Final 2018-19 Patriot League Standings:1. Lehigh: 13-5 (19-8 overall), RPI - .542 (67th nationally)
2. Colgate: 12-6 (16-11), RPI - .518 (107th)
3. Loyola-Maryland: 12-6 (17-10), RPI - .513 (118th)
4. Lafayette: 11-7 (13-14), RPI - .468 (254th)5. Bucknell: 9-9 (15-12), RPI - .480 (222nd)
6. American: 8-10 (11-16), RPI - .447 (299th)
7. Navy: 8-10 (9-18), RPI - .465 (262nd)
8. Army: 7-11 (10-17), RPI - .456 (283rd)
9. Holy Cross: 5-13 (10-18), RPI - .433 (328th)
10. Boston: 5-13 (7-20), RPI - .440 (318th)
We finished 4th in the conference this year, which is about where I've expected we would finish for several weeks now. I'll take it; I'm proud of my guys for achieving this position.
The Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament does not have a central hosting site; the top seeds in each matchup host the games. Also, there are two play-in games featuring the bottom four teams in the conference. The winners of the 8th best team versus the 9th best team and the 7th best team versus the 10th best team advance to face the 1st and 2nd seeded teams in the quarterfinal round. We host Bucknell for our first conference tournament game. We swept them in the season series, so I'm confident that we can beat them. If we do beat them, we'll likely face rival Lehigh, which is a matchup where my confidence in how my team will perform is shaky.
3/3: Patriot League Conference Tournament Play In Games:(8) Army (10-17, 7-11) vs (9) Holy Cross (10-18, 5-13)The Crusaders of Holy Cross defeated Army's Black Knights 93-99. Holy Cross put Army in foul trouble and shot 31/40 from the free throw line.
(7) Navy (9-18, 8-10) vs (10) Boston (7-20, 5-13)Navy won 80-62 thanks to double-doubles by both of their starting big men.
3/4: Patriot League Conference Tournament Quarterfinals:(1) Lehigh (19-8, 13-5) vs (9) Holy Cross (11-18, 5-13)Lehigh defeated Holy Cross 82-62.
(2) Colgate (16-11, 12-6) vs (7) Navy (10-18, 8-10)In a fast paced, high scoring overtime thriller Colgate was upset by Navy 117-125. The Midshipmen's 51.9% three point shooting on 27 attempts and their favorable edge in free throws made and attempted carried them through to the next round.
(3) Loyola-Maryland (17-10, 12-6) vs (6) American (11-16, 8-10)Loyola-Maryland won 96-78. Their starting PF and C combined for 49 points.
(4) Lafayette (13-14, 11-7) vs (5) Bucknell (15-12, 9-9)We start poorly, letting the Bison steal the ball from us 3 times in the first 4 minutes. Bucknell's Michael Lampley nails a pair of triples to build their lead to 2-10, and I call a timeout. I instruct us to slow down our pace slightly and play with more care. My players focus more and take better care of the ball, but fail to defend the Bison well. They're hitting 60% of their shots. It doesn't help that we aren't making baskets tonight. I put Dennis the Menace in the game at the 13 minute mark, and he does his thing by making Bucknell's starting center pick up 2 fouls in the next 2 minutes. The game becomes an exchange of small runs, and both teams keep trading baskets. We inch closer to Bucknell, and enter halftime down 45-48.
At last we take the lead 52-51 at 16:58 when Dennis Riley goes to the line and makes both of his free throws. We increase our lead, and I praise the team for showing great discipline and finding great looks at the basket. However, my players cannot defend the three tonight, and Bucknell regains the lead 65-66 by 12:05. The Bison steal the ball from us a couple times after that, we trade 3 pointers with them, and I call a timeout at 9:40 with the score 71-73. I don't want to let this game get out of hand. My team ignores my words completely and lets Bucknell pick our pockets for easy layups on each of the next three possessions. Timeout! I am furious, fuming, and steaming;
I lambaste the team for their undisciplined play. The Bison ratchet up their lead to double digits, and I continue to yell at my guys to get their heads back in the game at every opportunity. I implement some different lineups, but neither my starters nor my bench players can play decent basketball right now. My seniors are all starters; I let them play for the rest of the game. We lose 82-93.
This was a terrible way to end the season. I am thoroughly disgusted with my team and how they melted down during the latter part of the game, especially in such an important match.
Player of the Game: Bucknell SG Michael Lampley (23 pts, 3 ast, 5 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 7/13 3pm/a)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: I'm tempted not to list any honorable mentions since everyone on the team failed miserably at playing basketball towards the end of the game. Here are some honorable statistical mentions anyway:
Marcus Woods (16 pts, 4 ast, 1 reb, 1 stl), Tyler Stanfield (15 pts, 4 ast, 2 stl), Jerome Campbell (12 pts, 14 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl),
Johnnie Long (11 pts, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 0 tov, 3/4 3pm/a, 13 min), Dennis "The Menace" Riley (10 pts, 3 reb, 2 stl),
Shaun Lavin (1 point, 7 reb) -- I thought he played well tonight; this is primarily an honorable mention for his reliable rebounding and for being a solid post presence for much of the night.
*Author's Note: While Lafayette was the home team in the match, the game displayed Bucknell's court graphic. I checked other games in the tournament and noticed similar discrepancies where the game would use the court of the away team. In one instance, the game also failed to designate the higher seeded team as the home team. I will investigate whether or not these issues are present in DDS:CB 2019.
EDIT: It appears that the game is programmed to use one court for all of the games in a given conference tournament. With Bloomington's mod (what I'm using for this association), a Bucknell court graphic is the Patriot League Conference Tournament court graphic used in every game of the tournament. I haven't investigated the 2019 game yet, but I assume it also uses a single court graphic for every conference tournament game. When I mentioned before that it appeared that each Patriot League Conference Tournament game used the court graphic of the away team, I happened first to look at the two games where Bucknell was the away team, thus the notion that the game was using the court of the away team became stuck in my mind. I must have ignored and forgotten what court graphic was used in the games I viewed after the Bucknell games, which is why earlier I erroneously concluded that DDS:CB 2018 must be using the courts of the away teams in each game.
After the game, I chewed out my players for throwing away our most important game of the season. Everyone, including my staff and myself, left the locker room bearing dejected spirits.
3/5: Patriot League Conference Tournament Semifinals:(1) Lehigh (20-8, 13-5) vs (5) Bucknell (16-12, 9-9)Lehigh dominated Bucknell 95-80 in a game that wasn't close.
(3) Loyola-Maryland (18-10, 12-6) vs (7) Navy (11-18, 8-10)Navy's upstart run through the conference and the tournament came to a halt against Loyola-Maryland with an 89-77 loss.
3/6: Patriot League Conference Tournament Finals:(1) Lehigh (21-8, 13-5) vs (3) Loyola-Maryland (19-10, 12-6)Lehigh won the Patriot League Conference Tournament Championship and an automatic bid to the Big Dance with a 74-60 victory.