NEWARK, N.J. - Sophomore Matt Klinewski of the Lafayette men's basketball team posted a career-high 26 points, but the Leopards fell cold from the field in the second half, falling at NJIT on Saturday afternoon by an 80-66 final.
Klinewski, whose previous career-high coming into the game was a pair of 12-point efforts, showed off his entire offensive game in Newark, N.J. on Saturday, hitting jumpers from the top of the key, driving and finishing through fouls, and producing with his back to the basket from the low block. The Voorhees, N.J. native was 9-for-15 from the field and 8-of-12 from the foul line to go along with five rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.
Unfortunately for the Leopards, he was the lone source of consistent offensive production as Lafayette's outside shooting, a usual strength of this team, was cold for most of the day. The Maroon and White were 3-for-14 from beyond the arc (21.4%) and 23-for-59 from the field overall (39.0%).
NJIT's success came almost exclusively from its starting five, which had all five members finish in double figures. Terrence Smith and Ky Howard tallied 17 points apiece, while Tim Coleman, Winfield Willis and Damon Lynn added 16, 15 and 11, respectively. The Highlanders were forced into 16 turnovers, but won the rebounding battle, 38-30.
After an early three from junior Monty Boykins, a pair of transition buckets put NJIT in front early by a 4-3 margin. Back-to-back triples followed from the Highlanders off the hands of Howard and Coleman to grab a 10-3 lead into the game's opening media timeout.
Klinewski showed his range at the 14:45 mark with a jumper from the top of the key to bring the score to 12-5 and a drawn charge from senior Zach Rufer on the other end started to shift momentum in the Leopards' favor. The offense went back to Klinewski on the low block the following possession, finishing through a foul to cut the NJIT lead to four at 12-8.
A big triple from sophomore Eric Stafford after a floater in the lane from Osa Izevbuwa made the edge just one at the 12:38 mark and that edge held through the next media break at 14-13. A three from Boykins out of the break completed the comeback, tying the game at 16 midway through the half.
The game stayed within a two-point margin until the seven-minute mark, when an NJIT three put the home side up four, 27-23. That lead crept to nine on a triple from Lynn, forcing a Lafayette timeout at 4:17 to try to stop the run.
The Highlanders kept pouring it on as a 17-0 run over the next three minutes would finally be stopped on a drive from Nick Lindner with less than a minute to play. Another drive from the junior fell off the rim on the next possession, though, and the teams went into the break with NJIT in front, 44-27.
Lafayette came out of the intermission with some fire, scoring the first three points and using a Klinewski jumper to get within 14, 46-32. That start led to a 10-4 run to open the half, entering the first media timeout down 11, 48-37.
A big-time drive from Klinewski through a defender with 14:30 on the clock gave him his 17th point on the day and kept the momentum on the visitors' side, cutting the NJIT lead to six, 48-42. After getting to as close as four, NJIT responded with a pair of buckets to move its lead back to eight, 54-46, with 11:38 to play.
The Highlanders extended that edge over the next two minutes as an up-and-under layup from Smith pushed the advantage back out to 12, 59-47. That double-digit lead held through the next five minutes as a pair of Klinewski free throws made the score 66-53 with six minutes to play.
The ball wouldn't fall down the stretch for the Maroon and White, going 0-for-4 from beyond the arc in the second half. NJIT kept the pressure on over the final few minutes as the final buzzer sounded on an 80-66 defeat.
Lafayette continues its stretch of three games in five days with a trip to Philadelphia on Monday to battle with La Salle at 7 p.m.
