Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Senior captain Nick Lindner reached the 500-assist mark on Wednesday evening at Army, but the Lafayette men's basketball team couldn't complete the comeback in West Point, N.Y., falling by a final of 80-74.

Lindner finished with five helpers, moving his career total to 502. He is just the sixth player in Patriot League history to accomplish the 500-assist feat and the second among the program leaders only to Tony Duckett '85, Lafayette's all-time record-holder with 622.

The Leopards fell into an early hole once again, down by as many as 21 with 5:46 to play in the first half and trailing by 20 at the break, the eighth straight halftime deficit for the Maroon and White during their current skid. However, Lafayette fought early in the second half and closed the gap under 10 at the midway point.

Army did just enough down the stretch to hold off the Leopards, sending them to a ninth Patriot League defeat. Lafayette falls to 6-16 overall on the season and 2-9 in Patriot League play, while Army improves to 9-14 and 3-8 in conference action.

Sophomore Paulius Zalys led four Leopards in double-figure scoring with a season-high 18 points on 6-of-9 from the field. Lindner followed with 16, while freshman Kyle Stout and junior Matt Klinewski each added 15 and 10, respectively. Stout finished 3-of-4 from outside for his best performance against a Division I opponent this year.

On the other side, Jordan Fox and John Emezie each totaled 18 points for the Black Knights. Mac Hoffman added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Tommy Funk chipped in with nine points, eight assists and seven boards.

Lafayette started strong as a pair of buckets from Klinewski helped the Leopards to an early 6-2 lead. But Army came back with six straight as Matt Wilson's lay-up made it 8-6 Black Knights and, after a Lindner three, another 8-0 run pushed the edge to seven at 16-9 into the under-12 media timeout.

Army continued to stretch its lead through the midway point of the half, moving the advantage out to 21 at 36-15 with 5:46 to play. That lead remained through the final stretch of play as the home side went into intermission with a 46-26 lead.

Lafayette came out of the locker room determined to get back into it, using a 10-1 run to cut the edge to 11, 53-42, over the first four minutes. However, Army responded out of a timeout with five straight to move it back to 16 at 14:51.

The teams traded buckets to the midway point of the half as Army continued to hold off Leopard runs, leading by 15 at the 11:35 mark. However, Lafayette continued to charge as a strong drive-and-finish from Zalys made it an eight-point game at 65-57 with 9:11 on the clock.

The lead stayed in that range through the final media timeout of the half as free-throws from Klinewski made it 71-62 with 3:44 to go. The Leopards got as close as six on a Lindner drive and finish with 1:01 left, but Army hit its free throws late and closed it out with a final of 80-74.

Lafayette hits the road again on Sunday, traveling to Boston U. for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Terriers.