March 4, 2005
SPORTS
Columbia Daily Spectator
Page A5
Friday
Fast Break
Although he's had a disap-
pointing senior season,
Jason Forte is still one of the
League's top playmakers.
Having broken Columbia's
hearts with his game-winning
jumper at Levien, Forte will
likely be the focus of Loscalzo
and the team's defense.
Point Guards
Brett Loscalzo vs.
Jason Forte
Shooting Guards
Jeremiah Boswell vs.
Keenan Jeppesen
Small Forwards
Mack Montogmery
vs. Adolphe Coulibaly
Power Forwards
Matt Preston vs.
Luke Ruscoe
Centers
Ben Nwachukwu vs.
Mark MacDonald
Bench/Intangibles
Losing Steaks vs.
Momentum
MATCHUP BREAKDOWN: COLUMBIA AT BROWN
Jeremiah Boswell is having
the best season of his career.
Shooting 50 percent from
the fi eld, Boswell has been
a consistent secondary scor-
ing option. Keenan Jeppesen
is one of Glen Miller's devel-
oping freshmen with good
size and athleticism.
Mack Montgomery has
slowed down in the Ivy sea-
son. Shooting just above 35
percent from the fi eld in Ivy
play, Montgomery has been
most effective when driv-
ing the ball to the basket.
Adolphe Coulibaly's biggest
asset is his defensive play.
Both undersized forwards,
Matt Preston and Luke Rus-
coe have contrasting styles.
Preston is most effective
beneath the basket, battling
for position in the lane, while
Ruscoe is generally a jump-
shooter. Preston, however, is
the better defender.
Ben Nwachukwu has
raised the level of his play.
Emerging as a rugged in-
terior defender, Nwachuk-
wu's offensive game is still
a work in progress. Mark
MacDonald has good size
but is most comfortable on
the perimeter.
Both teams come into this
game struggling--Brown
has lost six of their last seven
games, while Columbia has
lost their past eight. But both
teams will look to translate
potential fi nal weekend suc-
cess into offseason momen-
tum to carry them forward.
Alex Gamboa is not the
same player that was an
up-and-coming star three
seasons ago. Devoid of some
his athleticism after a leg in-
jury, Gamboa is now merely
a spot-up shooter. Loscalzo
has been consistent, but
Gamboa is experienced.
Point Guards
Brett Loscalzo vs.
Alex Gamboa
Shooting Guards
Jeremiah Boswell vs.
Edwin Draughan
Small Forwards
Mack Montgomery
vs. Caleb Homes
Power Forwards
Matt Preston vs.
Sam Kaplan
Centers
Ben Nwachukwu vs.
Dominick Martin
Bench/Intangibles
Columbia Bench vs.
Senior Night
MATCHUP BREAKDOWN: COLUMBIA AT YALE
Edwin Draughan was a
Player of the Year candidate,
before Tim Begley led Penn
to an Ivy title. Draughan is an
athletic swingman and can
take defenders off the dribble.
Boswell is shooting the ball
well, but Draughan has the
length to cause trouble.
Caleb Holmes was the big
success story of Columbia's
last meeting with Yale.
Hitting a number of outside
shots, Holmes gave the Elis
some punch off the bench.
Now starting, Holmes must
stop Montgomery from
driving to the basket.
Sam Kaplan is a rugged
interior presence who can
draw fouls in the lane. Matt
Preston uses a similar, ag-
gressive style that can often
lead to early foul trouble. If
Preston can keep the refs
from blowing their whistles,
he should have the edge.
Dominick Martin com-
bines a devastating
jump hook with a sweet
mid-range jumper. Ben
Nwachukwu has been an
interior defensive pres-
ence, but Martin has the
size and strength to match
up against him.
Columbia has one of the
better benches in the Ivy
League--the Lions combine
depth with young talent, in-
cluding John Baumann , who
was just named Ivy Rookie
of the Week. But they must
overcome the raucous atmo-
sphere for Senior Night.
By Andrew Cantor
Spectator Staff Writer
Since his freshman season, Edwin Draughan
has one of Yale's most dynamic players, leading
the team in scoring for three straight seasons.
But this year marks Draughan's fi rst as the un-
questioned emotional leader of the Bulldogs.
Starting alongside two seniors last season,
Draughn played a different style of basketball,
scoring 11.6 points per game.
"[With] only two seniors on the team, it's
forced me into a leadership role coming in,"
Draughan said. "I've been a little more aggres-
sive [this season]; I know that I have a lot of
responsibility on my shoulders."
The soft-spoken Lakewood, California na-
tive is still not the type to yell at his teammates
or give emotional halftime speeches, but he
fi nds other ways to lead his team.
"He's the kind of guy who's a quiet leader
and leads by example," Yale head coach James
Jones said. "He is not a `rah-rah' guy but will
show it with his effort level."
