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Lehigh/Lafayette Weekend... almost

It's not quite the same as a Lehigh/Lafayette football weekend, but for a cold weekend in January it's not bad - and you can still catch the Bears/Saints on Sunday. A full slate of Lehigh sports is on tap - and it should be a great sports atmosphere on both nights.

The Lehigh wrestling team, coming off a rough dual loss last week to Navy (their first loss to Navy in ten tries), will try to rebound against EIWA foe Cornell (#11) Friday night at Stabler Arena. Playing Cornell for the 85th time, this one could be a challenge as we're coming off injuries in the middle weights. To avenge last years' loss to SUNY-Ithaca (Colgate's pet name for Cornell), we will need ranked senior heavyweight Paul Weibel and 141 lb Matt Ciasulli to continue their torrid pace. In wrestling, though, the key is the EIWA championships, and a win here could really get the ball rolling for March.

The men's basketball team (8-12, 3-1), after falling 64-59 in the "trap game" to Army (as I predicted, unfortunately), rebounded on Wednesday to dispatch the pesky Raiders of Colgate 60-59. The final score on Wednesday didn't accurately depict the game in which Lehigh never trailed and was up by 13 at one point in the second half. However, it did take senior G Jose Olivero's fould shot at the end of the game to go up by four - meaning the 3-pointer from half court that went in only served to make it a 1 point loss instead of a 4 point loss. Lehigh wins by getting on scoring runs, and holding off the opposition; it still looks like they will need to improve their defense to really compete with Holy Cross and Bucknell (who is coming up Tuesday night - we play them in Lewisburg on Tuesday at 7:00PM).

Saturday Stabler will be rocking with a Lehigh/Lafayette doubleheader with the women starting a 5:30, and the men at 7:30. The lower level is sold out, but there's still time to get in on the fun with upper-level seats. It should be a rocking time there, and throw out Lafayette's 7-12, 1-3 PL record - you know this is their Super Bowl, and they will not go down without a huge fight. Lehigh/Lafayette is always a party, and it should be great.

On the women's side (6-12, 1-3), Lehigh's loss to Army (17-2) on Saturday was perhaps expected, but the Lady Hawks battled hard in a 56-53 decision. The Hawks then dispatched Colgate (2-17) 62-53 where four Lady Hawks hit double figures and Wendy Szerbiak, sister of the Boston Celtic forward Wally Szerbiak, got some playing time as well. Here's hoping that they have gotten things together for the two big games next week: first as the first game of the Lehigh/Lafayette doubleheader against the 4-14 (2-2) Leopards, and then on Wednesday at Bucknell (11-8, 3-1). Lehigh can really start to separate themselves from the "muddled middle" of the Patriot League standings.

All that, and Saints/Bears too? My weekend, once I stop to get a refill of Yuengling, is all set.

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