LEHIGHMENS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS GAME TWENTY-THREE: AMERICAN (12-11) LEHIGH (14-8) Date Opponent Time/Result AMERICAN (12-11, 6-3 PATRIOT) AT LEHIGH (14-8, 7-2 PATRIOT) Nov. 21 Long Island L, 67-54 STABLER ARENA (5,600) • BETHLEHEM, PA 25 Stony Brook W, 64-49 29 at Sacred Heart L, 58-56 FEBRUARY 13, 2004 • 8:00 Dec. 1 at No. 3 UConn L, 75-55 SETTING THE SCENE 3 Swarthmore W, 82-58 6 Harvard W, 88-79 Second place Lehigh returns home tonight for a crucial matchup with the Eagles of 8 at Columbia W, 60-57 American, who currently sit in a tie for third place in the Patriot League. This will be the 17 Delaware Valley W, 99-61 first of three straight home contests with Patriot League foes for Lehigh. The Mountain 20 at Dartmouth W, 60-57 22 at Albany L, 63-55 OT Hawks can secure their first back to back winning seasons for the first time since the 30 at No. 22 Vanderbilt L, 85-59 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons with a victory tonight. Lehigh has won nine straight Jan. contests at home by an average of 14.4 points and is 20-3 all-time at Stabler Arena under 2 Wagner W, 64-59 6 at Cornell L, 89-76 Billy Taylor. 10 Navy* W, 80-61 . 14 Bucknell* W, 75-70 TONIGHT’S PROJECTED LEHIGH STARTERS 17 at American* W, 63-58 OT 23 at Lafayette* L, 111-104 OT Pos. Cl. No. Name Pts. Rebs. Note 25 at Army* W, 60-45 G Sr. 1 Austen Rowland 15.7 4.1 PL leading 19.6 ppg in PL play 30 Holy Cross* W, 63-53 G Fr. 13 Jose Olivero 12.7 2.1 Team is 7-2 when he leads in pts Feb. 1 Colgate* W, 63-56 C Fr. 3 Jason Mgebroff 4.7 3.3 PL leading .651 FG% in PL play 7 at Navy* W, 66-38 F Jr. 34 Earl Nurse 6.8 5.2 Led team in rebounds 7 times 10 at Bucknell* L, 64-63 F Jr. 11 Nick Monserez 5.6 3.4 PL leading .870 FT% in PL play 13 American* 8:00 20 Army* 7:30 22 Lafayette* 3:15 Lehigh Key Reserves Note 27 at Colgate*$ 8:00 G Sr. 20 Ra Tiah 7.1 2.3 10 pts vs BU most since 1/6 29 at Holy Cross* 3:15 C Jr. 40 Dayne Mickelson 4.1 4.0 7th in PL in off. rebs. (1.86/g) Mar. 6-7 Patriot League Tournament TBD G/F Fr. 5 Kyle Neptune 5.6 3.3 50% FG’s in PL play (20-40) 14 Patriot League Championship TBD C So. 44 Mike Fischman 3.0 2.7 More blocks (16) than TO’s (8) *Patriot League Game $ Televised on YES Network LEHIGH HEAD COACH BILLY TAYLOR All times Eastern Billy Taylor (Notre Dame ‘95) is in his second season and has an overall record of 30-19. Last season, he was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading the MEDIA INFORMATION Mountain Hawks to the second biggest turnaround in all of Division I, with 11 more wins than the previous season. Taylor is 2-1 versus the Eagles in his young career. Contact: Mike Stagnitta AMERICAN HEAD COACH JEFF JONES Office: . (610) 758-6631 Jeff Jones (Virginia ‘82) is in just his fourth season and has already led the Eagles to two Cell: . (609) 713-6180 appearnces in the Patriot League Tournament Finals. Prior to arriving in Washington, E-mail: . [email protected] D.C., Jones served as an assistant at Rhode Island and before that, he was head coach at Lehigh Press Row . (610) 758-4933 Virginia for eight years, where he took the Cavaliers to five NCAA Tournaments. Jones is 4-2 at American versus Lehigh. On Television: Tonight’s game will be televised live on WFMZ TV 69 in the Lehigh Valley and nationwide on A-ROWL VS. A-ROD - PART II DirecTV channel 615 beginning at Tonight’s game features a matchup of two of the Patriot League’s best all-around players 8:00 in Lehigh’s Austen Rowland and American’s Andres Rodriguez. Rowland is averaging a conference best 19.6 tallies in league play and handing out five assists, good for third in On the Radio and Internet: Patriot League action. Rowland is just as dominant on the defensive end, swiping 2.14 Tonight’s game can be heard live on balls per game. Rodriguez , averages 9.7 points per outing and is dishing out a league Oldies 1470, WKAP-AM with Matt best 7.57 helpers per night, while also leading the league in steals at 2.7. In the first Kerr and Jeff Tourial and on Lehigh’s meeting this season, Rowland netted a game high 20 points, including the first five in web site at lehighsports.com. overtime to seal the victory, while Rodriguez scored 6 points and handed out 7 assists. Lehigh Athletic Media