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Two Ivy-Patriot battles highlight Saturday slate

8 December, 2007

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The Ivy League still holds a 4-3 edge in the season series, but the Patriot League has taken two straight and could go on top Saturday afternoon.

Harvard (4-5) at Lehigh (4-5) – 1:00 pm ET
Lehigh video | Harvard audio
Two coaches in their first seasons at their respective programs will meet at Stabler Arena this afternoon. The Mountain Hawks are 3-1 at home this season — with the only loss coming in overtime to Quinnipiac — while the Crimson have struggled on the road this season, dropping all four games to date. Lehigh has knocked down a blistering 44.2 percent of its attempts from beyond the three-point arc, but has found a way to allow opponents to shoot 46.7 percent. Harvard’s outside shooting has been improved this season at 36.8 percent, but it attempts only 27.3 percent of its shots from long range and opponents are converting 40.1 percent of their attempts from distance. The Crimson has enjoyed an advantage in free throw attempts on the season, while the Mountain Hawks have a deficit in that department. For the sake of comparison, Lehigh previously lost 87-83 at Cornell in its season opener, while Harvard fell at Holy Cross 80-69 back on November 20.
Stat to watch: Three-point shooting
Pomeroy says: Harvard 76, Lehigh 70

Lafayette (5-3) at Columbia (3-5) – 2:00 pm ET
GameWatcher | Columbia video | Lafayette audio | Columbia audio | WKCR audio
The Lions are coming off a much-needed comfortable win at Wagner, while Lafayette tasted defeat for the first time in five games at Rutgers on Wednesday. Both teams have done an excellent job defending the three-point arc, with Columbia conceding just 31.9 percent from long range, and Lafayette even better at 31.0 percent allowed. Both teams also take a ton of threes offensively, but while the Leopards are one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation at 42.4 percent, the Lions have been shockingly poor at just 30.3 percent. The common denominator in Columbia’s wins has been strong defense, while Lafayette generally has shot its way to victory. Today will mark the Lions’ first game against a Patriot League opponent, while the Leopards took down Penn 81-69 in Easton on November 28.
Stat to watch: Three-point shooting
Pomeroy says: Lafayette 69, Columbia 67

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