Jan. 11, 2000
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - A foul-line extended jumper by Penn's Michael Jordan sealed Lafayette's fate, as Jordan's buzzer-beater with 0.6 seconds left led the Quakers to an 80-76 win on Tuesday. Jordan's clutch jumper came with a tie game (76-76) after the Leopards were whistled for a travelling violation on the previous possession. Penn ran its game-winning total to 80, when Lafayette was called for a technical foul while trying to inbound and called for a time out it didn't have.
Trailing 25-16 with 6:26 left in the first half, Brian Ehlers initiated a one-man rally with a fast-break dunk, a jumper and a three to bring Lafayette within three at 3:41. On the Leopards next possession, Tyson Whitfield tied it at 28 with three free throws.
Penn would rally, however, closing the half with a buzzer-beating dunk by Ugonna Onyekwe. In the first half, the key number for Lafayette was that it was outrebounded 23-11, especially with Leopards' big man Stefan Ciosici on the bench for much of the half with two fouls. Ehlers led the way in scoring in the first half with 13 points.
Tim Bieg was the go-to player in the second half. He nailed two three-pointers and completed a three-point play as Lafayette opened the second half with a 12-1 run to go up 45-40 at 16:35. Bieg continued his hot shooting in the half, hitting a three to tie the game at 54 after Ciosici went to the bench with his third foul.
Minutes later, with the Leopards trailing, Brian Burke stole a pass and converted a three-point play to give Lafayette a 62-57 lead at 9:34. Penn responded, rattling off six straight points to take a one-point lead at 7:33 on an Onekwe field goal. Jordan put Penn up 70-64 with a three at 5:37. Ciosici hit a field goal and two free throws to make it 71-68 at 2:22. After Ciosici missed a free throw, Rob Worthington tipped the rebound out to Ehlers who hit a three to tie it at 71-71 with 2:08.
The Leopards and the Quakers exchanged two-pointers before Burke hit a three-pointer at 42.7 to give Lafayette a 76-74 lead with 28.2 left. Then Penn's Jordan hit a baseline jumper to tie the game at 76. Lafayette was whistled for the turnover on the next possession and Jordan ended the suspense, with his game-winning bucket that left him with a game-high 24 points, including a 7-10 shooting performance from the field.
Ehlers led Lafayette with a season-high 23 points followed by a season-high 15 from Bieg and 11 from Whitfield.
Lafayette falls to 8-5 and will next play on Sunday in the Leopards' Patriot League opener vs. Navy. That game can be seen locally on WFMZ-TV Channel 69 in Allentown and Comcast Sports Net at 4 p.m.
