Lafayette vs American Prediction 3/6/25 College Basketball Picks

The Lafayette Leopards and the American Eagles meet Thursday in college basketball action from the Bender Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Lafayette vs. American prediction.

Matchup History

American won both meetings between these two teams in the regular season with a 75-68 win at Lafayette back on January 29th, 2025, and a 60-58 win at home in the rematch on February 10th, 2025.

Lafayette Recap

The Lafayette Leopards come into this game looking for the upset after picking up a 69-68 win over Holy Cross in the first round last time out.

Leopards Escape Holy Cross

Alex Chaikin leads Lafayette in scoring with 13.5 PPG along with 2.5 RPG while Justin Vander Baan has 12.6 PPG with team-highs of 7.1 RPG and 3.1 APG to lead the Leopards in rebounding and assists up to this point in the year. Caleb Williams also has 11.1 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Lafayette so far this season. Andrew Phillips has 9.4 PPG with 4.7 RPG and Mark Butler has 7.3 PPG with 3.2 RPG along with a team-high 3 APG to lead the Leopards in the assist department up to this point in the year. As a team, Lafayette is averaging 68.5 PPG on 43.4% shooting from the field, 33.8% from three, and 68.3% from the foul line this season.

Why the Lafayette Leopards will win

• American University has lost nine of its last 12 Conference Tournament games.
• Lafayette has won three of its last four games.

American Recap

The American Eagles come into this game as the 2-seed in the Patriot League this season after finishing with a 19-12 overall record including a 13-5 mark in conference play this season.

Eagles Looking To Make First NCAA Tournament Appearance Since 2014

Matt Rogers leads the Eagles in scoring with 17.2 PPG and 5.6 RPG while Elijah Stephens has 10.6 PPG with a team-high 3.7 APG to lead the Eagles in assists and Greg Jones also has 10.3 PPG with 3.9 RPG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for American up to this point in the year. Colin Smalls has 9.8 PPG while Matt Mayock has 7.1 PPG with 2.3 RPG and Geoff Sprouse has 6.6 PPG as well on the season. As a team, American is averaging 68.3 PPG on 43.8% shooting from the field, 34% from three, and 75.8% from the foul line this season. 

Why the American University Eagles will win

• Lafayette has lost each of its last seven away games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
• American University has won eight of its last nine home games.

Total Points Facts

• Each of Lafayette’s last 14 Conference Tournament games has produced a total of 130+ points.
• Each of American University’s last four home games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 128 or fewer points.

Lafayette vs. American Prediction

I’m on American here. I know the first two meetings between these two teams were a bit closer than expected, but I still think American is far and away the better and more trustworthy team in this matchup. The Eagles have the better offense by a fair margin and I didn’t like what I saw from Lafayette in the first round as they were dangerously close to getting eliminated by Holy Cross. I think Lafayette’s luck runs out in this game though and I think American gets the job done and nabs the win and cover at home in this game. Give me American in this one.

Chris Ruffolo's Pick: American -4.5