Feb. 8, 2012
Box Score
WEST POINT, N.Y. - A decisive second-half run propelled Lafayette to its fourth Patriot League road win on Wednesday night as the Leopards' rolled to a 90-74 over Army at Christl Arena. Five players scored in double digits, led by 22 from Ryan Willen, in Lafayette's highest scoring effort of the season.
Half of Willen's total, which tied his season high, came from the line as the senior was 11-of-12 from the stripe. Jim Mower contributed 17, Rob Delaney had 11 and Nick Petkovich netted all 10 of his points in the second half as the senior class combined for 60 of Lafayette's 90 points. Junior Tony Johnson added 13 points and was 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Lafayette (11-13, 6-3) took a 39-35 lead into halftime after a tightly contested opening 20 minutes. The teams combined for 27 fouls in the first half as the Leopards' knocked down 17-of-19 from the line and Army (10-14, 3-6) hit 13-of-15.
Following the intermission, the Black Knights scored six of the first eight points to even the game at 41 on Maxwell Lenox's layup. Leading 47-46 with 15:07 to play, Lafayette reeled off a 14-3 stretch that spanned 3:14.
Petkovich's triple assisted by Seth Hinrichs opened the run. Then Hinrichs cleaned up a Mower miss with a lay-in underneath to put Lafayette ahead 52-47. Willen's reverse layup pushed the lead to seven before he came away with an offensive board and found Petkovich in the right wing for three, extending the advantage to 57-47 at 12:38.
A pair of Julian Simmons free throws on the other end preceded a backdoor feed from Willen to Mower for two. Two possessions later, Willen stripped Mo Williams and was fouled on a breakaway layup attempt. Willen sank both freebies to cap the run and give Lafayette a 61-49 lead at 11:53.
Willen put the proverbial nail in the coffin when he stepped into a wide-open three-pointer with 3:50 left, extending Lafayette's lead to 15 (78-63).
Ella Ellis finished with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Black Knights. Simmons added 14 points on 3-of-15 shooting from the floor. Lafayette forced 20 turnovers while committing 11.
From the floor, Lafayette shot 50 percent despite making 5-of-14 from beyond the arc. Army was cold from outside, shooting 24 percent (6-of-24). Lafayette made 31-of 37 (84%) free throws, while the Black Knights (10-14, 3-6) were 26-of-31 (84%). The teams and the officials combined for 51 fouls.
Lafayette travels to face first-place Bucknell for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday. That game will be televised on the Lafayette Sports Network on RCN cable systems and in all of Eastern Pennsylvania through WBPH-60. It will also be available on the web at ESPN3 and nationally on cable and satellite systems via ESPN's Full Court.
NOTES: Lafayette had five players in double figures for the first time since March 2, 2011 in a Patriot League quarterfinal win at Holy Cross.
Mower scored 17 points to run his career scoring total to 1243. He passed Ron Reynolds '87 and Craig White 92 to move into 18th place. He needs two more to pass former teammate Jared Mintz '11 in 17th.
