PRINCETON, N.J. – Junior Justin Jaworski led an efficient showing for the Lafayette men's basketball team on Wednesday evening at Princeton in a 72-65 victory, the first on the road in the series for the program since the 2007-08 season.
 
Jaworski snapped an early-season shooting slump, going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc to extend his streak of games with a three to 51, the second-longest in the nation. The Schwenksville, Pa. native went 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the foul line for 23 points to lead all scorers.
 
Senior Myles Cherry added 15 points for his third-straight double-figure scoring contest to open the season and junior E.J. Stephens chipped in with 11 to go along with a team-high five rebounds. The Leopards made 26-of-50 from the floor (52.0%) overall and knocked down 11-of-19 from distance (57.9%), winning the rebounding battle by a 33-32 margin and dishing 15 assists compared to 13 turnovers.
 
The win moves Lafayette back above the .500 mark at 2-1 overall this season and keeps Princeton winless at 0-3 to start the year.
 
The Tigers were led by Richmond Aririguzoh with 19 points and nine rebounds on 8-of-14 from the field. Drew Freiberg added 16 points on 4-of-8 from three and Jaelyn Llewellyn was held to 13 points on 5-of-19 from the floor and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc.
 
It was clear from the get-go that Princeton would run the majority of its offense through Aririguzoh as he scored the first six points for the Tigers before senior Kyle Stout's three moved the Leopards within one at 6-5. Cherry got the Leopards going with a pair of triples, the sixth and seventh of his career, before Jaworski added a pair of his own to put the Maroon and White ahead by four at 9:24, 24-20.
 
Another bucket in the post from Aririguzoh got it back to a one-point game, but seven straight, capped by the first collegiate triple for freshman Leo O'Boyle, moved the advantage back to eight for the visitors, 34-26, with just over four minutes to play in the half. That run was key in 18 of the final 23 points going to the Maroon and White, who took their largest lead of the early season into the halftime break, leading by 14, 45-31.
 
The second half started right where the first left off as Jaworski and senior Lukas Jarrett netted back-to-back buckets to span the margin to 19. But Princeton bounced back with 10 of the next 12 to force a Lafayette timeout at the 16:27 mark with the edge trimmed to 11, 52-41.
 
The Tigers' run stalled over the next five-minute stretch as just three points were scored for either side to take the game under the 12-minute mark at 55-44. A mini 7-0 spurt for the Tigers brought it to 59-52 with 7:31 on the clock, but Jaworski's triple from the left wing through a foul halted that momentum and back-to-back jumpers from Stephens took the game to its final media with the Leopards in front, 67-54.
 
Princeton made it interesting down the stretch as they got the game as close as four with 27 seconds to play. But a pair of free-throws from Jaworski and a missed falling-away triple from Freiberg in the waning moments put the finishing touches on a 72-65 final.
 
Lafayette now moves into a three-game homestand at Kirby Sports Center, beginning on Saturday evening against Delaware. Opening tip against the Blue Hens is set for 5 p.m.