Men's basketball suffers tough road losses

At the beginning of the Bulldogs' 6:30 a.m. practice on Wed., Feb. 7, Neil Yanke, MC '01, slammed the ball home with authority, proving that the ankle injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the team's last three games is game-ready. "When he went up for the dunk, the team smiled a little—they knew that he was back," Head Coach James Jones said. In order to keep the Elis in the Ivy League race, Yanke and the Elis need to come back in a big way when they face Cornell on Fri., Feb. 9 and Columbia on Sat., Feb. 10.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH

Without Yanke's presence in the lane, the squad has had some difficulties. In last weekend's road losses to Pennsylvania (61-51) and Princeton (62-49), the Elis' inside-outside game, which has been effective all year, ground to a virtual halt. The team's top scorer, Chris Leanza, SY '03, hit just five of 22 shots from the floor in the two games, struggling to fight off a seemingly endless series of double-teams. "Everyone on the other team tries to make it difficult for Chris Leanza," Assistant Coach Curtis Wilson said. "Penn and Princeton had their eye on him at all times—they didn't have to worry about Neil." Leanza is looking forward to having his center back. "Neil really adds to our offense," Leanza said. "It's a lot tougher for me to go inside-out without him in there." An inside presence should also help to free up guard Isaiah Cavaco, JE '01, who shot an ice cold 2-7 against the Tigers and Quakers.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Men's basketball looks to rack up another two Ivy League wins this weekend.

Yanke's return coincides with the team's return to the cozy confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The squad has played just four home games this year, winning three. "Most of our road games have been wars," Wilson said. "It's nice to have the wars at our place again." The Elis have four home games in a row, the team's longest stretch without travel this season.

The first battle in this weekend's war will occur when Ivy cellar-dweller Cornell visits for a 7:30 p.m. tilt. The Big Red has struggled to a 5-14 overall record this year but still has a variety of weapons. "This league is so balanced that anybody can beat anybody," Cornell Head Coach Steve Donahue said. Donahue's upset-minded squad has an arsenal including high-scoring forward Ray Mercedes '01, who gave the Elis fits last year, and center Greg Barratt '01, who had back-to-back 15-rebound games against Harvard and Dartmouth last week. "Greg has done a great job on the boards, but he will have his hands full with Yanke," Donahue said. Cornell usually plays a strong man-to-man defense, which should allow Leanza and Cavaco to come off of screens for more open scoring opportunities.

On Saturday, the Elis will square off for the 199th time against Columbia, which trails the Elis in the Ivy League by just one game. The rivalry is the second-oldest in the NCAA, behind only the Yale-Princeton series. This year's Lions are on a tear, having won four in a row, including three consecutive league games. "They are a solid team," Jones said. "Their field goal percentage defense is outstanding." The Lions are ranked second in the nation in total defense, giving up just 57.7 points per game. Unfortunately, the Elis scored just 50 points in their loss to Princeton, and Columbia plays a similar, low-scoring, slow-paced brand of basketball, a fact that worries Jones. "We just need to execute and get some easy baskets to keep our shooting percentage high," he said.

Leading the way for Columbia is 6'6" swingman Craig Austin '02, who has won back-to-back Ivy League player of the week awards, the first player to do so since Dartmouth's Seamus Lonergan '97 in 1995. "He's a dynamite player with a very complete game," Wilson said. Austin presents match-up problems because he has the size of a forward but guard-like accuracy from behind the arc. Against Dartmouth, he scored in the post when Big Green Coach Dave Faucher put a guard on him and drilled two three-pointers when he was checked by larger players. "Stopping him will be our main focus," Matt Minoff, BR '04, said. "We have to make the other guys beat us."

The responsibility of guarding Austin will most likely fall to Ime Archibong, TD '03, a defensive stopper who held the league's leading scorer, Brown's Earl Hunt '03, to single digits in January. Archibong, however, will have some help. "We're going to try to double-team him when we can," Yanke said. "Ime has done a great job on other team's top players, though."

Because of the league's parity, wins this weekend would catapult the team back into the Ivy League title hunt. "We have more home games left than every team except for Brown, and Princeton hasn't played any [league] road games yet," Jones said. Yale trails Penn and Princeton, who are undefeated in the league, and Harvard, the Quakers and Tigers have not played each other. "Anything can happen in the Ivy League this year," Leanza said. With Yanke back in the middle, an Eli run at the Ivy title seems like one possibility.

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