Lafayette Basketball Tournament Preview


Any fan of a college basketball team knows that the regular season is nice to watch, but it is all about winning your league tournament and earning a March Madness bid.

That is the attitude of Lafayette fans as the men’s team heads into the Patriot League Tournament with the second worst seed in the bracket.

Lafayette will play at Loyola Maryland, the 7th seed, on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The winner of that game will then play at Boston University on Thursday, March 2.

The Leopards finished the season with a conference record of 5-13 and an overall record of 9-20. However, they finished 3-3 in their last 6 games and ended the season on a positive note with a win over Colgate 73-69 on Saturday afternoon.

Although it is not impossible for Lafayette to win this tournament, like they did two years ago, the road will not be easy.

First up is Loyola. Lafayette split the season series with them, and this should be a very winnable game. Loyola is not overly talented, and I would not be surprised if the leopards pull out the victory.

But even if they beat Loyola, the problem is BU. In the regular season, BU, who finished 12-6 in the conference and third in the standings, defeated Lafayette easily both of the times they played. Lafayette cannot compete against BU’s skill and athleticism.

If Lafayette has any chance of defeating BU, they would have to play a perfect game. Offensively, they would have to shoot a high percentage from beyond the arc, and they would need multiple players in double figures on the scoring sheet.

Defensively, they would more than likely have to play zone and hope for a poor shooting performance from BU.

What Lafayette needs is more talent, and one guy who could provide that much-needed talent is Monty Boykins.

Now would be a great time for Boykins to come back from his injury. This has not been talked about much this season, but the injury of Boykins, who hurt his shoulder/collarbone in the first week of the season, was critical to Lafayette’s struggles this season.

Boykins averaged more than 10 points per game last season, and he was supposed to be the third scorer that Lafayette has needed all season long. Instead, with his absence, they have had inconsistent play from Paulius Zalys, Eric Stafford, Hunter Janacek, and Kyle Stout.

The Lafayette coaching staff has hoped all season that Boykins will be back for the tournament. Well, the tournament is now here, and Lafayette needs him.

Although Boykins may be rusty and out of shape, he could be that third offensive option to add to the Matt Klinewski/Nick Lindner attack.

Right now, to rely on a guy who has missed the whole season is anything but ideal. But that is the situation of the team right now.

As we know, anything can happen in the Patriot League. Take last season for instance.

Holy Cross, who like Lafayette was also the 9th seed in the conference, had a miraculous run and made it to the NCAA tournament.

The big difference is that the Holy Cross team was actually a talented basketball team, and underperformed during the regular season.

Unfortunately, what we have seen from Lafayette during the regular season is what we should expect in the postseason.


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