February 18, 2015

EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men’s basketball team got back on track on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center, using a balanced attack to snap a three-game skid with an 89-81 win over Holy Cross.

All five Lafayette starters tallied double-figure scoring performances for just the third time this season and the first time since the Princeton game on Nov. 19. Senior captain Seth Hinrichs led the way with 19 points, while classmate Dan Trist and junior Bryce Scott had 18 apiece, and sophomore Nick Lindner and senior Joey Ptasinski chipped in with 15 and 14, respectively. Trist also ripped down 10 rebounds on the night for his sixth double-double of the season and eighth of his career.

Lafayette’s 89-point performance is their largest output since the first game of league play, a 92-78 win over Army in West Point, N.Y. The win moves the Leopards to 7-8 in Patriot League play and 15-11 overall, while Holy Cross drops to 6-9 in conference action and 11-14 on the season.

It was evident from the opening tip that Lafayette was poised to break out of its three-game slump as the Leopards went 32-for-56 from the floor (57.1%), their second-highest percentage of the season. The Maroon and White were 8-for-17 from beyond the arc (47.1%) and 17-for-23 from the free-throw line (73.9%).

Lafayette won the battle on the glass for just the ninth time in 26 games, 30-29, and worked its offense efficiently with 20 assists on 32 made field goals. Additionally, the Leopards got 14 points off of second-chance opportunities.

For Holy Cross, Malcolm Miller had a career night with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from distance. Justin Burrell, Eric Green and Cullen Hamilton also helped out offensively with 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Coming off a season-high 24 points at American on Saturday, Scott picked up right where he left off scoring the first eight points of the game for Lafayette, who held an 8-7 advantage after the first two minutes. Back-and-forth action continued throughout the early part of the game as a Hinrichs finish through a foul took the game to its first media timeout with the Leopards in front, 14-12.

The Maroon and White continued to click through the next four minutes as another Hinrichs and-one was followed by a Miller triple to put the score at 21-17 at the 11:54 mark of the first. Hinrichs took things into his own hands on the next string of possessions as he followed an above-the-rim finish with a block on the other end and a three the next time down to force a Holy Cross timeout with less than 10 minutes to play with Lafayette up, 26-17.

Holy Cross went on a mini-run of their own over the next three minutes, scoring 12 of the next 18 points to pull within three at 32-29 with 7:09 left in the first. The Crusaders got within one out of the media timeout, but Lafayette responded, hanging to a four-point edge at 38-34 with 3:29 to play.

Holy Cross continued to make a push toward the end of the half as one-of-two from the free-throw line from Robert Champion made it a three-point game at 40-37 with 1:28 left in the half. Lafayette would add four to the Crusaders’ three to put the game into the locker room with the home team in front, 44-40.

Coming out in the second, the Leopards hit on six of the first eight points to go up 50-42, but seven back from the Crusaders made it a one-point game with less than 15 minutes to play at 50-49. Ptasinski got hot at the 14-minute mark as back-to-back triples from the senior gave Lafayette a response to the Holy Cross run and pushed the lead back to seven at 58-51.

An action-packed sequence with a pair of throwdowns from Hinrichs and Miller on either side inhabited the next three minutes as Lafayette extended its edge to nine at 63-54 with 11:24 remaining. Triples from Ptasinski and Scott pushed the lead out to its largest of the game to that point at the 8:42 mark, in front by a 73-58 margin.

That comfortable lead held through the next six minutes before a three from Champion pulled the Crusaders within 10 at the 2:20 mark, 83-73. Holy Cross would get the edge down to as little as six, but Lafayette hit its free throws down the stretch to end the three-game skid by a final score of 89-81.

Next up for the Leopards is a short trip across town on Sunday for round two of the Lafayette-Lehigh rivalry in Bethlehem. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m.