Nov. 17, 2010

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EASTON, Pa. - Ryan Willen led Lafayette to its first win of the season, beating St. Francis (Pa.) 72-68 in the Leopards' home opener at Kirby Sports Center. Willen scored a game-high 26 points and Jared Mintz chipped in 14, despite playing just 20 minutes due to foul trouble.

Lafayette (1-2) never trailed, beginning the game with a 9-2 run in the first five minutes. The Leopards led by as many as 18 points before intermission thanks to 15 first-half points from Willen. His layup at 5:56 gave Lafayette a 31-13 advantage and capped an 11-1 run during which Willen accounted for seven points. Lafayette led 39-29 at halftime.

Six minutes into the second half, St. Francis (1-2) cut the Lafayette lead to four (45-41) with a jumper by Umar Shannon who had a career-high 24 points on the night.

Lafayette then went on a 20-4 run covering seven minutes. The span, which included six points from Mintz, was highlighted by three's off the bench from Les Smith and Levi Giese. Lafayette had 17 points off the bench.

The Red Flash came back with an 18-3 run to cut the margin to four points with 1:15 left to play. Anthony Ervin, who finished with 14 points, had eight in that time to pull St. Francis within 68-64.

The Leopards, who shot 79 percent from the line for the day, drained four free throws in the final minute to put the game away. Lafayette was outrebounded 31-29 while shooting 47 percent from the field. The Leopards had a season-high nine steals.

Lafayette faces No. 6/7 Villanova on Saturday at 7 p.m., the teams' first meeting since 1999.

NOTES:
Andy Moore sat out of Wednesday's game with recurring concussion symptoms.

Mintz missed the final seven minutes of the first half with foul trouble.

After scoring a career-high 31 points at Rider, Jim Mower was held to only three points.