Game of the Week
Lehigh at Rutgers – Friday, December 22, 7:30 pm
It’s not the biggest-name match-up this week, but it’s the Patriot League’s best chance to steal a win from a power conference team. Rutgers is 4-5 in non-conference play, including a home loss to Jackson St. and slim 6-point win at Princeton (the same Princeton that beat Lehigh on last-second free throws a few weeks ago). Rutgers’ leading scorer is 6-9 forward J.R. Inman, who is also the tallest player on the team that plays more than 15 minutes per game. Rutgers’ swingmen are bigger and stronger than Jose Olivero and Kyle Neptune, but Jason Mgebroff and Zahir Carrington should be able to push around Inman. Ken Pomeroy gives Lehigh a 45 percent chance to win this game.

Line of the Week

12.11.06 vs. Haverford TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT TP A TO BLK S MIN Neptune, Kyle………… 7-10 4-4 2-2 1 5 6 20 1 1 0 2 18
Impressing – The league schedule this week. Not only does Lehigh face Rutgers, but Holy Cross faces Providence and George Mason, Colgate travels to Arizona State, Bucknell battles Xavier, and Army goes to Notre Dame. A lot of chances for a Patriot League school to make a statement. – Kyle Chones. The “other” Chones brother stepped up at Syracuse last weekend, when no other Raider could hit shots. Kyle had a team-high 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, creating match-up problems because of his bulk and speed. – Academics first. The Patriot League was dark from last Monday night until Saturday, as the players focused on final exams. While a lot of student-athletes are traveling during the heart of finals week to play basketball, Patriot Leaguers live up to both halves of the student-athlete tag.		Distressing – American’s loss at Yale. The Eagles allowed Yale’s home momentum to snowball, and they found themselves down by a lot quickly. That was a problem for American last year as well (5-13 away from Bender Arena), and they need to fix it before the league schedule begins so they can compete in Sojka Pavilion and Hart Center. – Lafayette back to its losing ways. The Leopards had a three-game win streak and a home crowd, but Columbia came in and blew out Lafayette. Currently, Lafayette’s signature win is at St. Peter’s. – Injury woes in Worcester. Once again, Pat Doherty will miss significant time, this time with a broken hand. Keith Simmons and Lawrence Dixon are also hurting.

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