When you start to write about college football year round, you start to realize that football talk never truly dies, it just dies down a little until the next big event (postseason accolades, the FCS playoffs, recruiting season, Spring football, the NFL draft). But in the winter, there's other big sporting events at Lehigh in the winter - especially something else I enjoy: college basketball (men's and women's). In the long stretch of time when there's no football games on Saturdays, like last year I like to highlight the upcoming events for the winter sports I enjoy and other folks love as well. Without any further ado, here's what is coming up this weekend, and the coming week.Men's Basketball (2-3) (Sagarin: 253)
12/1 at Central Connecticut State (1-5) (Sagarin: 245)
12/5 STONY BROOK (0-6) (Sagarin: 314)
The Mountain Hawks lost a close double-overtime game to Quinnipiac 92-88 this Wednesday at Stabler as a respectable 649 fans showed up on a weekday to see exactly who Lehigh's young guns are. The returning freshman of the year, sophomore PG Marquis Hall (27 points, 7 assists) continues to shine, while senior F Bryan White (14 points, 8 rebounds) and sophomore F Zahir Carrington (23 points) did everything they could to win. But the difference ended up being on the boards: the Bobcats out-rebounded us 53-38 on the night, which probably was the difference.
With a very young team (White is the only senior) and a budding superstar in Hall, look for improvement this week as Lehigh faces two very winnable games. If next week I'm talking about a 4-3 team, perhaps some eyebrows around the league may start raising about these Mountain Hawks.
Women's Basketball (1-3) (Sagarin: 216)
11/30 at North Florida (Sagarin: 279)
12/2 at Jacksonville (Sagarin: 143)
12/5 LIU (Sagarin: 157)
You might think that the lady Hawks might be struggling with a 1-3 record: until you see exactly who head coach Sue Troyan has been up against in St Joe's (Sag: 82), Princeton (Sag:226), and Syracuse (Sag: 124). Still, the Lady Hawks have had problems scoring as freshman G Erica Prosser is the leading scorer with 9.8 PPG (and is a perfect 13-for-13 from the foul line), with junior F/C Melissa Rich not far behind with 8.8 PPG (and 22 rebounds). Lehigh is still waiting for sophomore F Wendy Szerbiak to appear in a game, who unfortunately seems to have inherited her famous NBA brother Wally's propensity for injuries.
Unfortunately, the "early season from hell" continues with one very winnable game (tonight at North Florida) and two awfully tough games versus Jacksonville and LIU. On the bright side, the weather calls for 70 degree sunny days for the Lady Hawks. Might be a good time to get some sun before heading back to frigid Bethlehem.
Wrestling (2-4)
11/30 RUTGERS (Grace Hall)
12/2 at Maryland, at American
The game notes point out that Rutgers is "rebuilding", but Lehigh's struggling wrestling team is hoping they've righted the ship after an embarassing 39-0 shutout versus Central Michigan, with two duals victories versus Binghamton (35-10) and Clarion (21-15). Only four seniors dot the roster, while it's hard to pinpoint exactly who the leader is on this team. Junior captain Matt Fisk hasn't wrestled all year, while freshman Alex Caruso (174 lbs) may the closest thing to a consistent winner the grapplers have seen, winning three of his last four bouts including one fall.
The grapplers will have their hands full this week. I'd consider a win against Rutgers and American an extremely successful week, with a loss to nationally-ranked Maryland on the road a probability. But don't be surprised to see an 1-2 or a dreaded 0-3 week here.
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Ngineer