Courtesy of GoLeopards.com
EASTON, Pa. – The offense busted out of its slump after an eight-day layoff on Monday evening at Kirby Sports Center as the Lafayette men’s basketball team used five double-digit scorers to post a 104-67 victory over Moravian.
The 100-point offensive performance was the first time the Leopards reached the century mark since Nov. 19, 2008, a 103-99 overtime victory over Navy. 104 marks the most points scored by a Lafayette team since Jan. 23, 2004, a 111-104 win in overtime at Lehigh and is the most points in regulation since a 104-47 victory over Swarthmore on Dec. 10, 1997. Additionally, Lafayette’s 57-point second half marks the most points in a half since 58 against Susquehanna on Dec. 16, 2014.
“I thought we played 30 good minutes,” head coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “We had a little bit of a lapse in the middle of the first half where we lost our poise, but overall, coming out of exams, I thought it was a good effort on our part and we finished strong.”
Freshman Hunter Janacek put together a career night to lead five Lafayette scorers in double figures. Janacek went 6-for-10 from beyond the arc on his way to a career-high 22 points, while junior Eric Stafford and freshman Kyle Stout also posted career-high’s with 17 points apiece. Sophomore Paulius Zalys and senior captain Nick Lindner rounded out the offense with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
“It was a special night. We played the way we know we’re supposed to and played to the flow of the game,” Janacek added. “I felt good tonight and was ready to play. We had a few days off so I was able to get a lot of reps in the gym and it showed.”
Janacek was the first player to hit more than five three-pointers in a game this season and helped Lafayette to a 14-for-28 effort overall from distance (50.0%). Generally, the Leopards made 36 of their 67 shots from the field for a 53.7 percent mark, the second-highest of the 2016-17 campaign. Additionally, Lafayette won the battle on the glass for just the second time this season, grabbing 43 boards compared to 35 for the visitors.
On the Moravian side, Oneil Holder and CJ Barnes posted 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the Greyhounds offensively. Lafayette held the visitors to just 6-of-26 from beyond the arc (23.1%) and 18-for-58 overall (31.0%).
Lafayette stepped on the throttle from the get-go, scoring the first 10 points of the game before Jake McGee free throws made it 10-2 with 16:23 to play in the first. Then, two triples from Janacek along with a post bucket from freshman Myles Cherry sparked a mini 8-2 spurt that moved the edge to 14 at 18-4 under the 15-minute mark.
Holder’s drive and finish at the rim cut the Leopards’ edge to 12 at 18-6, but nine more from the home side pushed the lead above 20 at 27-6 into the 12-minute media timeout. Five straight from Nicholas Casazza pulled Moravian back under the 20 mark at 9:31, but the points kept coming on the Lafayette offensive side as free throws from Janacek made it 42-16 with five minutes remaining in the half.
However, the Greyhounds made their move out of that timeout as 10 straight, including eight from Barnes made it a 42-26 game with 3:27 remaining to the break. Six more pulled the edge to just 10 into the final media timeout and the Leopards went into the halftime break with an 11-point advantage, 47-36.
The two teams traded buckets through the opening five minutes of the second stanza as a Zalys finish through a foul extended the Leopards’ lead to 12, 58-46. The sophomore added two more at the 12:22 mark and Lafayette moved its lead to 66-50 with 11:58 to play.
The play from Zalys shifted momentum back to the Lafayette sideline as the Leopards moved their lead out to 26 on a Stout finish through a foul with 9:28 remaining. The lead continued to grow through the final stretch as freshman Lukas Jarrett’s finish through a foul in transition pushed Lafayette over the century mark with a 100-66 edge and the Leopards finished it off with a final of 104-67.
The Maroon and White hit the road on Thursday for their final game before Patriot League play, taking on St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia with tip set for 7 p.m.
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