Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. - Freshman Justin Jaworski pulled up from the left wing and drilled the biggest shot of his young career to cap the second-half comeback with a 71-68 victory at Colgate on Friday evening in Hamilton, N.Y.

Following a Sean O'Brien triple from the right wing that tied the game at 68 with 11 seconds remaining, the Leopards didn't panic, opting not to call timeout and play out the tie game naturally over the final possession. Bringing the ball up the left side of the court and choosing to get into action around the five-second mark, Jaworski sized up a defender and pulled up from well beyond the three-point arc, burying the effort and putting the Leopards in front by three with three seconds to go. Jordan Swopshire's last-chance heave strayed left as the buzzer sounded on the Lafayette victory.

The win marked the first loss for Colgate in Patriot League play, dropping them to 2-1 in conference action and 7-7 overall. Lafayette jumps over the .500 mark in conference play with the victory sitting at 2-1 in the league and 4-10 overall.

Jaworski's three finished off a 12-point night for the rookie, one of four players in double figures for the Maroon and White. Senior co-captain Matt Klinewski led all scorers with 22 to lead the way, while freshman E.J. Stephens and junior Paulius Zalys rounded it out with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Klinewski moved his double-figure scoring streak to 17 games dating back to the end of last season and added eight rebounds, an assist and a block to carry out his stat line. The Leopards went 27-for-58 from the field overall (46.6%), 6-of-22 from beyond the arc (27.3%) and 11-for-17 from the foul line (64.7%).

On the home side, Colgate was led by Swopshire with 21 points on 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. O'Brien followed with 16 points, while reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year Will Rayman was held to 10 on 4-of-13 from the floor.

Lafayette once again remedied a tough first half in terms of turnovers with a better second, committing just three in the second stanza compared to six in the first. Rebounding was even at 38 apiece, but the Leopards proved to be deeper, winning the bench battle by a 28-11 margin.

Both sides took their time out of the gates with calculated offense being run on either side over the first five minutes. Five straight from Jaworski, including a triple from the left wing, pulled the Leopards within two after falling back by seven, but Swopshire answered with a three on the other side to take the game under the 12-minute mark with the home lead at five, 17-12.

Six straight from Klinewski around the eight-minute mark gave Lafayette its first lead by a 23-22 score. But that momentum was fleeting as Colgate closed the half on a 17-5 run, finishing it off with an O'Brien drive-and-finish at the buzzer to take the game to the break with the home side up, 40-28.

The Leopards came out of the locker room with great energy, closing the deficit to six over the first five minutes, 45-39. Another 7-2 spurt over the next four, finished off by a floater from Klinewski down the center of the lane, trimmed it to just one at 47-46 with 11:33 to play.

The two sides traded buckets to the under-eight media timeout as an Eric Stafford triple from the top of the key made it 54-53. The game remained at one possession into the under-four timeout as a floater from Jordan Burns pushed the Colgate edge to three, 60-57.

Then, the drama, as Jaworski's three and Swopshire's miss sealed it with a final of 71-68.

The Leopards will return to Kirby Sports Center for their next outing, hosting Bucknell on Monday at 7 p.m.