Courtesy of GoLeopards.com
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Everything worked through Matt Klinewski for the Lafayette men’s basketball team on Monday evening as the junior posted a career-high 30 points to lead the Leopards past St. Francis Brooklyn on the road, 74-72.
The Voorhees, N.J. native became the first Leopard to score 30 points in a game since senior Nick Lindner dropped 30 against Colgate on Feb. 25, 2015. Klinewski earned his offense efficiently, going 11-for-18 from the field and hitting on all eight of his free-throw attempts. He also ripped down nine rebounds and recorded two blocks to round out his stat line.
The other offense came from unfamiliar sources as freshman Kyle Stout added 12 points and sophomore Auston Evans chipped in with 10, both career-high’s. Stout hit 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, a rare occurrence on the night as the Leopards took just 13 shots from outside, making six of them.
Overall, Lafayette went 28-for-52 from the field (53.8%) and made 12 of its 17 free-throw attempts. On the other side, St. Francis took more than half of their shots from beyond the arc, hitting on 15-of-36 from distance (41.7%) and 26-of-68 overall (38.2%).
It took almost three minutes for either team to score to start the game as both offenses took time to get settled. Eric Stafford’s triple at the 17:18 mark put the Leopards on top early, but a trio of three’s from Glenn Sanabria put the Terriers in front by a 12-5 score with 14 minutes to play in the half.
St. Francis kept clicking, pushing its lead to as many as 12 on a Yunus Hopkinson three at 10:43. But the Leopards made their move during the next three-minute stretch, scoring 10 of the next 13 points to trail by just five at the under-eight timeout, 22-17.
Lafayette’s surge continued as six straight from the Maroon and White was finished off by a steal and dunk from Evans to make it a one-point game, 26-25, with 4:42 to play. Klinewski free throws 30 seconds later gave the Leopards their first lead of the game at 27-26 and Lafayette went into the halftime break in front by a 38-35 score.
The second half began at a much quicker pace than the first with both teams wanting to run and create offense in transition. The teams traded buckets throughout the first five minutes as Lafayette kept its lead at three, 49-46, but a three from Hopkinson put the Terriers in front again at 51-49 with 13:44 left.
Lafayette retook the lead with a Nick Lindner drive and finish at the 11:11 mark, 55-54, but the Terriers went into the under-eight break with a 61-59 advantage. Klinewski’s finish at the rim at 3:42 gave him a new career-high with 28 to that point and tied the game at 64 before Paulius Zalys and Stafford finished Lindner assists from beyond the arc to open a six-point edge at 70-64 with 2:29 remaining.
The Terriers worked it back within one bucket late as Hopkinson free-throws made it 72-69 with 1:03 remaining. Klinewski’s open jumper on the next possession went off the mark, but Evans grabbed a huge offensive rebound and finished it back through a foul to make the lead five, 74-69. Hopkinson drained a three from the top of the key to give the Terriers a chance with less than 10 seconds to play, but Lafayette closed out the victory, 74-72.
Lafayette finishes off its two-game road swing on Wednesday at Penn in Philadelphia, Pa. Tipoff from The Palestra is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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