Nov. 26, 2013

EASTON, Pa. – Javier Duren’s three-pointer from well beyond the arc at the buzzer sent Yale to a 79-76 victory over Lafayette on Tuesday evening at Kirby Sports Center. Joey Ptasinski had just drained a baseline jumper with 3.5 seconds to play to tie the game before Duren’s game-winner.

Seth Hinrichs scored a career-high 28 points, including 20 after halftime, and scored 20 points for the third straight game. Freshman Nick Lindner also had a career night, scoring 18 points to go along with five assists. Hinrichs hit on 10-of-16 attempts, including five threes as Lafayette shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53).

Armani Cotton had 18 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures, while also securing a game-high eight rebounds. Cotton’s eight led a plus-nine effort on the glass for Yale (32-23), including a 20-10 difference in the second half.

Lafayette opened up a five-point cushion (19-14) on Alan Flannigan’s baseline jumper after working a pick-and-roll with Ptasinski on the right side. A pair of free throws by Brandon Sherrod (13 points), followed by three-pointers on three straight possessions, including two by Cotton,  to put the Bulldogs ahead 25-19 midway through the opening half. A floater in the lane by Sherrod capped the run at 13-0 before Dan Trist scored inside for Lafayette, ending a 4:56 scoreless drought. Trist had 12 points in the contest.

Out of the media timeout, Lindner connected on a pull-up elbow jumper and Trist hit two shots on the baseline to tie the score at 27. Cotton answered the mini 8-0 spurt with a three after Jack Montague made an extra pass to find him near the top of the key.

Ptasinski hit a pair of threes in the final four minutes before intermission as Lafayette went 6-of-12 from distance in the period. Yale was even better from downtown, hitting 5-of-6, and went into the break with a 39-38 edge.

Yale (3-3) scored the first nine points of the second half, the last three on a three-point play by Justin Sears (16 points) with his back to the basket. Lafayette’s first bucket of the second half came a little more than four minutes in on a drive and lay-in by Lindner, drawing the Leopards within six. A Hinrichs trey trimmed Yale’s cushion to 48-45 and Hinrichs absorbed the contact and converted on the three-point play after a floater in the lane to tie the game with a 10-0 run. Included in the stretch were a steal and a rebound in traffic by freshman Michael Hoffman on the defensive end.  Bryce Scott’s free throw officially made it an 11-0 run, putting Lafayette ahead before two freebies by Duren gave Yale the lead back at 50-49.

Threes by Duren and Jesse Pritchard surrounding a basket by Hinrichs, preceded a Sears slam as Yale went up 60-54 with nine minutes to play. After Lafayette called timeout, Trist got a layup to slice it to a four-point game.

The visitors pushed the lead to 10 points with an 8-2 stretch that included two jumpers by Matt Townsend. Lafayette clawed back with six straight points after Nathaniel Musters’ baseline floater was good (68-64), before Yale’s Nick Victor got a scoop layup in the paint. Lindner’s jumper drew Lafayette within four, then the freshman point-guard fed Hinrichs on the wing for three as Lafayette cut it to one.

With the shot clock about to expire on Yale, Sears buried a straightaway three-pointer with less than two minutes to play. The Leopards then forced a turnover, but Scott misfired from deep and Yale had the ball back with a minute left.

Leading 73-69, Duren was short on the front end of a one-and-one with 41 seconds left, but Lafayette gave it back under the Yale basket.

Two at the stripe put Yale up six, before Lindner’s three-point play cut it in half with 20 seconds to go. Two misses at the line for Duren gave Lafayette a chance to tie the game with a three. Hinrichs drove to the rack and was fouled, made both, setting up the final 10.9 seconds with Yale up by a point.

Cotton went to the line and made one of two to extend Yale’s lead two, before Ptasinski pulled up on the baseline and drained a jumper with 3.5 seconds showing. Duren took the inbounds pass after a timeout and got his shot off from 27 feet that found the bottom of the net as Lafayette fell to 0-5 on the year. Duren finished his night with 14 points as the Bulldogs shot 52.7 percent in the game (29-55).

Lafayette wraps up the month of November when it hosts Penn on Saturday. Opening tip from Kirby Sports Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on the Patriot League Network.

Game Notes:

Lafayette fell to 0-2 when shooting better than 50 percent from the floor.

Hinrichs matched his season-high with three steals

The last time Lafayette started a season 0-5 was 2002-03.

Yale leads the all-time series against Lafayette 10-7.