EASTON, Pa. – Delaware is unbeaten for a reason, but the Lafayette men's basketball team didn't go down without a hard-fought effort on Saturday evening at Kirby Sports Center as the Leopards just couldn't get over the hump in the second half in an 81-73 defeat.
 
The Blue Hens, led by Nate Darling, who averages 25.7 points per night and topped that mark with 27 on Saturday, were efficient on both ends of the floor to move to 5-0 on the season. Lafayette got 21 from junior Justin Jaworski and 18, two shy of a career-high, from classmate E.J. Stephens, but the loss drops the overall record to 2-2.
 
Jaworski moved his three-point streak to 52 games, second-longest in the nation, by hitting five triples on the night in nine attempts. Stephens went 2-of-4 from outside and 7-of-13 from the floor overall, adding three rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes.
 
The Leopards, outside of 18 turnovers, were efficient when they were able to get shots up, knocking down 51.8 percent from the field as a unit (29-of-56). However, Delaware was just too tough inside, winning the points in the paint battle by a 58-28 margin and shooting 56.7 percent from the floor (34-of-60) with just eight turnovers.
 
Despite getting beat in the paint offensively, Lafayette handled the Blue Hens on the glass, 29-24. Senior Myles Cherry was a big part of that effort, ripping down eight boards including three on the offensive end to meet his average through four contests.
 
The two offenses started slowly as sophomore Tyrone Perry's floater following a steal on the defensive end brought the Leopards within a bucket at the 16-minute mark, 6-4. Then, they heated up as Jaworski's triple followed a Stephens floater that moved Lafayette in front by four, 17-13, at the midway point of the half.
 
Lafayette continued to execute as a 9-2 run on three straight triples forced a Delaware timeout at 5:55 on the clock with the Leopards' lead at its largest, 30-22. Then, the script flipped as the Leopards went cold and the Blue Hens caught fire.
 
Lafayette went the final 3:40 of the half without a point and Delaware scored 18 of its 40 points in the final 5:34. The final 12 points of the half went the visitors' way as the Leopards went into the break trailing for the first time this season, 40-37.
 
Senior Lukas Jarrett opened the second half with a jumper, but Delaware kept up its momentum with another 9-0 run to force a Lafayette timeout at 17:14 with the deficit at 10, 49-39. Stephens knocked down a wide-open triple out of the timeout to settle Lafayette down and another from Jaworski made it a six-point game at 16:27, 51-45.
 
Delaware moved it out to as many as 10 on a couple occasions, but Stephens' finish through a foul took the game under the eight-minute mark still at a six-point margin, 67-61. The Leopards only got as close as five from that point forward as the Hens never ceased to execute down the stretch, seeing out the clock with a final of 81-73.
 
The Maroon and White return to Kirby Sports Center on Tuesday evening for their next contest against Penn, with opening tip set for 7 p.m.