Nov. 23, 1999

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Lafayette was dealt its first loss of the season, falling to Big East contender Villanova, 74-70, on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

The Leopards led early, holding their biggest advantage at 9:13 in the first half when Lafayette went up 21-14 on a Tim Bieg (Haddonfield, NJ/Camden Catholic) three-pointer as the 35-second clock winded down. Brian Ehlers (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) led Lafayette with 12 first-half points to keep his streak of double-figure scoring games alive at 43.

The Leopards didn't seem to have an answer for Villanova center Malik Allen who helped the Wildcats tie the game at 32-32 to end the first half.

Villanova took over the momentum at the beginning of the second half, going out to their biggest lead of the game by the 8:18 point in the half when Nova led 59-44. Lafayette battled back with a 24-10 run late in the game and managed to slice the lead all the way to one at 69-68 with 48.5 seconds left on a pair of Ehlers' free throws.

The free throws followed a Mick Kuberka (West Seneca, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) three-pointer on the previous possession, his second three-pointer of the game.

Villanova's Allen proved the Leopards nemesis in the final minutes, hitting a pair of buckets to finish tied for a game-high of 20 points while putting Villanova up 72-68.

The Leopards battled back with 15.6 seconds remaining as Stefan Ciosici (Timisoara, Romania/C.D. Loga) cut the margin back to two points with a layup.

Villanova's Bobby Smith sealed the game with a pair of free throws at 13.4 to give the Wildcats a 74-70 win.

Ehlers led Lafayette with 18 points, followed by 15 from Tyson Whitfield (Yakima, WA/Eisenhower) and 12 from Ciosici. The Leoaprds shot 48 percent from the field for the game and an impressive 85 percent from the line, going 17-for-20 overall and 13-13 in the second half.

Lafayette (1-1) opens up its home portion of the schedule on Monday, when the Leopards welcome the Big Red of Cornell into the Kirby Sports Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.