Jan 25, 2004

EASTON, Pa. (AP) - Freshman reserve Marcus Harley scored 14 points to lead Lafayette to an 81-72 victory over Bucknell on Sunday. The victory, combined with Friday's 111-104 overtime decision over visiting Lehigh, gave the Leopards (14-4, 5-0 PL) sole possession of first place in the Patriot League standings after five of 14 League games.

In other games Sunday, Lehigh (11-7) and American (10-9) each won on the road remain one game behind Lafayette in the PL standings, each with 4-1 League records.

Lehigh held Army (4-13, 1-4 PL) to just 10 first-half points on the way to a 60-45 victory in West Point.

Meanwhile, on a CSTV national television broadcast, American rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to post a 62-59 decision at three-time defending PL champion Holy Cross (8-10, 2-3).

In Hamilton, N.Y., Colgate pulled away late in the first half to gain a 91-84 triumph over Navy, snapping a two-game slide for the Raiders.

Lehigh will host two key games this weekend when Colgate (Friday) and Holy Cross (Sunday) visit Stabler Arena. Another key match during the second "travel weekend" of the season will pit Lafayette at American Friday night.

Also Friday, the second "PL Game of the Week" national TV broadcast will feature Army at Navy on DIRECTV (channell 615), beginning at 8 p.m.

Coming off Friday's 111-104 overtime victory over visiting Lehigh, which was a battle of unbeaten teams, Lafayette secured the top spot in the PL standings Sunday by going 8-for-10 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the win against Bucknell. The Leopards outscored Bison 23-7 from the line.

Harley led four Leopards in double figures and 10 players scored for Lafayette, which improved to 10-0 at home this season.

Kevin Bettencourt and Chris McNaughton scored 16 points each for Bucknell. McNaughton was 8-for-10 from the floor and pulled down 10 rebounds before fouling out.

Rob Dill scored 13 points and Justin DeBerry scored 12 for the Leopards.

Charles Lee was also in double figures for Bucknell with 12 points.

Mike Farrell scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds for Lafayette. Late in the first half, Farrell grabbed his 500th career rebound.

At the Hart Center, Andres Rodriguez of American connected on six free throws in the final minute and American's defense shut down Holy Cross in the second half to gain a 62-59 victory.

Holy Cross had a 48-39 lead with 12:05 left, but American's Matej Cresnik converted a 3-point field goal to ignite a 13-3 run over the next 8:50 for a 52-51 lead.

Rodriguez then made a steal and scored a layup for a 54-51 lead. American extended the advantage to 57-51 with 43 seconds remaining.

Greg Kinsey and Jave Meade of Holy Cross then sparked a frantic rally. Kinsey's 3-pointer cut the lead to 58-56 with 24 seconds left. Rodriguez's two free throws made it 60-56 before Meade connected on a conventional 3-point play to cut the lead to 60-59 with 11 seconds remaining. Rodriguez, however, made two more free throws.

Kinsey missed a desperation 3-pointer with one second left.

Cresnik had 15 points for American. Kinsey and Meade had 14 each for Holy Cross (8-10, 2-3).

Holy Cross, which has won three straight Patriot League titles, lost two of its last three home games this season against Lafayette and American, their primary contenders.

In both games, Holy Cross' errant late-game free throw shooting proved decisive. In the loss to 60-58 loss to Lafayette, Holy Cross missed eight straight free throws. The Crusaders missed six of their last seven against American.

At Christl Arena, Austen Rowland scored 23 points and handed out seven assists to lead Lehigh to a 60-45 victory over Army.

Lehigh held Army to just 10 points on 12.5 percent shooting in the first half. Lehigh used 15-1 run at the start of the game to take the early lead and the Mountain Hawks led by 14 at the half.

Army stepped up its shooting in the second half, hitting 50 percent from the field, but couldn't catch Lehigh.

Nick Monserez added 11 points for Lehigh and Jason Mgebroff grabbed eight rebounds.

Matt Bell led the Black Knights with 11 points. Josh Wilson had nine points and three assists.

At Cotterell Court, Jon Simon scored a career-high 21 points to lead Colgate to a 91-84 Patriot League win over Navy. Colgate won its fourth straight against the Midshipmen.

With the score tied 13-13 in the first half, Navy went on an 11-5 run to open a six-point advantage with 8:12 left. Trailing 29-28, Colgate went on a 15-4 run to take a 46-37 lead at halftime.

Navy scored nine of the first 11 points in the second half to cut the deficit to 48-46, but couldn't overcome the Raiders.

Kendall Chones added 16 points for Colgate, Andrew Zidar had 15 and Mark Linebaugh 13. Zidar also had 10 rebounds.

Carlton Baldwin led Navy with 19 points, while Kwane Ofori scored 15, Leonard Green 14 and David Hooper 12.