Courtesy of GoLeopards.com
EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men’s basketball team started strong and never surrendered the lead in a wire-to-wire 79-74 victory over Army West Point on Thursday evening at Kirby Sports Center.
The victory marks the second straight in Patriot League play for the Maroon and White, improving their overall record to 6-8 and 2-1 in conference action. It was also the first win for the Leopards at home in league play this season.
“I think the game went pretty much the way we thought. We know how they play with an up-tempo and physical style and I thought we did a good job for the most part,” head coach Fran O’Hanlon, who was honored prior to the game with the game ball from his 300th career win, said. “We had some ups and downs, but at the end, our upperclassmen did a great job in calming us down and doing a good job for us defensively.”
Senior captain Nick Lindner was excellent with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds on the night, while junior Matt Klinewski led all scorers with a game-high 21 points with five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Sophomore Paulius Zalys and freshman Hunter Janacek rounded out the four double-figure scorers for the Leopards with 10 points apiece.
“Everyone is making a huge effort to talk and communicate on the defensive end. When you talk, the game’s a lot easier and the less you have to run, Lindner said. “We did a good job of communicating with each other, we wanted to get those stops and we fought for them. We played with a lot of heart tonight.”
Lafayette earned the win with a total team effort on the glass, losing the rebounding battle by just one, 40-39. All nine players that got in the game for the Maroon and White on Thursday night scored and had at least two rebounds, with Klinewski, junior Eric Stafford and freshmen Myles Cherry and Kyle Stout heading the effort with five each.
The Leopards forced Army into 30 attempts from beyond the arc as they made just eight for a 26.7 percent clip. Coincidentally, the Leopards hit on nine of their 26 shots from distance (34.6%), but shot a decent 42.4 percent overall on 28-of-66 from the field. Additionally, the foul shooting was solid once again at 82.4 percent on 14-of-17 from the line.
It was all Lafayette from the get-go as Klinewski knocked down his first four shots to help the Leopards to a 10-0 lead before Army got its first bucket with 16:33 on the clock. That didn’t faze them, though, as Klinewski found Zalys down the middle of the lane for an emphatic finish above the rim to force a timeout at 15:31 with the lead at 15-4.
Army gradually worked its way into the game over the next five-minute stretch as a Jordan Fox finish through a foul pulled the Black Knights within seven at 20-13. Stout’s jumper at 8:35 ended an almost five-minute drought offensively for the Leopards as Army got as close as five, but a Lukas Jarrett lay-up sent the game under the eight-minute mark with Lafayette up eight, 24-16.
The three’s started to fall for Army late in the half as two from Jacob Kessler over a two-minute stretch cut the Leopards’ lead to just four, 31-27. That lead continued to dwindle late as a Matt Wilson lay-up made it a one-point game at 33-32, but Cherry gave Lafayette momentum into the half as his steal and lay-up at the buzzer moved the game into the break at 35-32.
Neither side gained ground over the first four minutes of the second half as the teams traded buckets with the lead remaining at three, 41-38. Both sides went more than four minutes without a point after that as Wilson’s free-throws made it a 41-40 game at 12:51.
A Lindner triple moved the Lafayette lead back out to seven at the 10:52 mark, but Army came back once again as four from John Emezie helped cut the edge to one at 53-52. Lindner responded again, though, as his fifth triple from the left wing made it a two-possession game at 56-52 with 7:36 remaining.
Back-to-back finishes through fouls in transition by Zalys and Klinewski helped Lafayette surge to a 61-52 lead out of an Army timeout with 5:40 to play. That lead remained through the final media timeout with the Leopards still ahead by nine, 67-58.
Army made its move through the two-minute mark as a Luke Morrison three, followed by a Tommy Funk lay-up cut the edge to three at 69-66 with 1:23 on the clock. However, the Leopards had the response once again as Lindner found Janacek, who buried a triple with 58 seconds left on the clock to push the edge to six and all but seal it. Lafayette made its free throws down the stretch and finished off the victory with a final of 79-74.
The Leopards eye their third straight Patriot League win when they host Boston U. on Sunday at Kirby Sports Center. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m.
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