Dec. 20, 2006
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - Playing its first game from a nine-day break for final exams, the Lafayette men's basketball team used 16 three-pointers to notch a 89-80 victory over King's College on Wednesday night at the Kirby Sports Center.
Andrew Brown led five Leopards' in double figures, tying a career-high with 20 points, while junior Ted Detmer established a new career-high 17 points (8-for-10) on the evening.
A feisty Monarch team went point-for-point with the Leopards for most of the first half. A steal and fastbreak lay-up from Kofi Dwebeng tied the score at 27 with 7:36 left in the first half. From that point on, Lafayette outscored the Monarchs 31-15, using three triples from Bilal Abdullah, to take a 58-42 lead at intermission.
Lafayette (5-7) continued to keep King's at arm's length throughout most of the second half. Brown's fifth three-pointer of the game started the scoring, giving the Leopards a 61-44 lead with 17:32 remaining in the game. An Everest Schmidt basket off a Matt Betley assist put the Leopards up 66-46 at 15:17. Lafayette stretched the lead to as many as 24 (74-50) on a Detmer lay-up with 12:31 left.
King's (4-5) used the next 12 minutes to slowly creep back into the game. A 21-8 run starting with a Jared Black basket with just over nine minutes remaining and culminating with a John Soboleski lay-up cut the Leopard lead to seven with 1:12 remaining.
However, a Detmer steal on the following Monarch possession and two Marcus Harley free throws iced the game for Lafayette's 89-80 victory.
Five Leopards tallied double figures. Betley recorded 17 on 7-for-10 shooting from the field. Abdullah and Paul Cummins would add 15 and 11, respectively. Soboleski led the Monarchs with 18, while Jim Welsh (14), Vince Scalzo (13), and Bob Nenstiel (12) all scored in double figures.
Lafayette shot 50 percent (16-for-32) from behind the arc, and handed out 25 assists, including a season-high seven from Abdullah.
The Leopards return to action on Friday for the final game of their four-game homestand when they host Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m. at Kirby Sports Center.
NOTES: Jesper Andersson made his first career start for the Leopards, as head coach Fran O'Hanlon used his sixth different starting lineup of the season.
Betley tied a season-high with seven rebounds on the evening.
Fans are encouraged to attend a team autograph session in the Kirby Sports Center lobby following Friday night's game against Mount St. Mary's.
