November 20, 1999

NEW YORK, NY -- Lafayette (1-0) opened the season with a 59-52 road victory at Columbia (0-1), outlasting the Lions with pressure defense and 51.2 percent shooting from the field.

After opening the game with a 20-6 run, the Leopards entered the half with a 31-19 advantage thanks to a 61.1 percent first-half shooting percentage. Lafayette enjoyed its largest lead of the game at 50-35 with 10:30 remaining in the contest when Columbia went on a 16-5 run to closed the margin to four points.

The Leopards' defense came up huge in the final two minutes as Tim Bieg and Tyson Whitfield each had a steal in the final 2:00.

"It certainly wasn't an easy win," explained fifth-year Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon. "They (Columbia) were ready to play tonight and they played very well. They really put a lot of pressure on us, but we answered when we needed to. I was real happy with our defensive effort."

Brian Ehlers extended his double figure scoring streak to 42 games as he led four Leopards in double digits with game-highs of 17 points and six rebounds. Stefan Ciosici, Whitfield, and Rob Worthington each added 10 points in the victory.

Columbia's Chad Austin finished with 16 points to lead the Lions.

Lafayette travels to Villanova for Fran O'Hanlon's first game as a head coach against his alma mater. The contest, which is the 2,000th game in Lafayette basketball history, will be televised live by ESPN Regional and available live at 8:00 p.m. in Eastern Pennsylvania on Comcast Sports Net and WFMZ-TV Channel 69.