ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Junior co-captain Nick Lindner became the 43rd Lafayette men's basketball player to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career, but cold second-half shooting proved to be the difference in an 87-61 loss to Navy on Saturday evening in Annapolis, Md.
Lindner joins senior Bryce Scott as the second Lafayette player this season to reach the 1,000-point milestone. The junior was one of three Leopards in double figures with 15 points and four assists on the night, while sophomore Matt Klinewski led the way with 17 and junior Monty Boykins added 10.
After a fairly even first half that saw the Leopards down by four at the break, the Leopards got cold and Navy caught fire as the Mids opened up the game in the second stanza. Lafayette shot 37 percent in the second 20 minutes compared to 65.6 percent shooting from the Mids. Navy hit on nine of its 17 three-point attempts on the night, while the Maroon and White were 9-of-27 from outside (33.3%) and 2-for-12 in the second half.
With the loss, Lafayette drops to 5-12 on the year and 2-4 in Patriot League play. Navy improves to 5-1 in conference action and 14-5 overall.
The game opened similarly to the Lafayette's previous contest against Holy Cross with Navy jumping out to an early 6-0 edge, but a triple from freshman Paulius Zalys in the left corner ended the early run to make it 6-3 after two minutes of action. The two sides continued to trade buckets over the next three minutes with the Mids holding a 9-8 edge at the first media timeout with 15:20 to play in the half.
Lafayette was able to jump in front by a 13-12 score, but the Mids came back with five straight as a three from Tilman Dunbar pushed their edge to four at 17-13 with 12:30 on the clock. That lead grew to as many as nine five minutes later, but another three from Zalys, this time on the left wing, brought the Leopards back within six, 27-21.
A jumper from Dunbar in the right corner at the 4:40 mark gave Navy its first double-digit lead of the game, going ahead by 10, 35-25. However, Lafayette responded as a three from Scott on the left wing moved the edge to just five, 37-32 with two minutes to play and another triple from Boykins with one minute left made it a two-point game, 38-36. The Leopards defense held strong over the final minute and went into the break trailing by just four, 40-36.
Navy took back whatever momentum had been on the Lafayette side to open the second half, working out to an eight-point lead in the first two minutes, 47-39. That momentum continued as very little went the Leopards' way over the next three-minute stretch, allowing Navy to open up a 12-point advantage, 51-39, with 15:17 left.
The Leopards went cold and Navy got hot, leading to a tough four-minute stretch that saw the Mids open up the game with a 20-point lead, 61-41, into the 12-minute media timeout at 11:17. Lafayette's struggles continued as there seemed to be a lid on the basket on the visitor's side, trailing by a 73-47 margin with 7:41 remaining.
Not much changed over the latter stages of the contest as the Leopards couldn't dig out of a big hole, falling by an 87-61 final.
Next up for the Leopards is a return home for a two-game homestand, battling American on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and archrival Lehigh on Saturday at 2 p.m.
