richland 30
• JV – Puxico 57, Bloomfield 30
• JV – Advance 52, Bell City 18

Regular Season

• Portageville 45 North Pemiscot 41
• Saxony Lutheran 63 Kelly 49
• Naylor 72, Greenville 55
• Sikeston 85, Jackson 55
• Delta 41, Marquand 18
• Notre Dame 57, Scott County Central 47
• Kennett 81, Twin Rivers 58
• Clarkton 68, Campbell 61 OT

High School Girls

• Sikeston 61, Delta 28
• Westminster 52, Jackson 48