ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Lafayette men's basketball team would not be denied its third straight victory on Wednesday night at Navy, using a 46-point second half on 55.2% shooting from the floor to erase a seven-point halftime deficit in an 80-74 road victory.
The Leopards put five guys in double-figure scoring for the second straight game, led by a game-high 19 from sophomore
Justin Jaworski. Senior co-captain
Paulius Zalys added 15, while junior
Kyle Stout and sophomores
E.J. Stephens and
Alex Petrie chipped in with 11, 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior
Lukas Jarrett made an impact as well with seven boards, four assists, three blocks and two steals to go with five points.
Navy controlled the opening half with a 41-34 halftime edge, but the Leopards came out in the second with a purpose, erasing that deficit in less than eight minutes as a Jaworski three at 12:34 put Lafayette in front, 54-53. From there, the Maroon and White had the momentum and never relinquished it, making the shots necessary down the stretch to secure the 80-74 win.
The victory improves Lafayette to 8-16 overall this season and 5-8 in Patriot League play, while Navy falls to the same marks both overall and in conference action. The win is the first for the Leopards over the Mids since Jan. 31, 2015, a 74-65 win in Annapolis, breaking an eight-game skid in the series.
The two sides started efficiently from the floor, missing just three of a combined 12 attempts with Navy in front by one, 12-11, at the first break. That lead grew to four on a George Kiernan layup at the 12-minute mark and a 7-3 run over a three-minute stretch through the midway point made it a 27-18 game with less than eight minutes remaining in the half.
The Navy advantage got as high as 13 with 6:44 to play in the first, but a Zalys layup with 4:06 left pulled the Leopards back within seven, 33-26. That was where the advantage stayed through the final four minutes as Zalys netted four of the half's final six points to put the game to intermission at 41-34.
The opening four minutes of the second half were controlled by the Maroon and White, working the deficit to two on a finish through a foul from Stephens, 48-46. A Kiernan three at 13:55 put Navy back up five, but the Leopards responded again with a 10-2 run, forcing a Navy timeout at 11:05 with the Maroon and White on top for the first time, 58-55.
Cam Davis' finish through a foul at 10:34 tied the game at 58-58, but eight of the next nine belonged to Lafayette with a pretty passing play finding Stout in the left corner for an open three at 7:50 to push the edge to seven, 66-59. A three from Stephens and a Zalys jumper helped to counter seven from the Mids over the next four minutes to keep the lead at five, 71-66, into the final media stoppage of the night with 3:43 left.
Back-to-back buckets from Navy's Evan Wieck sent the game into the final two minutes with the Leopards' edge at three, 73-70, and it stood there until the 35-second mark when Stout and Jarrett connected for the turning-point bucket. After working the shot clock down as far as possible, Jarrett found Stout down the middle of the lane on a back cut for a pair to make it a five-point game and put the deficit too large for Navy to overcome. Three Jaworski free throws ended it with a final of 80-74.
Lafayette heads south once again this weekend, eyeing a season sweep of Loyola on Sunday in Baltimore. The Leopards took care of the Greyhounds on their home floor earlier this season, 85-70, on Jan. 9.
