The Cavalier daily :: Friday, March 17, 1972 :: University of Virginia Library

Little known outside - the
western division of the Middle
Atlantic Conference, the
giant-killing Lafayette
Leopards challenge the
Cavaliers in the opening game
of the NIT, tonight at seven.

Following a peculiar route
to stardom, the Leopards
finished second in the MAC,
Western Section, notching a
7-3 league mark, one-half game
behind section champ Rider.
Advancing to the Middle
Atlantic playoffs, Lafayette
fell to eventual winner Temple,
87-75, but received an NIT bid,
as did St. Joseph's of the same
division.

If you're an avid reader of
Sports Illustrated, its quite
possible that you have heard of
Tracy Tripucka. Tripucka, a
6-5 senior forward, is the son
of ex-Notre Dame quarterback
and pro great Frank Tripucka.
More importantly, he averages
25.0 points a game for the
Leopards, fifteenth in the
country.

Amidst all the anonymity,
Lafayette has achieved for
itself an enviable 20-5 record
this season. Coached by Tom
Davis, a University of Maryland
aide under Frank Fellows, the
Leopards have lost twice to
Rider and once each to
Delaware, Fordham and
Temple.

Fordham and Temple are
both quality teams but they
both had trouble in dispensing
with Lafayette. As far as
common opponents, Lafayette
has licked Pittsburgh, 91-78,
and West Virginia, 87-83, at
Morgantown. Neither margin
differs much from the Wahoos'
victory edge over the two
teams.

Although Tripucka grabs
most of the headlines for the
Leopards, 6-2 senior guard Jay
Mottola, averaging 14.0 points
a game and a peerless foul
thrower, has been named
Middle Atlantic Conference
Western Section Player of the
Year.

Another notable member of
the Lafayette lineup is second
leading scorer and top
rebounder Walt Kocubinski.
6-10 Earl Brown frequently
graces the starting lineup as do
Joe Barkauskas and Jim
Portray. Kocubinski averages
18.8 points and 10.3 rebounds
each game while the others are
all in the four to seven points
per game scoring range.

Concerned with this
unknown quantity, Cavalier
coach Bill Gibson has
remarked, "The Middle
Atlantic is a tough little league.
They just don't play the
schedule we do." Daunted by
Tripucka's scoring statistics,
Mr. Gibson was more wary of
Mottola, whom he pictures as
the MAC's answer to Barry
Parkhill.

At full strength after the
ACC tournament, the Cavaliers
have concluded their pre-NIT
workouts. Under no extreme
pressure, they have made no
predictions during the season
and Mr. Gibson's only
immediate pre-season goal was
to win 16 games. Senior guard
Tim Rash has said to this effect
that "the tournament will be
good experience for the
sophomores...and will give the
seniors another chance to
play."

Leading the Wahoos into
battle as usual should be
commander Parkhill. Every
week Parkhill gets a new honor
but UPI second-team
All-American recognition and
third place in the AP balloting
for Player of the Year are
among the more prestigious
honors he has received.

Joining Parkhill as starters
will be his customary
companions. Scott McCandlish,
fresh off his selection as
second-team All-Tournament,
is enjoying the more fruitful
part of his season and his
20-point, 16-rebound
performance against Wake in
the tournament was a
masterpiece.

Tim Rash and Frank
DeWitt, true assets the
duration of their long careers
at the University, have each
had their moments for the
Cavaliers but playing in the
NIT at the "Garden" must be
particularly rewarding.

For Jim Hobgood, bedeviled
the latter half of the season by
leg problems, the tournament
presents a chance to get back
on the right track with
humorous long-range jumpers
end sparkling board play.

Visitors but not strangers
to the "Garden", the Cavaliers
can look back with horror on
their first trip to New York a
year ago. In the midst of their
best ACC season ever, the
'Hoos were tripped up by
unheralded Seton Hall, 73-71.