LAFAYETTE WINNING, BUT LOOKING FOR MORE
With 10 regular-season games left in his college career, Parkland High graduate Kyle Stout has already won more games than in any of his first three years at Lafayette.
The Leopards' improved defense and rebounding could keep them winning into the Patriot League tournament.
Lafayette evened its league record Saturday with a 74-56 win over Lehigh. The Leopards (12-7 overall, 4-4 Patriot League) are one of six teams separated by no more than a game in the league's standings.
Stout scored seven points and snared six rebounds to help Lafayette snap its eight-game losing streak to the Mountain Hawks. He is as pleased with the prospects for the Leopards over the next 6½ weeks as he was with Saturday's win.
Lafayette already owns a victory over defending league champion and preseason favorite Colgate. A good finish to the regular season could leave it with at least one home game in the Patriot League tournament.
“Off the court, our team chemistry, we're a very closeknit group,” Stout said. “We're all great friends. That really translates onto the court. We trust each other. We trust each other to knock down shots or make the extra pass or help on defense.
“When you have guys around you that you can trust, it makes you want to play harder for them. So us doing those things, it's really a motivator.”
Stout and two of his classmates, Lukas Jarrett and Myles Cherry, have logged a lot of playing time together over the past four years. Having a strong group of seniors plus experienced juniors in Justin Jaworski and E.J. Stephens has given Lafayette's roster a different composition than recent teams that struggled to win double-digit games.
Lafayette has limited its opponents to 43.1 percent shooting from the field and 32.5 percent from 3-point range. Foes shot 47.2 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from 3-point range against the Leopards last season, when they ranked in the bottom 20 nationally in both categories. They have also a plus-0.9 rebound margin after posting a negative rebounding margin last season.
Lafayette has a tough stretch ahead. The Leopards visit Colgate on Wednesday. They still must visit Holy Cross and Bucknell.
They feel better equipped to challenge anyone in the league this season than they were in the past four years.
“I can tell you probably Colgate is going to be a top-four team if not the top team,” Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon said. “But there's going to be a number of teams in there, and there's going to be tiebreakers. Then it gets to the playoffs, and a lot of times it just comes down to the matchups.
“We've just got to continue to get better. Hopefully our young guys can keep taking steps.”
Wounded Mountain Hawks: Lehigh junior center James Karnik missed his sixth straight game Saturday with an ankle injury. He averaged 12.4 points, second on the team, and a team-best 7.6 rebounds in 14 games before hurting his ankle.
Freshman guard Evan Taylor joined Karnik in a walking boot after suffering an ankle injury in Wednesday's overtime loss at Holy Cross. He played in Lehigh's first 19 games, starting 17, while averaging 8.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Lehigh coach Brett Reed said there is no timetable for Karnik or Taylor's return. Karnik's injury has been especially tough for a roster short on experience.
“James has been a really consistent performer for us,” Reed said. “Losing him for the majority of league play so far has been a challenge, because he has been a heart-and-soul type of kid.
“Our guys really count on him. He's a stabilizer. I think Nic [Lynch] has done a great job as a replacement, but we were hoping that we would have Nic and bolster our depth and take another step.”