EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men's basketball team controlled the opening half in the Patriot League home opener on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center, but Bucknell came out in the second half on fire, using a 17-0 run to swing the momentum in its favor and drop the Leopards to 0-2 in conference action by a final of 78-66.
 
The Bison shot 7-for-12 from distance in the second 20 minutes of action and made 20-of-36 from the field (55.6%) with just two turnovers. On the other side, Lafayette followed up a 39-30 halftime lead with just 27 points in the second, making 2-of-15 from distance (13.3%) and 9-of-27 from the field (33.3%) in the second stanza.
 
The loss marks back-to-back defeats for the first time this season for the Maroon and White, falling to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in Patriot League play. Bucknell improves to 6-9 this season and 2-0 in conference action, knocking off Army in the league opener.
 
Junior E.J. Stephens was a bright spot for the Leopards tying a game-high with 15 points on 7-of-8 from the foul line, an aggressive performance. The Plantation, Florida native added five rebounds and three assists without a turnover.
 
Classmate Justin Jaworski added 13 points, moving to within nine of 1,000 for his career. Freshman Leo O'Boyle scored a season-best 12 points on four threes, while senior Myles Cherry added 11 with seven rebounds to round out the double-figure performances.
 
Jaworski almost single-handedly put Lafayette on the front foot early, going 3-for-3 from distance, including one through a foul for 10 points in the first four minutes and a 12-7 Leopard lead. Bucknell began to execute offensively, but an O'Boyle triple from the left wing kept the Bison from taking control as the half went under the 12-minute mark tied at 17-17.
 
Effective minutes from sophomore Sean Good around the 10-minute mark put the Leopards back ahead by four, 25-21, and Stephens came on through the five-minute mark to extend the edge to nine, 33-24, with four minutes to play. O'Boyle's second three at the 2:49 mark took the lead to its largest at 37-25, but five back from the Bison's Kahliel Spear, including an emphatic putback slam, took the game to the break at 39-30.
 
Lafayette came out of the intermission with back-to-back buckets, but Bucknell answered with 11 straight to trim the advantage down to two, 43-41, with 15:29 remaining. The Bison kept going with six more before Cherry's put-back bucket at the 13:11 mark ended the 17-0 run with the Bison ahead by a pair, 47-45.
 
The visitors continued their hot shooting with the Leopards' inconsistency drawing the deficit out to nine, 61-52, with 7:50 left. Lafayette couldn't find their first-half form down the stretch as the Bison stretched out their advantage until the final buzzer sounded on a 78-66 defeat.
 
The Maroon and White remain at Kirby through the middle of the week for their next contest, hosting Holy Cross (2-13, 1-1 PL) on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.