Dec. 2, 2006
Box Score
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Of the season-high 15 three-pointers for Lafayette on Saturday afternoon, the most important one came from the hand of junior forward Ted Detmer, whose three from the top of the key with 1.4 seconds left gave the Leopards' a 72-69 win at St. Peter's.
In the opening minutes, the Peacocks jumped out to an 11-0 lead, forcing Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon to take an early timeout. The Leopards' quickly responded with a 16-5 run of their own, using four three-pointers from freshman guard Jesper Andersson to tie the game at 16 with 11:33 left in the first half. Lafayette led by two at halftime (36-34).
The see-saw battle continued as the teams fought through seven lead changes. Back-to-back three pointers from junior guard Paul Cummins stretched the Lafayette lead to nine at 49-40 with 16:10 remaining in the game. However, just as the Leopards responded in the first half, St. Peter's decided to take its turn. An 11-2 run over the next five minutes tied the game 51-51 with 11:41 left on the clock.
With his team clinging to a one point lead, sophomore guard Andrew Brown used an inbound pass from senior captain Jamaal Hilliard to get a quick lay-up down among the big men and put the Leopard lead back to three (67-64) with 1:09 left. Junior Bilal Abdullah made one of his two free throw attempts to extend the advantage to four with 45 seconds left on the clock.
St. Peter's leading scorer Raul Orta answered with a fade away three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Andre Hines to trim the lead back to one with 27 seconds remaining.
The Peacocks (2-5) were forced to foul in the backcourt and Brown made the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 21 seconds left. Orta again responded, tying the game at 69-69 with a 10-foot baseline jumper with 10 seconds remaining.
Brown pushed the ball down the court and the Leopards worked it around the perimeter. Brown found Detmer at the top of the key. After a quick glance at the clock, Detmer calmly drilled the three with the ball hitting the front of the rim before bouncing into the bottom of the net. A steal by Jamaal Hilliard on a long, desperation Peacock inbound pass iced the game for the visiting Leopards and snapped a six-game losing streak.
Andersson finished with 18 points in the game, all coming from behind the arc (6-for-7) in the first half to lead the Leopard scoring attack. Abdullah registered 14 points, while Brown was the third Leopard in double figures with 11 points to go along with a career-high eight assists.
Orta led the Peacocks with 22, while Kevin Spann and Todd Sowell produced 18 and 15, respectively.
The Leopards (2-6) will have a short turnaround, traveling to NJIT on Monday Dec. 3 to face the Highlanders. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
NOTES:
Lafayette's 15 three-pointers in the game topped the Leopards' previous season high of 10 at Miami and Wagner. Jesper Andersson hit six on his own and six other players made at least one. Lafayette shot 53 percent from behind the arc (15-of-28).
Head coach Fran O'Hanlon changed up the starting lineup for the first time this season, going with Everest Schmidt and Matt Betley at the forwards and Paul Cummins, Marcus Harley and Jamaal Hilliard in the backcourt.
The Leopards dished out 20 assists on 25 field goals, one better than their season-best mark vs. St. Joseph's. They also committed a season-low nine turnovers.
