The men’s basketball team hosted its first-ever tournament at Kirby Sports Center last weekend, playing host to Long Island University, Niagara University and Binghamton University for the Lafayette Classic. The tournament, which was played over three days in a round-robin format, saw the Leopards rely heavily on their bench for both minutes and points.
Nov. 29: LIU
Starting against LIU (4-7 overall) on Friday, the Maroon and White (4-5 overall) went down early, trailing 0-6 from the field.
However, the return of senior center Justin Vander Baan, who missed four games with a hand injury, gave the Leopards a boost with back-to-back baskets to put the Leopards on the board.
Vander Baan said that his main goal was to “just play hard.”
“Thankfully, I could stay in shape during this time off,” he said.
Down by as many as nine points in the first half, the Leopards kept up the defensive pressure and strung together a 12-0 run to take an 18-15 lead just over halfway into the period.
The Maroon and White continued to heat up from downtown, making four 3-pointers in the closing stretch of the half to take a commanding 35-26 lead.
A steady stream of fresh legs from the bench propelled the Leopards in the second half, as 10 different players contributed to the scoring overall, with the bench accounting for 60% of the team’s points.
“This year, especially compared to last year, we got a lot of guys that can have great games any given night,” Vander Baan said. “It’s a good problem to have.”
The Leopards closed out LIU comfortably 75-56 to go 1-0 in the tournament.
Vander Baan had a commanding return to the court, tallying 18 points, four rebounds and four blocks in just 17 minutes.
Nov. 30: Niagara
The Leopards returned to face Niagara (3-5 overall) on Saturday. In the absence of sophomore center Misha Bednostin, who injured his ankle in Friday’s game, Vander Baan tallied his first start since LaSalle on Nov. 9.
The Maroon and White struggled from the field during the first half, shooting only 23.3% from the floor and 15.4% from the 3-point line.
Freshman guard Alex Chaikin provided a boost from the bench, notching seven points and three rebounds in the first half.
The Leopards stayed strong on defense, with two steals from junior guard Ryan Pettit allowing the Maroon and White to stay on top
21-18 going into the half.
“Shots weren’t falling, but defensively, we were doing good,” Chaikin said. “We said if we just keep bunkering down defensively, the shots are going to come and we’re going to get a win.”
Both teams started to heat up, with the Leopards starting the second half 7-13 and 3-5 from three. The Maroon and White continued to share the ball, with seven different players accounting for the team’s seven 3-pointers in the game.
“We knew we could get it inside and maybe get it back outside to get open looks,” Chaikin said. “Honestly, in the first half, I thought we got good looks, but we thought second half, they were going to fall, and they did.”
The Leopards began to pull away from the Purple Eagles, leading by as many as 14, but Niagara managed to narrow the lead to five with 2:28 to play. Running out of time, the Purple Eagles were forced to foul, allowing the Maroon and White to close out a 59-47 victory.
Dec. 1: Binghamton
The Leopards got off to another slow start in their third and final game against Binghamton (4-6 overall) on Sunday.
After both teams struggled offensively in the opening minutes, Binghamton scored 10 unanswered points to take a 15-4 lead with 11:25 to go in the half.
The Leopards battled back, making their next four field goal attempts — all from 3-point range — to narrow the deficit, but fell flat again at the end of the half as Binghamton took a 40-33 halftime lead.
While Vander Baan’s return allowed the Leopards to “be a little bit more free” on defense, Pettit said the team needs to focus on the details.
“He can clean up a lot of mistakes for us, but it’s really all on defense and the details,” Pettit said. “Our close-outs were not where they should have been in the first half today.”
The Leopards came out of the locker room swinging, going 4-6 from the field in the first four minutes of the half to narrow the deficit to two points, but the Bearcats again rebounded with a 9-point unanswered run.
The Leopards adjusted on defense, running a full-court press that allowed them to force four turnovers from Binghamton in
the next two and a half minutes.
“We knew that they struggled with ball pressure from the start going in,” Pettit said. “We knew that if we could pressure them and speed them up a little bit, there’s going to be easy steals and easy baskets.”
With a 1-point deficit, Pettit picked the pocket of a Binghamton player around half-court and converted the layup to take the Leopards’ first lead since the first half.
Both teams went back and forth, with a 13-15 second-half free-throw shooting performance allowing the Leopards to force overtime with the score knotted at 73.
Binghamton jumped out to a 6-point lead at the start of the 5-minute overtime period, but a drawn foul and two good free throws from sophomore guard Mark Butler narrowed the deficit to one with six seconds left.
Forced to foul to stop the clock on the inbound, Butler recorded his fifth foul and had to leave the game. Binghamton missed both free throws and Chaikin’s rebound put the game in the Leopards’ hands.
With Butler out, freshman guard Caleb Williams got the job, but missed the game-winning layup as time expired, giving Binghamton the 1-point victory at 82-81.
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Chaikin earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors for his 34-point performance during the tournament. He is now the leading scorer for the Leopards with 83 points on the season.
The freshman on the whole have gotten out to a quick start, with Williams and forward Malik Rasul also in the top five in scoring this season.
“We’re all about learning,” Chaikin said. “I think we’re getting better every day and we all know we can make contributions to win so we’re just gonna keep doing our thing.”
The Leopards will be on the road for the next three games. They will face Mercyhurst University (5-5 overall) on Saturday in Erie, Pennsylvania, before traveling to George Washington University (7-2 overall) on Dec. 18.
Pettit said the long rest between games will help the team recover and get healthy after a long weekend.
“Something that we preach as older guys is to come in with the same attitude every day, regardless of the result,” Pettit said. “Just keep working because eventually, progress will show and it will help us in the long run.”