Relations Experience• 641 Taylor Street, Lehigh Bethlehem, Football PA • Phone 610-758-3174 2003 • Fax 610-758-4407 GAME TWENTY-THREE: AMERICAN AT LEHIGH • PAGE 2 ACADEMIC AFFAIRS TONIGHT’S GAME The Mountain Hawks put plenty of time into their studies and it shows, as four members of this year’s team earned a GPA of over 3.0 in the fall semester. The list includes senior AMERICAN AT LEHIGH Steve Callahan (3.64), junior Dayne Mickelson (3.61), sophomore Kevin Tempest (3.87) American leads the all-time series and fresman Jose Olivero (3.16). The ease at which Olivero has adapted to Lehigh’s strict between these Patriot League foes 13-5. academics should come as no surprise, considering he posted a 3.6 GPA in high school However, Lehigh has won two of the and scored over 1300 on his SAT’s. last three contests, including the game earlier this season on January 17 in DID YOU KNOW? Washington, D.C. Senior Austen Lehigh is once again nationally ranked in the top-ten in graduation rates. The Mountain Rowland connected for 20 points and Hawks have been nationally ranked in the top-15 for 16 straight years. freshman Jose Olivero hit for 13 as Lehigh needed overtime to pick up the hardfought 63-58 victory. HE’S A SHINING STAR AT STABLER Head Coach Billy Taylor has made Stabler Arena a tough place to play for opponents in LEHIGH LEADERS IN 03-04 his one-plus seasons at Lehigh. With a record of 20-3, Taylor’s winning percentage of Austen Rowland 15.7 points/game .869 ranks first all-time at the STAR. Here is how he stacks up with the other Lehigh Earl Nurse 5.2 rebounds/game coaches who have roamed the sideline at the arena. Austen Rowland 4.6 assists/game Austen Rowland 2.1 steals/game Earl Nurse 1.1 blocks/game Head Coach, Years Record at Stabler Winning Pct. Billy Taylor, 2002-04 20-3 .869 AMERICAN LEADERS IN 03-04 Fran McCaffery, 1985-88 28-10 .737 Andre Ingram 13.6 points/game David Duke, 1988-96 54-44 .551 Andres Rodiguez 7.56 assists/game Brian Hill, 1975-83* 27-24 .529 J. Draughn 6.7 rebounds/game Sal Mentesana, 1996-02 28-46 .378 Andres Rodriguez 2.69 steals/game Tom Schneider, 1983-85 7-17 .292 Patrick Okpwae 0.61blocks/game *Stabler Arena opened in 1979 LAST TIME OUT FAMILIAR FRESHMEN FOES Both of these teams tonight feature a lineup that is spiced with potent freshman. The LEHIGH AT BUCKNELL Mountain Hawks’s Jose Olivero (12.7 ppg) and American’s Andre Ingram (13.6 ppg) are Lewisburg, PA - After falling behind and then staging a wild comeback, two of the top scorers in all of the Patriot League and are the top-two scorers among all Lehigh fell in a heartbreaker 64-63 to freshmen in the league. However, they are no stranger to one another, having met in high the Bison on Tuesday evening. Fresh- school. Olivero from W.T. Woodson (Fairfax, VA) and Ingram from Highland Springs man Jason Mgebroff led the Mountain (Richmond, VA) locked up during their senior seasons at the Commonwealth Classic in Hawks with 15 points, all in the second Richmond. half and senior Austen Rowland added 14, while handing out six assists. BOUNCE BACK ATTITUDE NAVY AT AMERICAN The Mountain Hawks never fret when hit with a loss. Under Billy Taylor, Lehigh is 11-7 Washington, D.C. - The Eagles con- in games following a defeat and have only lost back to back conference games twice in nected on 58 percent of their shots for his tenure. the game and came away with a 71-49 victory over Navy on Tuesday evening THE “WINNINGEST” at Bender Arena. Freshman Andre Billy Taylor (Notre Dame ’95) is in his second season at the helm at Lehigh. In his Ingram netted a game high 15 points in inaugural campaign, Taylor became the all-time victories leader among first year head the win. coaches in Lehigh’s history with 16 victories. This season Taylor has led the Mountain TALE OF THE TAPE Hawks to their second consecutive 10-win season for the first time since the 1994 and 2003-04 Statistics 1995 seasons. Taylor’s overall winning percentage is .604. LU AU Points 68.5 68.1 Coach, Year Wins Win Pct. FG% .428 .446 Billy Taylor, 2002-03 16 .571 Rebounds 36.2 34.3 Roy Geary, 1916-17 15 .789 Assists 13.5 13.7 Charles Lingle, 1925-26 13 .928 FT% .732 .652 Fran McCaffery, 1985-86 13 .536 Blocks 3.77 2.32 Tom Keady, 1912-13 12 .857 Steals 7.5 7.96 S.E.