BALTIMORE – Toughness and determination personify the Lafayette men's basketball team's effort on Saturday afternoon in Baltimore as the Leopards fought through a cold shooting performance to grind out a 65-62 victory over Loyola.
 
The win matches the Leopards' win total from a year ago, their 10^th of the season overall, and squares up their Patriot League mark at 2-2 through the early slate. It also hands Loyola its first home loss of the 2019-20 season, dropping the Greyhounds to 9-8 on the year and 1-3 in conference action.
 
Co-captains Lukas Jarrett and Justin Jaworski made the winning plays in the final 30 seconds for the Maroon and White. Jarrett swatted Isaiah Hart's effort at a winner and Jaworski finished a transition layup through a foul to put Lafayette up three with less than two seconds left to all but seal the deal.
 
Lafayette, tops in the Patriot League and 11^th in the nation in three-point shooting, had a highly-uncharacteristic day from that standpoint, making just 6-of-32 from distance (18.8%), but still found a way to win. The Leopards' three best shooters in Jaworski, junior E.J. Stephens and sophomore Tyrone Perry went a combined 4-for-23 from three-point range.
 
Freshman Leo O'Boyle helped pick up the slack with the best performance of his inaugural campaign. The rookie hit 5-of-9 from the floor for a season-best 14 points with six rebounds, including a pair on the offensive end.
 
O'Boyle led four Leopards finishing in double-figure scoring, followed by 12 apiece from senior co-captain Myles Cherry and Jaworski, and 11 from Jarrett. Jarrett and Jaworski each dished out five assists and Jarrett added two blocks and five rebounds to his stat line.
 
Loyola came out of the blocks firing, hitting three of its first four from beyond the arc before Jarrett's strong take down the right side of the lane cut the deficit to four, 11-7, after five minutes. Jaworski's triple on a feed from Stephens tied the game at 12-12 with 13:14 on the clock, but Kenneth Jones answered with a triple to put the home side back on top, 15-12.
 
Neither team was able to find an edge over the next six minutes as Jarrett left a pass for an easy Cherry layup to make it 26-25 Loyola with six minutes to play. The Greyhounds' lead got as high six on Hart's three with 4:31 left, but the Leopards fought to get it within one possession at the break, heading to halftime down three, 40-37.
 
Lafayette took control in the first five minutes of the second, slowly cutting into a six-point deficit and taking the lead on O'Boyle's strong finish through a foul to make it 46-44. Missed shots from distance continued, though, and Garren Davis' triple at the 11:36 mark put the lead back on the Loyola side, 51-48.
 
The two defenses locked in over the next five-minute stretch with Loyola ahead by a pair, 55-53, with seven minutes to play. It remained there until Jaworski's steal on the defensive side and layup on the other end took the game to the four-minute break with the Maroon and White back in front, 61-59.
 
Lafayette never relinquished that advantage down the stretch. Jarrett swatted the Hart effort with less than three seconds to play that would have won it. Then, Stephens sent a pass up the floor to a streaking Jaworski, who hit a layup through a foul to all but ice it. The Greyhounds' full-court heave struck dangerously off the front rim as the horn sounded on a 65-62 victory.
 
Lafayette returns to Kirby Sports Center for its next contest on Wednesday, hosting more than 1,200 Easton Area School District fifth- and sixth-grade students for an 11 a.m. tilt with Colgate.