Jan. 21, 2017 Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Senior captain Nick Lindner did everything he could for the Lafayette men's basketball team on Saturday evening in Bethlehem, Pa., scoring 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. However, Lehigh's Austin Price responded with 24 points of his own as the home side took the first round of The Rivalry by a 75-68 score.
Coming into the game on opposite sides of the Patriot League standings, the Leopards gave the preseason Patriot League favorites everything they could handle, holding the lead midway through the second half. In the end, the loss drops Lafayette to 6-13 on the year overall and 2-6 in league play, while the Mountain Hawks improve to 11-8 and 5-3 in conference action.
Junior Matt Klinewski and freshman Kyle Stout rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Leopards with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Lafayette did an excellent job on the glass, winning the rebounding battle for just the third time this season, 33-30.
Tim Kempton and Pat Andree followed Price in the scoring column for Lehigh with 19 and 13 points apiece, but the Leopards only gave up seven rebounds to Kempton, avoiding his 11th double-double of the 2016-17 campaign. Lafayette went 26-for-56 from the floor (46.4%) and made 11 of their 24 shots from beyond the arc, while the Hawks hit on 23 of their 53 shots overall (43.4%) and made 10-of-26 from deep (38.5%).
Both sides settled into the game slowly as a Klinewski jumper answered a 7-2 starting run from Lehigh to make it 7-4 into the first media timeout at 15:26. Freshman Lukas Jarrett used his defensive length to force a steal and run-out to cut it to one, but eight of the next 10 went to Lehigh, taking a 15-8 lead to the midway point of the opening half.
Kempton picked up his second foul, helping the Leopards to go on a mini spurt of 7-2 to cut the lead to two, 17-15, with 6:32 left to the break. They finished out the half strong as three's from Lindner and Stout kept the margin at just three into the break, 28-25.
Lafayette opened the second half on fire, scoring 10 straight to take its first lead in the game at 35-28 with 17:54 on the clock. Lehigh settled in, though, as a 7-2 spurt back the other way made it a 37-35 lead after the first five minutes.
The Leopards made another run, extending their edge back out to eight on back-to-back triples from sophomore Paulius Zalys and Lindner. However, Lehigh answered with the same and two Kempton free throws tied it at 45 with 11:30 to play.
The Mountain Hawks continued to push as a steal and finish from Price extended their advantage to seven, but a huge Lindner three at the end of the shot clock sent the game under the eight-minute mark with the Lehigh lead at four, 54-50. That lead remained through the final media timeout of the game as the game moved into its final stretch with the score at 62-58.
The teams traded buckets until a series on either side of the one-minute mark changed the game.
With 1:19 remaining and Lehigh up five, 68-63, the Leopards played an excellent defensive possession that forced a wild, deep three from Price at the top of the key. Unfortunately, he drained it just before time expired on the shot clock to put the advantage at eight, 71-63. Then, with 55 seconds left, Lindner rimmed out the front end of a 1-and-1 and Lehigh was able to manage it out from there, finishing it off with a final of 75-68.
The Leopards return to Kirby Sports Center for a two-game stand next week, hosting Bucknell on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Loyola on Saturday at 2 p.m.
