PHILADELPHIA – Junior Justin Jaworski powered an offensive eruption on the road in Philadelphia on Tuesday night as the Lafayette men's basketball team knocked off Atlantic-10 foe Saint Joseph's by a defiant 94-71 score in its return from a nine-day break.
 
Jaworski put on an offensive clinic with a career-high 31 points, the first 30-point scorer for the Leopards since Matt Klinewski '18 poured in 30 points against Saint Peter's on Nov. 26, 2017. The junior accomplished the feat on 10-of-17 from the field, 5-of-10 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the foul line.
 
Lafayette's offense was clicking from the opening tip, registering a season-best 94 points on 20 assists with just five turnovers. The 94 points were the most since a 95-54 win over Rosemont on Dec. 19, 2018, and the most against a Division I opponent since a 97-84 victory against Wagner on Dec. 16, 2014. Additionally, it marked the first 20-assist game for the Maroon and White this season.
 
Joining Jaworski in double-figure scoring were his fellow co-captains as senior Myles Cherry recorded 15 points on 6-of-7 from the field and classmate Lukas Jarrett added 13 with 4-of-5 from the foul line. Junior Dylan Hastings registered two blocks to go with a season-best six points and senior Cal Reichwein scored his first points of his final campaign with a triple in the final two minutes.
 
The win marks the third straight for the Leopards to improve to 5-2 overall this season and breaks an 11-game drought to the Hawks with Lafayette's last win in the series coming on Dec. 3, 1975 in Easton. Saint Joseph's, led by 25 points from Ryan Daly, falls to 2-7 on the year in defeat.
 
Offense was the story early as both sides were knocking down looks in the first five minutes with Lafayette in front by one, 13-12. A 7-2 spurt with a bucket and dish on consecutive possessions from Cherry put the Leopards in control at the 12-minute mark with a nine-point edge, 24-15.
 
Daly answered with a triple out of the timeout, but the Leopards continued to surge as senior Kyle Stout followed up a four-point play from Jaworski with another deep triple of his own to force a Saint Joseph's timeout at the 8:01 mark with the lead at 17, 39-22. Sophomore Tyrone Perry connected from deep at 5:12 for the Leopards' 49^th point of the opening stanza, the highest total of the year, but the Leopards didn't score again as the Hawks stormed back to within seven at the intermission, 49-42.
 
The second half opened even with junior E.J. Stephens finding his spot on the baseline for a jumper to beat the clock to put the Leopards up eight at the under-16 break, 58-50. Then, Cherry found Jaworski to beat the zone and cap off a 10-0 run to move the advantage back in double figures, 72-54, with less than 12 to play.
 
Lafayette scored eight of the next 12 to take the game under the eight-minute mark in full control, up 80-58. Little changed over the final seven-plus minutes as the Maroon and White saw out the clock on a 94-71 final.
 
The Leopards hit the road once again this weekend, traveling to Ithaca, New York for a meeting with Cornell on Saturday at 1 p.m.