EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men's basketball team can be proud of its effort heading into Patriot League action in 2019 as the Leopards took Princeton to the wire on Friday evening at Kirby Sports Center, coming up just short in an 81-79 defeat.

Lafayette, down by as many as 16 with just over 15 minutes to play, never conceded, battling back to within a bucket down the stretch. In the end, the Tigers managed to answer every Leopard bucket with one of their own as Devin Cannady's game-high 24 points were the difference, sending the Maroon and White to a 3-8 final record in non-league action.

Senior co-captain Paulius Zalys continued his strong stretch of play with his second straight double-double, leading the Leopards with 20 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Zalys is averaging 13.4 points and 8.0 rebounds over his last five games.

Sophomores Justin Jaworski and Alex Petrie added 19 and 13 points, respectively, as the Leopards went 26-of-63 from the field (41.3%) and 9-of-31 from three-point range (29.0%). Lafayette handled the Tigers on the glass, 41-36, but Princeton committed just three turnovers on the night, owning a 12-0 edge off 11 Leopard giveaways.
The game started fundamentally sound from both sides as a Petrie jumper at the 16:12 mark sent the game to its first break with Princeton ahead by a slim 9-8 lead. The Tigers held that advantage into the midway point of the opening half as a Petrie triple deep on the left wing put it at 14-13.

The teams traded baskets through the middle of the half before back-to-back layups from junior Myles Cherry and sophomore E.J. Stephens put the Leopards in front at the 8:03 mark, 23-22. Princeton scored six straight to force a Lafayette timeout out of the eight-minute break, but back-to-back triples from Jaworski pulled the Maroon and White back on top, 29-28, with 4:37 left.

The Tigers answered once again as a Jaelin Llewellyn layup gave them a 32-30 advantage with less than three minutes remaining in the opening period. That bucket sparked momentum for the visiting side into the intermission, finishing with nine of the last 15 points to take a 41-35 lead into the break.

Consecutive triples from the visitors out of the locker room forced an early timeout less than two minutes in with the Princeton lead up to 12, 47-35. That advantage grew as high as 16 with 15:33 on the clock, but the Leopards made their run around the 12-minute mark, following a Zalys triple with a Jaworski finish at the rim through a foul off an offensive rebound to trim the lead to five, 61-56.

Jose Morales' three pushed the edge back to eight on the next possession, but a Lukas Jarrett layup and a triple from Isaac Suffren brought the Leopards to within a possession at 64-61 with 9:42 left. Princeton's Myles Stephens went back-to-back on the next two possessions to extend the lead to seven, but Zalys answered with a back-to-back of his own to take the game under the six-minute mark at 68-65.

Princeton answered every Lafayette bucket down the stretch as the lead never got higher than five, but the Tigers never surrendered it in the final six minutes. Jaworski's triple from the top of the key with two seconds left dropped and Cannady went 1-of-2 from the line, but the sophomore's 3/4-court heave at the buzzer was a little strong as the buzzer sounded on an 81-79 final.

Next up after the holiday break for the Maroon and White is the start of Patriot League play at Lehigh on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.