By Michael Kelley ’14

Photo by Jack Fedak IV ’13/ The Lafayette

There is no question that the Lafayette Men’s Basketball team is beginning to close the season on a good note. After recording their highest scoring effort of the season in a 90-74 win at Army on Wednesday and a 62-41 win against Navy last weekend, it seems as though Head Coach Fran O’Hanlon’s team is beginning to reach their peak as they head into their showdown with Bucknell tomorrow and more importantly, the Patriot League Tournament, which starts on February 29th.

Senior leadership is invaluable this time of year, especially when every game counts, and Lafayette’s seniors have provided plenty of it this season. In the game against Army, the seniors accounted for 60 of the 90 total points and in the Navy game. For the seniors, it is starting to set in that this is their last chance to win the Patriot League Championship, something they have come so close to the past two years.

“There is definitely a sense of urgency among us,” co-captain Rob Delaney ‘12 said. “We know we don’t have many games left. Its weird but it still hasn’t hit me. You think to yourself that you have only 5 regular season games left but it feels like you still have 100. It’s difficult to describe. We want that championship badly.”

Even after two strong wins, Jim Mower ’12, who provided 17 points in the win at Army, still thinks the team has much to improve on if they want to keep winning, especially against Bucknell. “We are starting to realize that pushing the ball more leads to better shots so we need to keep that up,” Mower said. “Rebounding is always an issue and especially against Muscala (last year’s PL player of the year onBucknell), we’re going to need to do a good job limiting second chances.”

Five players scored in double digits against Army, and four were seniors. Forward Ryan Willen ‘12 led the way with 22, Mower with 17, Delaney put up 11 and Nick Petkovich ‘12 netted 10. Co-captain Tony Johnson ‘13 was the last player in double figures with 13 points. With the game tightly contested at a 47-46 Lafayette lead, the Leopards went on a 14-3 run over the next three minutes to ultimately put the game away. After a Willen 3-pointer with just under four minutes to go to put them up 15, the Leopards sealed up their fourth Patriot League road victory of the season.

In the Navy game, Lafayette went into halftime leading by 9 and only added to the lead in the second half. Most impressive was the defensive effort in which the Leopards held Navy to 41 points, a season low. Petkovich came off the bench to provide 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Seth Hinrichs ’15, continued his strong play with 10 points. This week, Hinrichs won his sixth Patriot League Rookie of the Week award, which ties a Lafayette record set by Stefan Ciosici ‘00 in the 1995-96 season.

In the two victories against Army and Navy, the Leopards shot 50% and 49% respectively and went a total of 36-43 from the line, a mark of 84%. However, rebounding is still an issue as the Leopards’ opponents are averaging 34.5 rebounds per game to Lafayette’s 29.5. The strong shooting will need to continue if the Leopards hope to win a Patriot League Championship, which would be the fourth of O’Hanlon’s career.

Right now, the main focus is getting a top four speed to receive a home game in the Patriot League tournament. “Confidence is high but we know we need to stay pace with the top teams to get the edge in the tournament,” Mower said.

In the seniors’ time on College Hill, the Leopards seem to always do better in the second half of the season compared to the first. “Every year I have been here, the team has always gotten a lot stronger in the second half of the year,” Delaney said. “With Tony healthy, the chemistry has definitely developed and we’ve been figuring out our roles.”

The Leopards tip off with the Bison of Bucknell tomorrow night at 7 pm. The game will be televised on LSN Sports Network. The game will also be available on ESPN3.