As always the Patriot League plays a tough non-conference schedule so you can’t always judge by records. American got off the a strong start versus Maryland. Freshman Mark Gasperini scored 14 as the Eagles gave the Terps all they can handle in a 62-56 loss. American outrebounded the Terps 44-22.
Lehigh had a similar effort as American. Lehigh went to seventh ranked Xavier and nearly pulled off the upset in a hard fought 84-81 loss. The Mountain Hawks missed two game tying three pointers at the end. Two time Patriot League Player of the Year, Tim Kempton, scored 25 points.
Army went to Oregon and performed well against the Ducks. Oregon is a true Final Four contender and the Black Knights hung with them including outscoring them in the second half in the 91-77 loss. Navy hung around against Big Ten power Ohio State. Early in the second half, the Midshipmen had the game tied against the Buckeyes before Ohio State pulled away. Navy followed up their tough loss with a 74-47 win over Washington Coll Shoremen.
Bucknell was the other Patriot League team to get a victory this week. The Bison opened the season with a 76-64 victory over Manhattan. Junior Zach Thomas led the Bison with 23 points and 8 rebounds. To make up for poor free throw shooting (19-32) and rebounding (outrebounded 45-31), the Bison forced the Jaspers into 25 turnovers. The Bison followed up with a 94-74 loss to Wake Forest.
Other results include:
Syracuse 83-55 over Colgate
Villanova 88-48 over Lafayette
Northeastern 87-77 over Boston U
Duquense 65-60 over Loyola (MD)
South Carolina 81-49 over Holy Cross
