WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lafayette men's basketball team had its three-point shooting on display at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts on Saturday afternoon, but Holy Cross still proved too tough in a 77-70 defeat in Patriot League action.

The Leopards shot a scintillating 15-for-28 from beyond the arc (53.6%) on the day, including a combined 11-for-17 from sophomores Justin Jaworski (6-of-8) and Alex Petrie (5-of-9). Unfortunately, they went 30.1 percent from the floor on two-point attempts and four double-figure scorers for the home side proved to be the difference, moving Lafayette to 4-11 on the year and 1-3 in conference action.

Holy Cross was efficient throughout its offensive possessions on the afternoon, going 30-of-54 from the field (55.6%) and 8-of-14 from three (57.1%), including 7-of-10 in the opening 20 minutes. Preseason All-Patriot League selection Jehyve Floyd was formidable in the paint, tallying up a game-high 25 points with six rebounds and six assists to lead the home side offensively. Jacob Grandison, Caleb Green and Austin Butler rounded out the Crusader offense with 18, 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Senior co-captain Paulius Zalys paced the Maroon and White on the glass with seven boards to go with seven points as the only other Leopard with more than five. Holy Cross won the battle on the glass, 33-26, and recorded 18 assists to just seven turnovers, improving to 11-6 on the year and 2-2 in conference action.

The Crusaders began the game on the front foot, scoring the first seven points and carrying a 12-5 lead into the opening timeout, with seven off the hands of Grandison. Lafayette responded out of the break, though, with a triple from Petrie and a step-back jumper from Zalys pulling the Leopards within four at the midway point of the half, 14-10.
The lead remained around that margin to the five-minute mark before Lukas Jarrett's jumper from the right elbow made it a one-bucket game, 25-23. Holy Cross answered with a 9-2 run to go back up nine with 2:42 left, but five back from the Leopards, finished off by a Jarrett throw down made it 34-30 with 2:11 left in the opening half.

The final stretch went the Crusaders way as back-to-back three's moved the home advantage out to 10, 40-30, with 29 seconds left. Petrie's drive-and-floater down the right side of the lane was off the mark in the final seconds and that margin stood into the break.

Holy Cross carried that momentum into the start of the second half as a pretty spinning drive-and-finish from Floyd put the home side up 12, 49-37, with 15 minutes remaining. That lead grew to 14 toward the midway point of the second frame as a run-out layup from Green made it 53-39.

A Lafayette drought of more than five minutes allowed that advantage to extend as high as 18 with the sides trading three's during the eight-minute mark to make the score 60-42 with just under nine minutes left. Three and a foul from Jaworski with six minutes left got the edge down as low as 11, 62-51, but five back from Holy Cross moved the advantage to 16 again, 67-51.

The Crusaders kept that advantage above single digits into the final minute before back-to-back triples from Jaworski, his fifth and sixth of the day, gave the Leopards hope, down 74-65 with 23 seconds to play. Five from E.J. Stephens in a span of eight seconds made it 76-70 with seven seconds left, but the hole was too large to overcome in the end as Holy Cross closed it out with a final of 77-70.

Lafayette returns home on Wednesday for a tilt with Navy at Kirby Sports Center. Tip-off from Easton is scheduled for 7 p.m.