Draughan has demonstrated his effort and
maturity in his offensive game, where he's av-
eraging 15.5 points per game--second in the
League, behind Brown's Jason Forte--and
dishing out a team-high 3.9 assists per game.
Perhaps even more impressive is his sheer ef-
fi ciency with the ball in his hands--Draughan
has the highest fi eld goal percentage of any
guard in the Ivy League at 46.9 percent (sixth
overall) and holds the second-best assist-to-
turnover ratio in the Ancient Eight, with 1.45
assists for every time he's turned the ball over.
"My best attribute as a guard is my ability
to draw a lot of defenders," Draughan said.
"There's always two or three defenders on me
so that really helps the rest of the team."
Jones also believes that Draughan's offen-
sive talent extends beyond the box score.
"He's as good as anyone I've coached with
his ability to create for himself and his team-
mates," Jones said.
But it's on defense where Draughan makes
his mark as the leader of this team. Draughan
might not pick up many steals on the stat sheet,
but his willingness to take charges and guard
the other team's best player is what earns him
the respect of his coach and teammates.
"Defense is what wins games and our team
knows that," Draughan said. "It's something
you gotta take pride in."
Against Penn earlier this year, the 6'7"
Draughan almost single-handedly shut down
Tim Begley, the Ivy League's third-leading
scorer and consensus favorite for MVP. The
Quaker guard had zero points when matched
up against the lengthy and athletic Draughan
in Penn's only conference loss so far this year.
"He has a great knack of shutting people
down and not allowing people to score," Jones
said. "His wingspan helps him a lot: he won't
let people get shots off."
The Bulldogs have since run into a three-
game losing streak heading into this weekend's
matchups against Columbia and Cornell. After
surging to second place with four consecutive
wins, Yale has fallen on tough times with losses
to Brown, Harvard, and Dartmouth.
Not surprisingly, Draughan's effective-
ness has played a huge role in deciding the
team's fate. The Bulldogs have lived and died
according to his effi ciency: in the four wins,
Draughan's assist to turnover ratio was 2.13,
but in the three losses it fell to just 0.43.
Between his offensive playmaking and de-
fensive prowess, Draughan has the potential to
carry his team to a victory on any given day and
against any given team, as he showed against
Princeton and Penn. And for his coach, it's
about time.
"We've been trying to pull this out of him
for three years now," Jones said. "Before, he
would kind of take a backseat to upperclass-
men. Now, he's only one of two seniors and he
wants to do something special every night."
Edwin Draughan scored 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting, grabbed six rebounds,
and dished out four assists in the Bulldogs' 77-67 win at Levien on Feb. 4.
WWW.ANDYSPROPHOTO.COM
Draughan to Lead Yale
For One Final Weekend
OPPONENT FEATURE
X-FACTORS
Columbia at
Brown
Columbia at
Yale
n
Sizeable Edges: Columbia
must take advantage of Brown's
lack of size in the post.
n
Fear Forte: Jason
Forte has become one of
the League's top clutch
players.
n
Youthful Folly: With
seven freshmen on the team,
Miller's Beats are one of the Ivy
League's youngest teams.
Luke
Ruscoe
PTS
11.0
FG%
5.6
REBS
4.3
MINS
32.0
Sam
Kaplan
PTS
4.4
FG%
47.5
REBS
2.4
MINS
15.7
n
Desperation: It's the last
chance for Edwin Draughan and
Alex Gamboa to leave
their mark.
n
Coming On
Strong: Both Casey
Hughes and Caleb
Holmes have recently
shown improvement.
n
Post Play: Yale still runs its of-
fense through Dominick Martin.
KEYS
TO THE
GAMES
Columbia at Brown
Pizzitola Sports Center
Friday, 7 P.M.
Columbia
Brown
65
65
Points Per Game
Columbia
Brown
35
32
Rebounds Per Game
Columbia
Brown
42%
41%
Field Goal Percentage
Columbia
Brown
64
68
Points Allowed Per Game
Coach Spotlight: Glen Miller
Time after
time, Glen
Miller has
made the
most of the
least tal-
ent. But this
season, a
lack of support around senior
guard Jason Forte has kept the
Bears in the League's cellar.
Miller uses an up-tempo-style
offense that frequently uses the
full-court press.
Columbia at Yale
John J. Lee Amphitheater
Saturday, 7:30 P.M.
Columbia
Yale
65
67
Points Per Game
Columbia
Yale
35
36
Rebounds Per Game
Columbia
Yale
42%
43%
Field Goal Percentage
Columbia
Yale
64
71
Points Allowed Per Game
Coach Spotlight: James Jones
Saturday will
be a trying
moment for
James Jones.
His heralded
recruiting
class, featur-
ing Edwin
Draughan and Alex Gamboa, is on
the verge of graduation. Although
the Bulldogs have recovered from
last season's disappointment, they
were once again unable to chal-
lenge for an Ivy Championship.
