November 19, 2014

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EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men’s basketball team never cooled off in an offensively-powered win over Princeton in the home opener on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center, 83-66.

The Lafayette starters were an offensive juggernaut throughout the night as they went a combined 26-for-41 from the floor (63.4%), all tallying double figures. Senior Joey Ptasinski led the way with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 5-of-7 marksmanship from behind the three-point arc.

Classmate Seth Hinrichs added 19 points, while sophomore Nick Lindner chipped in with 17, missing just two shots out of his 12 attempted on the night, going 7-for-8 from the floor, 1-for-1 from three and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe. Senior Dan Trist and junior Bryce Scott added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

“We share the basketball well,” head coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “We have lot of shooters on this team that have showed they can hit shots in the past. They showed that again tonight.”

On the other side, Princeton had three players tally in double-digits, led by Spencer Weisz with 19 points, eight of them coming from the foul line. Lafayette forced 17 Princeton turnovers compared to just seven of their own, and added 10 steals on the defensive end. The Tigers won the rebounding battle, 28-25, and fouls were even at 19 apiece.

“Everyone was getting shots where they wanted on the floor,” Ptasinski added. “Nick [Lindner] made plays for himself and others. It was just a great overall team effort on the offensive end.”

The Leopards came out on fire from distance, draining three straight shots from beyond the arc on their first three possessions and opening the game 5-for-5 from the field to take a 13-12 lead into the first media timeout. However, Princeton was just as efficient offensively and eventually knotted the game on a Weisz three with just over 14 minutes on the clock in the opening half.

Both teams remained even throughout the first half before a drive-and-finish from Lindner with nine minutes to play gave the Leopards a five-point cushion at 28-23. Another tally from Lindner, this time a triple, with less than five minutes to play put Lafayette in front by seven, 37-30, and the Maroon and White moved into the halftime break, leading 47-44.

Lafayette came out of the intermission inspired as four straight from Hinrichs was followed by a triple from Ptasinski, forcing a Princeton timeout at the 16:52 mark with a 10-point advantage, 54-44. Four straight from the Tigers ended the drought at the 16-minute mark, but another Ptasinski triple put it back up to nine with 15:40 to play.

Ptasinski was everywhere for the Leopards midway through the second stanza as every time Princeton got with one or two possessions, the senior drained a triple to stop any momentum swing. His jumper with 8:50 on the clock capped off five straight from the Highlands Ranch, Colo. native, opening up a 69-59 advantage.

The Leopards locked down defensively in the second half of play as a pair of steals from Lindner and Hinrichs, and a drive-and-finish from the point guard opened up a 14-point edge at 75-41 with six minutes to play.

“My second-half production was just a result of people making shots on our team,” Lindner said. “Once our guys were hitting threes and spacing the floor, it made my job easier.”

The veteran leadership from the Maroon and White shined through down the stretch as Lafayette pulled away with an 83-66 victory. The win was the first over Princeton since the 2008-09 season, a 54-53 win in Easton on Dec. 30, 2008.

The Leopards return to the road over the weekend, traveling to Philadelphia, Pa. to take on Penn on Saturday at 7 p.m.