December 6, 2014

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's basketball team shot the lights out of Kirby Sports Center on Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 97-84 win over Wagner, its most points scored since Nov. 2, 2012, a 98-94 win against LIU-Brooklyn.

Senior Dan Trist paced the Lafayette (5-2) offense with a season-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, while classmate Joey Ptasinski tied career-highs with seven threes and 23 points. The Maroon and White put up 56 points in the first 20 minutes of action, the most points in a half for the Leopards since Dec. 20, 2006 when they dropped 58 on King's College (Pa.).

"Everything looks so much better when shots are going in," head coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "I thought the ball really zipped around at times. When we move the ball, we're hard to guard. We've got to continue to get better defensively and in rebounding, but I think we played a pretty good game overall."

Lafayette shot its best percentage of the season from the field going 33-for-52, a 63.5 percent clip. Additionally, the Leopards went 13-for-23 from beyond the arc (56.5%) and dropped in 18 of their 23 free-throw attempts (78.3%). On the other side, Wagner (2-5) had four players score in double figures, led by Corey Henson with 16 points. The Seahawks went 31-for-75 from the field (41.3%) and 13-for-30 from behind the three-point line (43.3%).

"These types of games simulate what we'll see with Army and Holy Cross in the way they press the entire game," O'Hanlon added. "We scrimmaged American because they play like Columbia, and Wagner and West Virginia play similarly to Army and Holy Cross, so we hope that these games will help us moving forward."

The game began as a back-and-forth affair filled with transition play. Junior Bryce Scott's triple on a secondary break from the top of the key at the 16:20 mark put the Leopards in front, 8-6, while another just over a minute later led to a 13-12 Lafayette advantage into the first media timeout.

Midway through the half, the Lafayette bench began to make an impact as junior Zach Rufer stepped in front of a pass on the defensive end and assisted on a run-out to put the Leopards in front, 19-17. After another defensive stop, sophomore Monty Boykins slid through the lane and finished on a beautiful up-and-under move among the trees to force a Wagner timeout at 12:01 to play and a 21-17 advantage.

A drive and kick from sophomore Nick Lindner led to an open three for Ptasinski as Lafayette moved its lead to seven at 29-22 with 9:36 remaining in the half. A Wagner intentional foul at the 7:55 mark led to two free throws from senior captain Seth Hinrichs and a jumper from Trist, a four-point play that sparked 10 straight points for the Maroon and White and forced a Seahawks' timeout at the 6:37 mark with Lafayette in front by 15, 41-26.

The Leopards continued to impress on both ends of the floor for the remainder of the half, taking a 56-43 lead into the break. Coming out in the second half, the Maroon and White picked up right where they left off as a Trist turnaround jumper in the lane was coupled with yet another Ptasinski triple, leading to a 64-48 lead with 15:49 remaining.

With 11:50 to play, freshman Matt Klinewski finished a feed from Boykins through a foul for a strong and-one to push the lead to 18 at 73-55. Ptasinski skied for his seventh three of the game at just over seven minutes left to move the advantage to 20, 85-65.

The Wagner comeback never materialized in the final five minutes of play as the Maroon and White walked away with its second straight victory, 97-84.

The Leopards remain on College Hill for their next two contests, hosting Sacred Heart on Monday evening at 7 p.m. and Susquehanna the following Tuesday, also at 7 p.m.