March 5, 2015

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's basketball team drained a tournament-record 16 three-pointers to knock out fifth-seeded Boston U. in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday evening at Kirby Sports Center, 89-64.

With the win, the Leopards will travel to Lewisburg, Pa. on Sunday at 2 p.m. for a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Bucknell at 2 p.m. Sixth-seeded American topped third-seeded Lehigh and second-seeded Colgate took care of seventh-seeded Navy in the other quarterfinal games to set up a Colgate-American semifinal in Hamilton, N.Y. later on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Lafayette's advancement is the fifth time in the last sixth seasons the Leopards have made it to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. Additionally, Lafayette moves to 9-0 all-time in Patriot League Tournament games at home.

"We didn't get off to a great start, but I thought we were ready to play," head coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "Seth [Hinrichs], Bryce [Scott] and Nick [Lindner] got us into the game and gave us some momentum, and once we got rolling, we played as well as we have all season."

Lafayette exacted revenge on the team that ended its 2013-14 season in blowout fashion, pulling away in the second half for a 25-point victory. All five starters scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, led by 23 points and five assists from sophomore Nick Lindner, who hit a career-high five shots from beyond the arc.

Senior captain Seth Hinrichs recorded 18 points and eight rebounds, while classmate Dan Trist put together his eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists and three blocks. Senior Joey Ptasinski and junior Bryce Scott went a combined 7-for-12 from distance on the night, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Three Leopards tallied five assists apiece as Trist, Lindner and Scott combined for 15 of Lafayette's 22 assists on its 36 made field goals. The Leopards went 36-for-57 from the floor (63.2%), their second-highest percentage of the season, 16-for-29 from three-point range (55.2%) and 1-for-2 from the foul line. On the other side, Boston U. made 22 of its 55 shots from the floor (40.0%), going 8-for-22 from three (36.4%) and 12-of-16 from the charity stripe (75.0%).

The Maroon and White won the battle on the glass, 32-25, and committed just five turnovers on the night. The Leopards held a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers and a 7-0 advantage in fast-break points, while points in the paint (28-27), second-chance points (13-12) and bench points (14-8) went in favor of the Terriers.

Hankerson broke an unsettled three-minute scoreless start with the first of his two three's in the early going as the Terriers ran out to an 8-2 start after four minutes. Three shots from the foul line from the sophomore just two minutes later made it 11-4 with 13:33 to play in the half.

A jumper from Hinrichs at the 13-minute mark cut the edge to eight at 14-6 and two threes from Scott and Ptasinski midway through the half tied the game at 14 on a 10-0 run for the Maroon and White. After trading baskets, Lindner's euro-step and finish at the 9:36 mark gave Lafayette its first lead of the game, 18-16.

The Leopards continued their surge as a triple from Scott capped off a 20-2 run to make the lead eight, 24-16 at the eight-minute mark. Boston U. responded through the latter stages of the half, cutting the edge to three at 30-27 with 4:41 to play, but the Leopards went into the break on top by six, 40-34.

Trist finally put in his first points of the game on the first possession of the second half and a Ptasinski jumper at the 18-minute mark made the lead eight at 44-36. On the next possession, Trist made a move on the block and found Lindner in the corner for an open triple to extend the advantage to 11, 47-36, with 17:36 remaining.

The Leopards continued to light it up from the field, using a 17-2 run to take a 57-36 lead into the media timeout at the 14:30 mark. Lafayette did not quit throughout the remainder of the second half, halting any chance at a Terrier comeback in an 89-64 final.

If Lafayette were to knock off Bucknell in the semifinals on Sunday, it would either travel to second-seeded Colgate or host sixth-seeded American on Wednesday in the Patriot League championship game at 7:30 p.m. Both semifinal games and the championship game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.