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EASTON, Pa. - Co-captains Nick Lindner and Bryce Scott led the way with a game-high 22 points apiece as the Lafayette men's basketball team bounced back on its home floor with a 92-86 victory over Penn on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center.

"We're always confident here," Lindner said. "We have a ton of good players and a great coaching staff, and we just had to come out and execute today."

The Leopards did just that, converting on 36 of their 69 attempts from the field, a 52.2 percent clip, the first time the team has shot over 50 percent this season. Joining Lindner and Scott in double figures was junior Monty Boykins and freshman Matt Klinewski with 15 points apiece, along with rookie Paulius Zalys tallying 11 on the day.

The Maroon and White were stellar from the opening tip on the glass, turning their season-average -17.4 rebounding margin on its head, stalemating the Quakers on the boards with 38 for each side. Klinewski was one board shy of his first career double-double with nine rebounds.

On the other side, Penn's five double-figure scorers were led by 20 points from Darien Nelson-Henry, coming off a 31-point performance in the team's win over La Salle on Wednesday. Antonio Woods added 17, while Matt Howard, Sam Jones and Jamal Lewis chipped in with 15, 10 and 10, respectively.

Lafayette's 92-point offensive output is its most since the first game of Patriot League play a year ago, a 92-78 win at Army. The eight turnovers on the afternoon are the fewest since coughing the ball up just four times at Bucknell in the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals last season.

Lafayette opened the game strong as its defense didn't allow a Penn point over the first three minutes of the contest. Free throws from Scott at the 16:50 mark gave the Leopards a 6-1 early advantage.

The Maroon and White kept cooking through the middle part of the opening 10 minutes as a three from senior Zach Rufer was followed by a finish above the rim from Zalys, forcing a Penn timeout at the 13:21 mark with Lafayette in front, 20-9.

"A play like that brings a lot of energy," Lindner said of the Zalys dunk. "It gets the guys up, gets the bench up, and the whole team feeds off that boost."

Penn crept back over the next five minutes, using a couple trips to the free-throw line to cut was once a 13-point lead down to five, 24-19, into the eight-minute timeout. The Leopards came back out of the break running, though, using an 11-5 spurt to take a 35-23 lead at the 3:56 mark of the half. That surge continued through the rest of the half as Lafayette finished on a 22-13 run over the final four minutes to take a 46-31 lead into the halftime intermission.

Penn cut into the lead to open the second half as a Lindner technical foul led to a free throw that pushed the edge to 10, 48-38, with 17:54 to play. The Quakers kept converting on the offensive end and forced a stoppage from head coach Fran O'Hanlon at the 15:41 mark with the advantage at seven, 52-45.

Klinewski's finish through a foul a minute later put momentum back on the home side as his play made it 57-45. Then, at the 11:17 mark, the Leopards worked the shot clock all the way down as Scott stepped back and nailed a long jumper in the corner to send the game into a media timeout with Lafayette back out to a 15-point cushion, 63-48.

That shot proved to shift the game purely in Lafayette's favor as the Quakers never got back within single digits until the final minute. Lafayette hit its free throws late and the Leopards walked away with a much-needed 92-86 victory.

Lafayette remains home for its first consecutive home game of the season on Wednesday, hosting St. Francis Brooklyn at 7 p.m.