PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Lafayette men's basketball team's five-game winning streak came to a close on Sunday afternoon in Piscataway, New Jersey as Rutgers proved too tough in a 63-44 defeat at the Rutgers Athletic Center.
 
The Rutgers defense and size on the glass were the differences early and often as the Leopards trailed 33-13 at the break on the way to a 63-44 final. Lafayette drops to 7-3 overall this season in defeat, while the Scarlet Knights, coming off a road win at No. 22 Seton Hall in their last time out, improve to 9-3 this winter.
 
Junior Justin Jaworski found his shooting stroke in the second half to lead the Leopards in scoring with 13 points on 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Tyrone Perry added eight points, while junior E.J. Stephens and freshman Neal Quinn added five points apiece.
 
Lafayette went 17-of-54 from the field overall on the day (31.5%) and knocked down just seven of its 25 attempts from deep (28.0%). On the other side, though, the defense was solid throughout, holding Rutgers to just 1-of-9 from three-point range (11.1%) and 63 total points, the second-lowest for an opponent this season.
 
Rutgers controlled the game from the tip as the Leopards' first bucket took until the 11:14 mark to materialize. Effective minutes from Quinn with an assist and a jumper got the offense into a little rhythm, but the home side continued to execute on both ends into the halftime break.
 
Jaworski's triple at the 17:28 mark kept his streak alive at 58 straight games with a triple, the second-longest in the nation, but Rutgers proved too tough, taking a 42-16 advantage into the under-16 break and a 49-21 edge into the midway point of the second half. Back-to-back triples from Perry and Jaworski showed continued fight from the Maroon and White, though, forcing a Rutgers stoppage with 9:18 on the clock and the score at 53-27.
 
The threes started to finally fall over the next five minutes as Jaworski, freshman Leo O'Boyle, Stephens and Perry all connected to bring the lead below 20, 59-41. The hole proved too deep to dig out of in the end, though, as the home side rode out the final few minutes in a 63-44 final.
 
Following a short break for the holidays, Lafayette heads back to the road in its next contest on Sunday, Dec. 29, traveling to Fairfield, Connecticut for a meeting with Sacred Heart at 1 p.m.