Nov. 23, 2008

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EASTON, Pa. - Despite a 15-point second-half lead and four players in double-digit figures, Lafayette lost to Rider on Sunday afternoon, 84-77.

Junior Jeff Kari put up his first 20-point performance of his career, leading four Leopards in double digits. Kari scored 21, and was followed by Jared Mintz (career-high 16), Ryan Willen (13) and Andrew Brown (11).

Lafayette fell behind 8-0 in the opening minutes before Kari drove the lane to score Lafayette's first basket. The Broncs extended their lead to 16-5 before Lafayette went to work.

Mintz chipped in a layup, spurring the Leopards on a 16-5 run during which six different Leopards scored. Willen gave Lafayette its first lead of the game, 23-21, at 8:22 remaining when Kari assisted him on a layup.

The Leopards built upon their lead for the rest of the half and headed into the locker room with a 41-30 advantage after Kari drained a 25-footer as time expired.

Facing a 15-point deficit midway through the second half, Rider slowly chipped away at Lafayette's lead. The Broncs closed within one point after Ryan Thompson sank two free throws with roughly two minutes left in the game. Thompson finished with a game-high 25 points on a 10-of-19 performance from the field.

Kari was called for traveling on Lafayette's next possession, and the Broncs capitalized when Thompson tipped in a bucket to pull ahead 77-76 with 1:25 remaining.

The Leopards could have regained the lead on their next possession when Brown was fouled, but he missed both free throws. Lafayette stole the ball from Thompson and called a timeout with 47.3 seconds remaining, but Novar Gadsen stripped the ball away from Brown at the top of the key and dunked it on the other end to pad Rider's lead.

Though Rider finished the game with a 56 percent performance from the charity stripe, the Broncs converted five of six free throw attempts in the last 24 seconds to ice the game.

The Leopards hit the road for two games, traveling first to Brown's home state for a 9 p.m. matchup against Colorado on Tuesday.

Game Notes
The last time Lafayette had four players score in double digits was on Feb. 23, 2008, against Lehigh: Bilal Abdullah '08 (18), Matt Betley '08 (14), Brown (13) and Ted Detmer '08 (11).

During Lafayette's 16-5 run in the first half, Mintz, Kari, Brown, Willen, Nick Petkovich and Ben Wheeler all scored.

Willen took three charges in addition to his nine-point, six-rebound performance during 11 minutes off the bench in the first half.