The Patriot League members play some of the toughest schedules in the country so their record can be very misleading. With conference season upon us, Making the Cut takes a look at each team and their leaders.
Bucknell Bison (8-5)
The Bison boast one of the best twosomes in the conference. Zach Thomas and Nana Foulland have gotten off the excellent starts this season. Heading into conference season, inconsistency has crept into the Bison’s DNA as they are 2-3 in their last 5.
Scoring Leader: Zach Thomas – 16.6
Rebounding Leader: Nana Foulland – 8.0
Assist Leader: Stephen Brown – 4.7
Best Win: at Vanderbilt, 75-72
Lehigh Mountain Hawks (6-5)
Lehigh’s schedule has played well going into conference play. The Mountain Hawks are riding a 3 game winning streak going into a tough road date at Army. Senior Tim Kempton does everything except sell popcorn. The conference Player of the Year candidate is averaging a double double.
Scoring Leader: Tim Kempton – 21.5
Rebounding Leader: Tim Kempton – 10.2
Assist Leader: Kahron Ross – 5.8
Best Win: vs Princeton, 76-77
Loyola (MD) Greyhounds (6-5)
Stealing victories on the road tends to be important once conference season begins and road wins against Stony Brook and Binghamton should give the Greyhounds a certain bit of confidence. Senior Jarred Jones has been stat stuff all season. Jones has scored double digits in every game except 2.
Scoring Leader: Jarred Jones – 15.4
Rebounding Leader: Jarred Jones – 7.2
Assist Leader: Andre Walker – 3.6
Best Win: vs Fairfield, 81-66
Army Black Knights (6-6)
Army is going to be a tough out each and every night. Led by Jordan Fox, the Black Knights competitive in just about every game. The big question will be, can they win on the road? To date, Army only has one road win (Columbia).
Scoring Leader: Jordan Fox – 12.8
Rebounding Leader: Mac Hoffman – 6.9
Assist Leader: Jordan Fox – 4.6
Best Win: vs Air Force, 79-72
Holy Cross Crusaders (6-7)
Winners of 3 out of the last 4, the Crusaders come into conference play with some momentum. The scoring is balanced between Malachi Alexander, Robert Champion and Karl Charles which could cause problems for opponents who are trying to concentrate on one guy. Big question for Holy Cross will be if their offense can score enough points night in, night out.
Scoring Leader: Malachi Alexander – 14.3
Rebounding Leader: Malachi Alexander – 5.4
Assist Leader: Karl Charles – 4.0
Best Win: at Harvard, 63-52
Boston University Terriers (5-7)
Losing 6 of 7 is never good thing going into conference play but that’s what the Terriers are faced with. Their only win in that stretch came against New Hampshire. They also had close losses to UConn (51-49), North Carolina State (77-73) and UMass Lowell (77-75).
Scoring Leader: Eric Fanning – 13.7
Rebounding Leader: Nick Havener – 6.2
Assist Leader: Kyle Foreman – 5.1
Best Win: vs Northeastern, 65-63
Navy Midshipmen (5-7)
The Middies have an impressive win against Penn and a historic 25-point comeback versus Bryant to hang their hat on. Their 2 game winning streak was broken at Hartford (63-54) but prior to that, wins against Bryant and Columbia had Navy going in the right the direction.
Scoring Leader: Shawn Anderson – 12.4
Rebounding Leader: Tom Lacey – 7.7
Assist Leader: Hasan Abdullah – 2.9
Best Win: vs Penn, 70-68
Lafayette Leopards (4-7)
The Leopards are in a serious funk as their only win in their last 4 games came against Moravian. Blowout losses to Penn, Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s is a concern going into conference play. Their struggles are in line with the struggles of their best player, Matt Klinewski. Klinewski has scored in single digits 3 of the last 4 games.
Scoring Leader: Matt Klinewski – 15.2
Rebounding Leader: Matt Klinewski – 5.8
Assist Leader: Nick Linder – 4.7
Best Win: at St. Peters, 61-57
American Eagles (3-8)
The Eagles are a team that falls into the category of “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Youth is serving American well and, despite their record, there is constant improvement. The Eagles are led by two freshmen, Sa’eed Nelson and Mark Gasperini and a sophomore, Delante Jones. Expect American to get better as the conference schedule goes along.
Scoring Leader: Sa’eed Nelson – 16.3
Rebounding Leader: Mark Gasperini – 4.6
Assist Leader: Sa’eed Nelson – 2.5
Best Win: vs Youngstown State, 77-62
Colgate Raiders (2-11)
Colgate is on a 7 game losing streak as they head into conference play. Freshman Will Rayman and sophomore Malcolm Regisford have been a bright spot for the Raiders.
Scoring Leader: Will Rayman – 13.7
Rebounding Leader: Malcolm Regisford – 7.6
Assist Leader: Sean O’Brien – 4.2
Best Win: at Cornell, 67-63
