Jan. 3, 2015

EASTON, Pa. – A late 12-2 run following a Lafayette turnover in transition iced the game for Navy as the Mids left Kirby Sports Center victorious on Saturday afternoon with a 69-65 win over the Lafayette men’s basketball team.

Missing its starting point guard, Nick Lindner, with a dislocated shoulder, Lafayette’s offense struggled, scoring less than 70 points for just the fourth time this season. The loss drops the Maroon and White to 1-1 in conference play and 9-4 on the year, while Navy improves to 6-8 overall and 2-0 in Patriot League play.

“I think their physicality hurt us in the first half, but I thought we did a very good job of getting back in the game,” head coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “However, right at that point when we got back in it, we lost our legs and our edge, and a couple of turnovers allowed them to pull out to a lead again. It was hard for us to come back from that.”

Senior captain Seth Hinrichs led the Leopards offensively with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds, tying with three other players for the game-high on the glass. Junior Zach Rufer also chipped in offensively with a career-high 14 points, coupled with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

For Navy, Worth Smith led three Mids in double figures with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Brandon Venturini added 16 points and Tilman Dunbar chipped in with 13. The Mids won the battle on the glass, 34-31, and were able to convert on Lafayette mistakes, getting 24 points off of 13 Leopard turnovers.

Beginning the game without Lindner in the starting lineup for the first time since Feb. 15, 2014, the Leopards opened the game sloppy with a pair of turnovers and three easy buckets by Navy to give the visitors a 6-0 lead after three minutes. A put-back from Hinrichs at the 15:58 mark finally put Lafayette on the board and a corner three from Rufer finished off seven straight for the Leopards to take their first lead, 7-6, with 13:30 to play in the opening half.

Over the ensuing minutes, however, Navy continued success on both ends of the floor, using a pair of free throws from Michael Brown to push its lead out to five, 14-9, midway through the half. The Mids held that edge through the five-minute mark and two triples from Venturini extended the advantage to 10 at 30-20 with 3:57 remaining in the first.

Out of the final media timeout, the Leopards responded with a pair of buckets to cut the lead to six at 30-24, and that margin would remain through the halftime buzzer as the visitors took a 32-26 advantage into the intermission.

The Leopards came out of the break with a purpose as a strong drive from junior Bryce Scott led to an and-one put-back from senior DanTrist at the 17:45 mark to cut the Navy lead to just one at 32-31. After giving up a bucket on the defensive end, Rufer knocked in a wide-open triple from the left wing to erase the lead, knotting the game at 34.

Over the next handful of possessions, Navy attacked the glass and stops on the defensive end helped them push their lead back out to six at 40-34. However, a three from Scott on the left wing with 15:05 to play ended the mini-run and a pair of Hinrichs free-throws out of the media timeout made it a one-point game again at 40-39.

Sophomore Monty Boykins’ triple from the corner tied it up at 42 with 12:50 remaining, but four straight from Navy with buckets from Venturini and Dunbar put the Mids in front 46-42 midway through the second. With 8:15 to play, freshman Matt Klinewski used a strong take down the left side of the lane to finish at the rim and give the Leopards their first lead since the 14:02 mark in the first at 47-46.

With just over six minutes remaining and the game tied at 51, a steal by senior Joey Ptasinski gave a 2-on-1 opportunity for Hinrichs and Trist in transition. A controversial no-call led to a Leopards’ turnover and Navy made the Maroon and White pay as Venturini connected from the top of the key for the 54-51 edge.

That play sparked a 12-2 run for the Mids, finished off by a deep three from Smith in the left wing before the final media timeout to put Navy in front, 63-54.

Lafayette was not about to go away, however, as a big block from Hinrichs on a drive by Dunbar led to a Ptasinski triple on the other end to make it a four-point game with 1:15 remaining. However, another tough call and a turnover on the offensive end moved Navy’s lead back out to eight with 34.5 seconds remaining and the Mids left Kirby Sports Center with the 69-65 victory.

Lafayette looks to bounce back on Wednesday when it travels to Lewisburg, Pa. to take on Bucknell at 7 p.m.