Box Score

EASTON, Pa. ÃÆ'Æ’¢ÃÆ'¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡¬ÃÆ'¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…â€Å" In its final game before eight days off for finals, the Lafayette men's basketball team dropped its second straight on Sunday afternoon, falling to Sacred Heart by an 85-61 score.

Rebounding and free-throw shooting were again the trip-ups in this game for the Maroon and White as Sacred Heart won the battle on the glass by a 48-33 margin and the Leopards went 10-for-22 from the foul line (45.5%). Sophomore Paulius Zalys was a bright spot, though, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-9 from the charity stripe.

Freshman Hunter Janacek put together the best game of his young career, leading the team in scoring with 12 points on 4-of-8 from three-point range. Junior Matt Klinewski added nine points, while rookie Lukas Jarrett was also a strong performer with seven points, a block and a steal.

The Leopards' shooting woes continued as they went 21-for-57 from the field (36.8%). That being said, they did shoot well from beyond the arc, going 9-for-18 from distance (50.0%), but five of those came in the first half when eight first-half turnovers nullified those scores.

"It was a different type of game than we've been accustomed to playing," head coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "They really pushed it up the court. We tried to emphasize sprinting the floor and getting in a stance this week, but our guys needed to experience it and we gave up too many lay-ups."

For Sacred Heart, Joseph Lopez led six double-figure scorers with a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds. Matej Buovac and Sean Hoehn added 13 points each, while Chris Robinson, Charles Tucker and Quincy McKnight each chipped in with 12, respectively.

Lafayette took control at the opening tip as a Klinewski move on the low block and a free throw made it 8-2 to open the game for the Maroon and White. Sacred Heart's Sean Hoehn countered with a triple from the right corner to cut it to 8-5 and the Pioneers eventually took their first lead of the game at the 11:57 mark, a three from Matej Buovac making it 14-11.

Lafayette rattled off five straight as a three from Janacek put them back in front by a 16-14 margin. However, Sacred Heart responded once again as a 10-0 run put the visitors up 27-18 with 6:57 remaining in the first.

Senior Nick Lindner's triple stopped the bleeding on the next possession, but seven of the next nine went to Sacred Heart, who opened up a 34-23 advantage with 3:52 to play. That momentum continued through to the halftime intermission as the visitors took a 43-30 edge into the break.

Free throws from Zalys opened the second half positively for the Maroon and White, but the Pioneers snatched any momentum and didn't let up, taking the first four-minute stretch by a 17-5 score to extend their lead to 22, 57-35.

A 7-2 spurt from the Leopards gave them life under the 12-minute mark as a Lindner three in transition made it 59-42 with 11:40 remaining. But that margin remained over the next five minutes as Lafayette couldn't cut any further, trailing 70-53 with less than seven minutes to play.

There was no comeback in sight through the home stretch as back-to-back-to-back three's from the visitors opened up a 26-point advantage at 4:47 and Sacred Heart finished it off with a final of 85-61.

The Leopards return to Kirby Sports Center on Dec. 19, hosting Moravian at 7 p.m.