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EASTON, Pa. - There were only two things that could stop Matt Klinewski and Alex Petrie during the Lafayette men's basketball team's home opener on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. Nick Griffin and rebounding proved to be the difference for visiting Saint Peter's, slipping away with an 86-82 win over the Maroon and White.

Klinewski posted his best game of the year, going 8-of-10 from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point range and 10-of-12 from the charity stripe for 30 points to lead the Leopards, offensively. Petrie was sizzling from beyond the arc, going 7-for-10 from distance for 25 points, the most in his young career on College Hill.

However, Nick Griffin upstaged both Leopards with a career-high 37 points to will the Peacocks to victory. Griffin went 12-of-21 from the field, 4-of-9 from three and 9-of-10 from the foul line. Additionally, Saint Peter's' 31-21 advantage on the glass led to a 16-2 edge in second-chance points. Twelve of those 31 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Lafayette was efficient offensively, despite its 17 turnovers on the afternoon. The Leopards went 25-for-44 from the floor (56.8%) and 14-of-26 from beyond the arc (53.8%), while missing just two of their 20 free-throw attempts. On the other side, the Peacocks were 30-of-60 from the field (50.0%) and 11-of-27 from deep (40.7%).

Klinewski powered the Leopards through the early stretches, scoring 11 points in less than eight minutes to push the home side to a 19-16 lead at the midway point of the opening half. But Saint Peter's responded with seven straight out of the 12-minute timeout to take a 23-19 lead into the final stretch of the first half.

The Peacocks held that advantage through the remainder of the half, stretching it to as many as seven on Quinn Taylor free-throws with 3:24 to play. However, Lafayette closed the half strong, scoring 11 of the final 18 points to cut the deficit to just three at the halftime intermission, 38-35.

The offenses that may have been somewhat stagnant at times in the first half arrived for the start of the second as both teams put up a ton of points over the first six-minute stretch. A three from Klinewski, followed by a pretty spin move on the block from junior Paulius Zalys put the Leopards in front by a 53-51 score with 14:05 to play.

The Leopards carried that lead through the midway point and into the latter stages of the second half as back-to-back buckets from senior co-captain Eric Stafford made it 72-70 with 3:48 to play. However, the Peacocks wouldn't go away as a Taylor triple took the game into a timeout with 3:24 left and the visitors on top by two, 74-72.

Petrie's free throws tied it at 74-74 with 2:38 remaining, but back-to-back three's from Griffin pushed the lead to an insurmountable margin at 80-76 with 40 seconds on the clock. Petrie tried his best to get the Leopards back in the game, hitting two three's in the final 20 seconds, but Griffin knocked down 6-of-6 from the stripe late to seal it with a final of 86-82.

Lafayette hits the road once again for its next matchup on Wednesday, traveling to Philadelphia, Pa. for a meeting with Drexel at 7 p.m.