WASHINGTON, D.C. - A tough stretch of games continued for the Lafayette men's basketball team on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., dropping a heartbreaker to American in overtime, 60-59.
The Leopards held leads of four and three inside the final five minutes of both the end of regulation and overtime, but American free throws on both occasions with less than 30 seconds to play tied it in regulation and won it in extra time.
Sophomore Matt Klinewski's back-to-back blocks on the defensive side kept the lead at 53-49 into an American timeout with 1:06 remaining. The Eagles took just 16 seconds out of the timeout to pull back within two on a Marko Vasic turnaround deep in the lane.
Senior Zach Rufer's drive down the middle of the lane was blocked and another Vasic drive forced a foul that sent the Eagles to the line for two with 20.7 seconds on the clock. The senior drilled both free throws and junior Nick Lindner's step-back jumper was off the mark, sending the game to overtime, tied at 53.
The first three points of overtime went Lafayette's way as a free throw from Klinewski and a spin-and-finish down the center of the lane from freshman Paulius Zalys made it 56-52 with three minutes to go. Jesse Reed responded out of a timeout to pull back within one, 56-55.
A free throw from Vasic with 1:35 left knotted the game at 56, but a huge three from Rufer on the other end put the Leopards back on top. Charlie Jones answered with a three of his own with less than 50 seconds remaining to tie it again at 59 and a missed Klinewski jumper from the top of the key gave American the ball with 22.5 seconds into a timeout.
On the last possession, Klinewski stopped the initial Delante Jones drive with a block out of bounds. However, with one second on the shot clock, Charlie Jones cut to the lane on the inbounds play and was fouled. The junior hit 1-of-2 and Rufer's desperation shot sailed wide off the backboard to send the Leopards to another heartbreaking defeat, 60-59.
The game was close throughout as neither team was able to grow its lead higher than six points, featuring eight ties and eight lead changes. Lafayette committed just seven turnovers to 11 assists, but lost the rebounding battle, 39-27, and hit just five of its 21 three-point attempts (23.8%).
Klinewski led the way offensively with 18 points on 6-of-8 from the free-throw line, while Rufer went 4-of-7 from distance and added six rebounds and three assists to his 14 points on the night. With the loss, the Leopards drop to 5-21 overall and 2-13 in Patriot League play.
Lafayette will continue to try to find a way to buck its 10-game skid on Sunday, traveling across town to battle with archrival Lehigh at 12 p.m.
