November 16, 2014

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The Lafayette men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2014-15 season at West Virginia on Sunday afternoon by a score of 83-56.

The glass was the difference in the game as the Mountaineers held a 50-31 rebounding edge with 26 offensive boards compared to just four on the offensive side for Lafayette (1-1). Additionally, WVU (2-0) took care of the ball, committing just six turnovers for the game to Lafayette's 20.

Senior Dan Trist led the way for the Leopards with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, while sophomore Nick Lindner and junior Bryce Scott each added eight points apiece.

"Obviously, we expected to get off to a better start than we did," head coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "We knew they were one of the better rebounding teams in the country and they proved it tonight."

The Mountaineers had four players record double-digit scoring performances, led by Jonathan Holton with a points-rebounds double-double of 18 and 15, respectively. Devin Williams picked up a double-double of his own with 15 points and 11 boards, while Jaysean Paige tallied 16 points and Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Juwan Staten added 10 to go along with eight assists.

West Virginia opened up as a dominant force inside, using defense and rebounding to record the first nine points of the game. A transition bucket from Scott off a feed from senior captain Seth Hinrichs finally put the Leopards on the board at the 16:50 mark, trailing 9-2.

The next four-minute segment saw the Leopards settle in defensively and not allow a West Virginia bucket for a span of 6:11. Then, the Mountaineers' Jaysean Paige dropped in back-to-back threes and a run-out dunk from Devin Williams put WVU in front, 18-10, with 8:30 to play.

The Mountaineers worked a lead to as many as 14 before an eight-point spurt late in the half put the Leopards back in the game with the score, 28-22. Unfortunately, the Leopards' troubles offensively continued and the Mountaineers worked their lead back up to 15 as the game went to intermission.

Following an alley-oop from Paige, the Leopards responded with five straight, forcing a timeout from West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins with 17:16 to play and the lead cut to just 12 at 41-29. However, the Mountaineers responded with a 7-0 run a couple of minutes later and forced a Lafayette timeout at the 13:55 mark, leading by 20, 53-33

The Mountaineer size and length defensively bothered the Lafayette ball handlers throughout the game and a pair of Lafayette turnovers led to easy buckets as WVU opened up a 61-37 advantage midway through the half.

Lafayette would continue to trade buckets throughout the final 10 minutes, with sophomore Monty Boykins dropping in a three from a long way out with five minutes remaining to put the score at 69-48. In the end though, the Mountaineers proved too much, sending Lafayette to its first loss of the year with a final score of 83-56.

The Leopards return to action on Wednesday in their home opener, hosting Princeton inside Kirby Sports Center at 7 p.m.