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EASTON, Pa. ÃÆ'Æ’¢ÃÆ'¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡¬ÃÆ'¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…â€Å" Senior captain Nick Lindner of the Lafayette men's basketball team led the Leopards with 15 points in his final game at Kirby Sports Center, but Lehigh was too much to handle on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Maroon and White in the second round of this year's rivalry by an 81-55 score.

"Nick's been one of the best leaders that we've had as far as showing players the right way to do things, not just on the court, but off it as well," head coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "His commitment to the program and to being the best that he can be is unmatched. He's been a joy to coach. I wish he could have went out at home a little bit better today, but he's been phenomenal and a great role model for our young guys."

Lindner and classmate Monty Boykins, who has missed the majority of his senior season with a shoulder injury, were honored as part of Senior Day ceremonies prior to the game. Lindner, a Doylestown, Pa. native, went 3-for-11 from the field on Sunday afternoon, but knocked down seven of his eight free-throw attempts. He also added two rebounds and an assist in his 34 minutes of action.

Sophomore Paulius Zalys was the lone other Leopard with double-figure scoring, finishing with 11 points, nine coming in the first half. The Leopards fall to 8-19 overall on the year and 3-12 in Patriot League play, while Lehigh improves to 16-11 and 10-6 in conference action.

Tim Kempton led the way for Lehigh with a game-high 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Austin Price added 12 points, while Kyle Leufroy and Kahron Ross chipped in with 11 and 10, respectively. Turnovers were a killer for the Maroon and White, coughing the ball up 18 times compared to only six assists.

"The moment put a lot of pressure on our young guys and hopefully we learn from some of the things we didn't do correctly today," O'Hanlon added. "Lehigh played well, but I thought we did a decent job on their shooters and just gave up too many layups."

Lafayette couldn't find its accuracy from distance on the afternoon, hitting just 5-of-30 from long range, a 16.7 percent clip. Overall, the Leopards went 19-for-62 from the field (30.6%), compared to a 43.1 percent mark (25-of-58) from Lehigh.

Eric Stafford free throws opened the game, but Lehigh answered, as five Lafayette turnovers led to a 12-0 run to give the visitors a 12-2 lead into the first media timeout. The Leopards settled down defensively, but continued to struggle on the offensive end, trailing by an 18-8 score at the midway point of the opening half.

Lehigh's offensive execution continued through the eight-minute media timeout, but a Lindner triple kept the Leopards within striking distance, down 31-18 with 7:34 left. The Leopards were effective at times on the defensive end, but just couldn't capitalize to cut into the lead, trailing by a 40-24 score into the halftime intermission.

Lehigh opened the second half with the first seven points, stretching its lead out to 23 at 47-24, but a Paulius Zalys layup and a Lukas Jarrett jumper pulled it back under 20 at 47-28 with 16:35 remaining. However, the Mountain Hawks kept pouring it on as an 11-4 spurt expanded the advantage to 61-35 with 11:28 to play.

Lafayette's shots wouldn't fall into the latter stages of the second half, with Lehigh moving its edge to 69-38 at the under-eight media timeout. In the end, it was all Lehigh as they finished off an 81-55 victory.

The Leopards hit the road for their final two regular season games this week, traveling to Bucknell on Wednesday and Colgate on Saturday. The Patriot League Tournament is slated to begin on Feb. 28 with the site and opponent still to be determined.