WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Lafayette men's basketball team put in a resilient performance in its season opener at George Washington on Friday evening, falling by an 85-76 margin in Washington, D.C.
After digging a 50-28 halftime hole, the Leopards never quit, slowly chipping away at the lead to pull within 12 points with 7:16 remaining in the game. The lead never got below 10, though, as GW hit its free-throws when they counted and held off the Maroon and White.
After just six points in the opening half, junior co-captain Nick Lindner exploded in the second stanza, leading the way with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the free-throw stripe. The Leopards took care of the basketball with just nine turnovers, but couldn't crack the Colonial defense, hitting on 20-of-60 from the floor (33.3%) and 7-of-25 from beyond the arc (28.0%).
Senior Zach Rufer, junior Monty Boykins and sophomore Matt Klinewski rounded out the Leopards in double figures with 13, 13 and 12 points, respectively. On the other side, Kevin Larsen led the Colonials with 24 points and GW won the battle on the glass by a 50-32 margin. That also led to a 42-20 edge in points in the paint for the winning side.
Lafayette opened the game strong as a bucket from Klinewski on the low block and an open triple from Boykins gave the Leopards a 5-4 edge after the first three minutes. Then, back-to-back scores from Larsen sent the game into its first media timeout with the Colonials up, 8-6.
Triples on either sides of the court allowed the Leopards to settle in midway through the opening half with GW up just four, 13-9, with 13 minutes to play in the half. However, the offense sputtered over the next two minutes as five the other way for the Colonials sent the game under 12 minutes with GW up, 18-9.
The Leopards hung tough through the next five-minute stretch as an impressive finish through a foul from Lindner kept the margin at single digits with the Colonials ahead, 28-19. However, an open three from Patricio Garino at the 6:24 mark capped off a 7-2 run and made the edge 14, 35-21.
That run continued throughout the rest of the half, as the GW lead ballooned to as many as 23, 49-26, with 40 seconds to play. A free throw from Zalys on Lafayette's final possession of the half made it 49-28, but a foul shot on the other end from Watanabe with 0.2 seconds left sent the game into the break at 50-28.
Lindner opened up the second half with a strong drive down the right side of the lane for the first bucket. Then, Scott drained a triple from the left corner to cut the score to 50-33.
The game moved under the 16-minute media timeout with the Leopards down 56-35, but leading in second-half scoring by a 7-6 margin. However, a three-point play in transition from Paul Jorgensen changed those fortunes and made it a 59-35 game with 15 to play.
Five straight from Rufer and 2-of-2 at the foul line from Boykins gave the Leopards life, though, with 12:47 left, making it a 17-point game at 59-42. That margin held through the under-12 media timeout as the Leopards looked to continue to chip away at the home lead.
Another big-time drive from Lindner with 8:30 to play cut the lead to its shortest since the 6:32 mark of the first half and a triple on the next possession after a GW layup made it 14, 69-55. Klinewski's jumper cut it to as little as 12 and an O'Hanlon timeout stopped the clock at 5:57 with GW up 14, 71-57.
GW responded over the next couple minutes, taking over on the glass. A layup in transition from Tyler Cavanaugh pushed the home side's lead back up to 18 at 77-59 with 3:49 left.
Lafayette had one more push left in them, though, as a nice high-low play from freshman Paulius Zalys to Klinewski made it 77-63 with two minutes to play. A three from Lindner on the next possession made it an 11-point game and the Leopards began to foul, forcing shots from the free-throw line from the Colonials.
The GW lead ended up being too much to overcome as the Colonials hit their free throws down the stretch. A valiant second-half effort from the Maroon and White ended with a final score of 85-76.
The Leopards open up their home slate inside Kirby Sports Center on Sunday, hosting Saint Peter's at 2 p.m. Prior to the contest, Lafayette will unveil its 2014-15 Patriot League championship banner.
