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BALTIMORE, Md. - The Lafayette men's basketball team led for 35:56 of game action in the Patriot League First Round on Tuesday evening, but the shots to tie or take the lead in the final three minutes wouldn't fall for the Maroon and White, ending their season with a 67-64 defeat at Loyola.

Andrew Kostecka's triple in the corner with 4:04 on the clock put Loyola in front for the first time in a game that was controlled by the Leopards throughout the first half and through the midway point of the second. However, the Greyhounds made the plays when it mattered most down the stretch, clinging to a one-point advantage until free throws with 9.8 seconds on the clock cemented the 67-64 victory.

Senior captain Nick Lindner finished his career with an 11-point effort, putting him over the 1,500-point mark for his career. Lindner is the first player in program history and second in Patriot League history to score 1,500 points and add 500 helpers during his four seasons on College Hill. As the only active senior with classmate Monty Boykins missing the majority of the season due to a shoulder injury, he will be the lone loss for the Maroon and White, as all eight other players that saw action on Tuesday will be back for the Leopards next winter.

Junior Matt Klinewski led Lafayette offensively with 15 points, 13 of which coming in the second half of action. Sophomore Paulius Zalys added 13 points and four boards, while junior Eric Stafford added 10 and four assists on 3-of-4 from the field.

Jarred Jones, Loyola's lone senior, had an outstanding night, leading all scorers with 21 points on 10-of-18 from the field to go along with nine rebounds. The Greyhounds went 25-of-57 from the floor (43.9%) and 3-of-12 from beyond the arc (25.0%) compared to 20-of-43 shooting for the Maroon and White (46.5%) and 7-of-21 from distance (33.3%).

The loss finishes Lafayette's season with an overall record of 9-21 as the Leopards went 5-13 in Patriot League play. Loyola advances to play second-seeded Boston U. on Thursday.

Zalys came out and paced the Leopard attack with seven points and an assist in the first five minutes to give Lafayette an early 12-8 lead. Lafayette moved its edge out to as many as nine on another Zalys bucket at 9:03, but Loyola pulled back within six at the under-eight timeout at 22-16 with 6:41 to play in the half.

Lafayette continued to execute on both ends of the floor through the latter stages of the first half as a Stafford three helped the Leopards remain in front by a five-point margin, 25-20, with 2:51 to go. A Chuck Champion triple with 42 seconds left brought the Greyhounds within one possession, but Lindner free-throws closed out the half with the Lafayette cushion at five, 32-27.

Loyola seized momentum to open the second half, cutting the Leopard lead to just two after the first four-minute stretch, 34-32. A put-back from Cam Gregory tied it at 34, but the Leopards answered as a pair of strong takes through fouls from Klinewski and freshman Lukas Jarrett pushed the advantage back to seven at 47-40 with 11:36 remaining.

Jones' three-point play and a Kostecka finish down the lane quickly cut it back to two, but a beautiful up-and-under move from Klinewski through a foul preceded a Zalys layup in transition to make it 52-45 at 9:47. Once again, Loyola responded, though, as Jones beat Klinewski through the lane on the right side as the lead trimmed to three, 54-51, with 7:57 left.

From that point forward, Loyola made the necessary plays to come out on top, riding out the three-point win.