Box Score

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's basketball team let one slip away on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center, falling to Drexel by a 74-70 score.

The Leopards led for the majority of the game, not trailing until the final 48 seconds of the contest. A three from the Dragons' Sammy Mojica put the visiting side in front by a 68-66 score and Drexel tallied six of the last eight points to pull away with the 74-70 win.

"I think we competed our butts off," head coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "We knew in the second half that they were going to come out strong. They're very strong inside and they started driving the ball and hurting us on the offensive glass. We didn't execute on a couple of plays, but I was proud of how we competed right from the start."

The loss drops Lafayette to 2-4 on the season and completes a four-game homestand in which the Leopards went 1-3. Free-throw shooting was the killer as the Maroon and White hit on just 14 of their 30 attempts from the foul line (46.7%).

Senior captain Nick Lindner led three double-figure scorers with 21 points on the night to go along with seven assists. Sophomore Paulius Zalys broke out of his slump, connecting on 4-of-7 from distance for 16 points, while junior Matt Klinewski added 11 with nine rebounds for his ninth straight double-digit scoring game.

The Leopards shot 24-for-53 from the field (45.3%) and 8-of-20 from beyond the arc (40.0%), while Drexel countered with a 48.1 percent effort overall (26-for-54) and a 40.0 percent mark from the three-point line (6-for-15). The Dragons also struggled from the charity stripe, though, making 16-of-30
(53.3%).

A deep three from the top of the key banked home for Lindner to open the contest on the positive side for the Maroon and White. Junior Eric Stafford added a couple finishes on drives to the rim as the Leopards took a 9-5 lead after four minutes.

A mini 6-2 spurt got Drexel back even at 11 at the 11:29 mark, but eight from Zalys and a Klinewski jumper put the game back in Leopards control at 7:15, up 21-12. Four straight from the Dragons got the visitors as close as six with 6:05 left, but six back from the Maroon and White kept Drexel at bay with a 29-19 edge and 3:33 to play in the half.

Lafayette didn't let off the gas during the final stretch as the Leopards scored six of the final nine points to take a 38-24 lead into the break. The 24 points allowed was the best defensive half for the Maroon and White since Feb. 19, allowing 24 in the opening stanza to American.

Lafayette didn't let Drexel take momentum at the beginning of the second half as the teams traded buckets through the first four minutes with the Leopards up 43-32. However, the Dragons made their move during the next stretch as a Kurk Lee finish in transition over two Lafayette defenders brought the visitors within five at 47-42, a 10-3 run over 3:24.

A Klinewski jumper off a feed from Zalys pushed the Leopard lead to nine out of the timeout and Zalys banked a deep three at the end of the shot clock with 10:54 to play to make it 52-44. The Dragons responded again as five straight made it a five point game at the under-eight timeout, 54-49.

The Drexel run continued with six of the next eight points going the visitors' way as a once 16-point lead was trimmed to one at 56-55 with 5:23 remaining. Lafayette's response was immediate, though, as out of a timeout, Zalys and freshman Hunter Janacek connected on back-to-back triples to expand the advantage to seven at 62-55.

However, it was all Dragons down the stretch as Mojica's triple gave Drexel its first lead of the game and the Dragons finished off the road victory with a final of 74-70.

The Leopards hit the road for a two-game road trip starting on Monday in Brooklyn, N.Y., a 7 p.m. tip at St. Francis Brooklyn.