Box Score Feb. 24, 2018 Box Score
BETHELEHEM, Pa. – The Lafayette men's basketball team closed out its 2017-18 regular season with a loss at Lehigh on Saturday night in Bethlehem, Pa.
The Leopards dug an early hole they could never get out of, trailing by 17 at halftime and finishing on the low end of a 79-64 score. The loss drops the Maroon and White to 9-20 on the year overall, finishing 7-11 in Patriot League play.
Lafayette will be the seventh seed in the Patriot League Tournament, set to kick off on Tuesday evening. The Leopards will host 10th-seeded American at Kirby Sports Center with opening tip set for 7 p.m.
It was a tough shooting night for the Leopards, who seemed to get decent looks offensively throughout the game with just an inability to convert. Four Lafayette players finished in double-figure scoring, led by 13 apiece from senior co-captain Matt Klinewski and freshman Justin Jaworski. Freshmen Alex Petrie and E.J. Stephens rounded it out with 11 points each.
Lafayette went 25-of-62 from the floor (40.3%) and 6-of-26 from three-point range (23.1%). On the other side, Lehigh made 31-of-67 from the field (46.3%) and 9-of-27 from distance (33.3%), while carrying a healthy 45-31 advantage in rebounding.
Senior Kahron Ross led all scorers with 17 points on his senior night for Lehigh, while Lance Tejada added 13, and Marques Wilson and Jordan Cohen each finished with 12. Lehigh will be the fourth seed in postseason play, hosting fifth-seeded Boston U. on Thursday at Stabler Arena.
Lafayette started the game missing open looks as Lehigh jumped out to a 9-3 lead over the first four minutes. The Hawks' lead grew to as many as 11, but a Stephens jumper sparked a 7-2 run that pulled the Leopards back within six at the 12:39 mark, 16-10.
The offense continued on a cold streak through the midway point of the opening half as Lehigh moved its advantage to 14 at 31-17 with 6:37 left. That lead grew to as high as 20 with 2:33 left, but the Leopards closed with seven of the final 11 points to take the game to the locker room down 17, 48-31.
Lafayette came out of the intermission in good form, forcing a Lehigh timeout at 16:41 with the lead trimmed to 12, 52-40. But that timeout proved useful as the Hawks came out with a stop and back-to-back buckets to push back out to 57-40 with 15:42 to play.
The Leopards couldn't make a run over the next four-minute stretch as a Tejada floater over Jaworski with 11:53 left put the home side up 20, 66-46. Seven straight over the next four minutes pulled Lafayette back within 13, but a Kyle Leufroy triple stopped the run and moved the game under the seven-minute mark with the edge at 16, 69-53.
That triple killed any chance at a Lafayette comeback as Ross' jumper at the end of the shot clock, followed by a James Karnik dunk, made it 79-59 with 2:46 to play. Lafayette fought to the final buzzer, but it wasn't enough in the end, falling by a 79-64 score.
