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EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's basketball team put in an all-around team performance on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center, as four double-figure scorers powered the Leopards to a 78-65 victory over American.

The win is the second in the last three games for the Maroon and White and serves as a great tune-up for Sunday's Rivalry Round Two with Lehigh. Lafayette improves to 4-11 in Patriot League play and 8-18 overall on the year, while American falls to 6-20 and 3-12 in conference action.

"We really moved the basketball well and it helps us having Eric Stafford back in there as another ball-handler," head coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "We needed this win. This is like playoff time and our guys have to be in playoff mode. Stops and shots at this point of the year."

Junior Matt Klinewski finished two rebounds shy of a double-double, adding a game-high 23 points to his eight boards. Senior captain Nick Lindner was excellent from beyond the arc, knocking down six triples on his way to 19 points, while sophomore Paulius Zalys added 15 on 6-of-7 from the field and freshman Kyle Stout chipped in with 10 to go along with seven boards.

The Leopards were in control for the majority of the game, leading for just under 35 minutes and by as many as 17 midway through the second half. Lafayette shot 27-of-57 from the floor (47.4%) and went 10-of-25 from three-point range (40.0%), adding 15 assists to just 10 turnovers.

On the other side, American hit on 25 of its 54 shots from the field (46.3%), but made just five of its 20 three-point attempts (25.0%) and committed 15 turnovers. Mark Gasperini tallied a career-high 20 points and Sa'eed Nelson added 20 of his own to lead the Eagles, offensively.

The teams traded buckets through the opening minutes as a Lindner triple at the end of the shot clock gave Lafayette an 8-7 lead into the first media timeout. American stayed right with the Maroon and White to the midpoint of the half, but a Klinewski up-and-under move in the post kept the lead Lafayette's at 18-17 with 10:53 to go.

The Leopards extended their advantage over the next seven minutes as back-to-back transition finishes through fouls from Stout and Zalys pushed the edge to 10 at 31-21 with 3:10 to play in the half. American answered, cutting it to five with 35 seconds left, but Lindner drained a step-back deep three at the buzzer to send it into the break at 36-28.

The Leopards began the second half right where they left off as a Lindner three from the corner made it 43-32 after three minutes. American tried to answer as a Gasperini layup cut the lead to eight, but another Lindner three from the top of the key pulled it back to 11 at 50-39 with 13:17 remaining.

Lafayette continued to muscle its way to buckets on the boards as Klinewski finished through a foul and Zalys put back an offensive board to expand the advantage to 15 at 55-40 with 11:17 left. The Leopards' lead grew to as many as 17, but a James Washington three forced a timeout at the 8:43 mark with the lead trimmed to 11, 59-48.

The timeout stopped any momentum, though, as the Maroon and White answered right back with Zalys' drive-and-finish at the 3:24 mark making it a 15-point game, 72-57. Lafayette saw out the final three minutes with ball security and free-throw shooting, finishing off a 78-65 victory.

Next up for the Leopards is the final home contest of the regular season on Sunday against archrival Lehigh. Lafayette will honor its two-member senior class in Lindner and Monty Boykins prior to the contest, with tipoff set for 12 p.m.