Under the Radar Game of the Day – Sunday, February 22, 2015: Lafayette at Lehigh

Lafayette at Lehigh, 12:00 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

On January 27, 1902, Lehigh defeated Lafayette 46-13 to begin one of the top college basketball rivalries in Division I, between two schools located only 17 miles apart.  Entering play today, Lehigh holds the all-time lead in the series by a 138-82 edge.  This includes a victory back on January 24 at Lafayette, 75-71.  The Leopards will be looking to return the favor and take a cut into the all-time lead this afternoon in Bethlehem, PA this in a nationally televised game.

Lafayette enters today’s game at 7-8 in Patriot League play and 15-11 overall.  The Leopards are currently in fifth place, one game behind Boston University.  With the higher seeded teams scheduled to host the conference tournament games, moving up into the top four and at least getting a quarterfinal game at home is the Leopards’ top priority over the final week of the regular season.  Dan Trist and Seth Hinrichs have been the go-to players this season for the Leopards, as both have double scoring averages.  Trist and Hinrichs each scored 20 points in the first meeting between these two rivals, albeit in a losing effort.

Lehigh is also 15-11 overall on the season entering play today, but sits at 9-6 in conference play, good enough for third place and only two games behind conference leader Bucknell.  The Mountain Hawks have won 8 of their last 10 games to move into third place and can guarantee at least one home game in the Patriot League tournament with a win today.  Tim Kempton, Kahron Ross, Austin Price and Justin Goldsborough lead a balanced attack for Lehigh.  All four players scored 10 or more points against Lafayette in the first meeting this season.  If these four can put up similar numbers today, Lehigh will have a great chance for their 139th all-time win in this rivalry series.