January 24, 2015

EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men’s basketball team could not get defensive stops when it had to and Lehigh made them pay with an efficient day from the floor as the visitors walked away from round one of the crosstown rivalry with a 75-71 win on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center.

The Lehigh victory marks its first over the Leopards in the last four tries on the road and moves them to 4-4 in conference play and 10-9 overall. Lafayette drops to 11-8 on the season and 3-5 in Patriot League action.

“They hit some big shots at the end. Our defense just didn’t do enough to get it done today,” head coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “They executed and out-scrapped us and those are the types of things you have to do to win games.”

The Hawks’ offensive attack warranted little resistance as they went 26-of-50 (52.0%) from the field, 8-for-14 (57.1%) from beyond the arc and 15-of-15 (100.0%) from the foul line. Lehigh also won the battle on the glass, 33-25, and was led by five double-figure scorers in Austin Price (16), Justin Goldsborough (12), Tim Kempton (11), Kahron Ross (10) and Brandon Alston (10).

For Lafayette, senior Dan Trist led the way with a game-high 20 points, while sophomore Nick Lindner had 19 and senior captain Seth Hinrichs added 17. Lafayette was also efficient from the foul line, going 21-of-23 (91.3%), but made just six of its 19 attempts from distance (31.6%). Overall, the Maroon and White shot 40.7 percent from the field, going 22-for-54 on the day.

A three from Lindner at the top of the key opened a back-and-forth game to start as both teams were knotted at seven after the first three minutes. Corey Schaefer’s triple from the right wing gave Lehigh its first advantage, leading 10-7 into the opening media timeout.

Junior Zach Rufer’s three off the feed from Lindner with under 14 minutes to play in the half tied the game back up at 14 and a tight contest continued through the midway point of the first. A slipped screen and finish from Hinrichs put the Leopards back in front, 22-21 at the 8:30 mark, but Lehigh took the lead back on the ensuing possession at 23-22.

Six straight from the Hawks over the next two minutes opened up a five-point edge at 27-22, but Lindner stopped the streak with a slash-and-finish with less than seven minutes to play to make it 27-24. Lehigh worked its lead out to as many as six at 32-26, but four back, including a triple from Scott in the right corner at 1:02 made it 32-30 late. A Lehigh three on its final possession and a misfire from the Leopards late made it 35-30 Hawks into the halftime intermission.

Both teams came out of the locker room clicking on the offensive end as the first eight possessions of the half produced points. Back-to-back threes from Lehigh put the Hawks up eight, 49-41, with 15:53 remaining in the game.

Lehigh stretched its advantage to as many as 10, but a three-point play from Trist at the 13:15 mark brought the Leopards back within five at 51-46. The Lafayette surge continued at the 8:30 mark as a pair of free throws from Trist made it a two-point game at 57-55, but a three from Chuku on the other end stopped the momentum and sent the edge back to five, 60-55.

The lead fluctuated around 3-5 points for Lehigh over the next three minutes before a pair of foul shots from Hinrichs got the Maroon and White back within one possession at 65-63 with 5:17 to play. A Kempton triple on his first three-point field-goal attempt of the season at the end of the shot clock with four minutes left put the lead back at five at 71-66 and seemed to take the wind out of the sails of a Lafayette comeback.

The Leopards made it interesting late, but Lehigh continued to make its foul shots down the stretch, walking away with a 75-71 victory.

Next up for Lafayette is a two-game road trip, beginning with a meeting in Hamilton, N.Y. on Wednesday against Colgate at 7 p.m.