December 8, 2014

EASTON, Pa. - Senior Dan Trist dropped in the second of a two-shot foul with 0.4 seconds left to break an 81-81 tie and the Lafayette men's basketball team held on for an 82-81 victory over Sacred Heart inside Kirby Sports Center on Monday evening.  

On the final possession, Lafayette went into its offense with 12 seconds left, looking for a Joey Ptasinski jumper from beyond the arc on the left wing. His shot sailed long, but Trist was there for the board, gathering and drawing a foul with 0.4 seconds remaining. The senior rattled off the first, but drained the second and a last-second heave clanked off the rim as the Leopards survived.

With the win, Lafayette moves to 6-2 on the season overall, its best start since the 2003-04 campaign. Additionally, the Maroon and White are 3-0 inside the friendly confines of Kirby Sports Center.

Lafayette had five players score in double figures, led by 20 points from Trist on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. Ptasinski and Seth Hinrichs each tallied 14, while freshman Matt Klinewski added a career-high 11 points and junior Bryce Scott chipped in with 10. Ptasinski's four three-pointers moved him into fourth in the Lafayette record books for career threes at 204 during his time on College Hill.

Sophomore Nick Lindner had arguably the best game of his young career, facilitating the offense with a career-high 12 assists, the first to have a 10-plus assist game since Rob Delaney '12 dished out 10 against Colgate on Feb. 23, 2012. The Doylestown, Pa. native had just one turnover and chipped in with five points of his own on the offensive end.

The Leopards dropped in 31-of-65 shots from the field (47.7%), knocked down 10-of-28 from behind the arc (35.7%) and converted on 10 of their 14 free-throw attempts (71.4%), including the one that mattered most. On the other side, Sacred Heart (4-4) shot 52.5 percent from the field (31-of-59) and 35.7 percent from three (5-of-14). The Pioneers were led by De'Von Barnett with 18 points, while Cane Broome and Evan Kelley chipped in with 14 points apiece.

The visitors came out strong, scoring the first six points before a Trist follow opened the scoring for the Maroon and White. Both teams settled in throughout the opening minutes as Sacred Heart took a 10-7 advantage into the first media timeout.

A drive-and-kick from Lindner to sophomore Monty Boykins at the 13:20 mark cut the visitors' lead to just one at 19-18, but Broome drained a triple from the top of the key to ignite 14 straight points for the visitors on the next possession. Scott's teardrop from the lane ended the drought with the Pioneers in front, 33-20, midway through the half.

With less than eight minutes to play in the opening 20 minutes, Lafayette's defense started to settle in as a pair of defensive stops and conversions on the offensive end cut into the Pioneers' lead. A wide-open triple from Hinrichs on the left wing with 7:45 on the clock put Sacred Heart's edge at just eight, 33-25.  

Triples on consecutive possessions from Hinrichs and Scott pulled Lafayette within a bucket at the 4:30 mark and a Ptasinski three with 1:45 left gave the Maroon and White their first lead of the half at 43-42. The two teams traded buckets in the final minute and the Maroon and White went into the break on top, 46-44.

The Leopards came out in the second session with a purpose as a pair of buckets from Ptasinski and a beautiful slip-and-finish from Klinewski put Lafayette in front, 55-49, with 17:30 to play. Sacred Heart responded, though, as a tough jumper from the right wing by Broome cut the lead to one at 57-56 with 12:24 remaining.

With just over eight minutes to play, Klinewski took control on the block as back-to-back buckets from the freshman pushed the Lafayette lead to seven at 67-60. A Trist jumper at the 4:30 mark extended the edge to 10, 77-67, but the visitors responded as a triple from Broome cut the edge to five at 77-72 with 3:23 to go.

The Pioneers got it within a bucket at 77-74 and held possession down 81-78 with 30.8 seconds left as head coach Anthony Latina opted to take a timeout. Latina chose to go with Jordan Allen in the corner, who drove to the bucket and finished through a foul. Allen converted and tied the game at 81 with 27 seconds to play, but it still wasn't enough as Trist sent the Pioneers home in defeat.

The Leopards take the rest of the week off for finals before hosting Susquehanna on Dec. 16 inside Kirby Sports Center at 7 p.m.