December 16, 2014

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's basketball team used contributions from up and down the bench to put away Susquehanna on Tuesday evening inside Kirby Sports Center by a final score of 91-66. The win moves the Leopards to 7-2 on the season, their best start since going 8-1 to start the 2003-04 campaign.

Senior Dan Trist and junior Bryce Scott led the offense with 16 points apiece, while senior captain Seth Hinrichs added 14 points and classmate Joey Ptasinski chipped in with 10 to go along with four assists and three steals. Sophomore Nick Lindner facilitated the offense to the tune of nine assists and just one turnover, and freshman Matt Klinewski was just one point shy of a double-double, pairing his nine points with 11 rebounds.

All 15 players on the Lafayette roster saw playing time in the game as the Maroon and White went 31-for-68 from the floor (45.6%) and 11-for-28 from beyond the arc (39.3%). The Leopards won the rebounding battle for just the third time this season, 53-32. The 50-plus board performance is just the second time the Maroon and White have eclipsed the 50-rebound plateau in a game in the last 10 seasons, doing so last on Dec. 20, 2005 when they ripped down 52 against Dickinson.

Five early points from junior Bryce Scott helped the Leopards to an 8-3 advantage after the first three minutes. A Hinrichs steal and feed to Klinewski for the easy lay-in made it 10-5, but Susquehanna fought back to take the lead with consecutive triples at the 15-minute mark and the game went into its first break with Lafayette in front, 17-13.

With less than 10 minutes to play in the half, a strong drive from sophomore Monty Boykins was followed by a manufactured three-point play from junior Zach Rufer to put the Maroon and White in front by seven, 27-20. Trist continued the run with back-to-back buckets to push the lead to 11 at 31-20 with 8:24 to play.

A Scott triple at the seven-minute mark extended the advantage to 15 at 38-23 and the Maroon and White cruised into the halftime intermission on a tear, pushing the edge to 24, 58-34.

The Leopards came out in the second stanza and picked up right where they left off as a Trist layup pushed the lead to 27 at 65-38 with 17 minutes remaining. As the game moved under the 12-minute mark, the difference remained the same as the 12-minute media timeout came and went with Lafayette in front, 76-47.

With less than six minutes to play in the game, senior Alan Flannigan drained a triple from the corner, his first of the year, to push the edge to 25 at 85-60. The Maroon and White remained in control over the final minutes and walked away with their fourth straight win by a final score of 91-66.

Next up for the Leopards is the longest road trip of the season, traveling to Lawrence, Kan. to take on No. 10 Kansas on Saturday at 3 p.m. That game can be seen live on WatchESPN and ESPN Full Court.