OPENING TIP
* Lafayette eyes a season sweep of Loyola on Sunday in the second of two-game homestand at Kirby. 
* Loyola enters in its best form of the season with wins in five of its last six. The Greyhounds became the only Patriot League team other than Lafayette to knock off first-place Colgate a week ago with an 84-80 victory at home and followed that up with an 81-77 win at home over Army in its last time out.
* Members of the Lafayette team will be wearing gold shoelaces on Sunday in support of the Go4theGoal Foundation. Go4theGoal works to improve the lives of children battling cancer by providing financial assistance, granting special wishes, developing unique hospital programs, and funding innovative research. 

LAST TIME OUT
Junior E.J. Stephens simply couldn't be stopped on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center as he went for a career-high 27 points to lead the Leopards past second-place Boston U., 61-59.

Stephens missed just three shots in the first half, almost eclipsing his career-high in the first 20 minutes with 18 points at the break on 7-of-10 from the field. The Plantation, Florida native added nine in the second stanza, including the eventual game-winner with 34 seconds to play.

Up 59-57 with less than a minute remaining, sophomore Tyrone Perry's steal set up a tough, off-balance floater from Stephens over Boston U. 6-10 forward Sukhmail Mathon down the right side of the lane to make it a four-point game late. Boston U. scored on the ensuing possession and got the ball back via a steal with 11 seconds to go, but Walter Whyte's winning effort from three-point range at the top of the key went in and out as the buzzer sounded.

The Leopards did most of their damage in the first half, shooting a sizzling 64.0 percent from the floor on their way to a 43-27 halftime advantage. Boston U. clawed its way back throughout the second stanza, but never got closer than the final score as the Lafayette defense made up for just 18 points on the offensive end in the second frame.

Senior co-captain Myles Cherry was the only other Leopard to score in double figures with 10 points. Cherry added four assists and five rebounds, moving within 10 of becoming the 27th Leopard in program history with 500 career boards. Freshman Neal Quinn also provided a spark on the block, dishing out a game-high five assists to go with five boards, four points and a block in a season-high 21 minutes of action.

Boston U. fell to 16-12 in defeat and 10-5 in conference action, while the Leopards improved to 17-9 with the victory, sitting at 9-6 in Patriot League play. That conference mark places the Maroon and White alone in fourth place, one game behind Boston U. and American for the second spot.

TEAM TAKEOVER
Sunday's game marks Lafayette's annual Team Takeover event. Introduced during the 2018-19 season, Team Takeover serves to feature the personalities of the team through the use of nicknames and personalized content throughout the day.

In addition to each player wearing a warm-up with his nickname on the back, all content for Team Takeover, including videoboard materials, public address announcements, social media graphics, etc., will feature the nicknames throughout the contest. Bitmoji's, cartoon caricatures often used in mobile messaging, will also be incorporated, while all of the in-arena music will be hand-selected by members of the team, including timeouts with videoboard content associated with chosen songs. 

LAST MEETING
Toughness and determination personified the Lafayette effort in Baltimore as the Leopards fought through a cold shooting performance to grind out a 65-62 victory over Loyola.

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 made 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 one of the better performances of his inaugural campaign. The rookie hit 5-of-9 from the floor for 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.

THE SKINNY ON THE HOUNDS
Loyola, picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, has hit its stride since the return of reinforcements to its lineup. It's no surprise the Greyhounds' current stretch of five wins in their last six corresponds with the introduction of freshman Santi Aldama, who missed the team's first 22 contests this season. Aldama, viewed by some as a potential NBA prospect, has added 12.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in his six outings, helping Loyola return to .500 at 14-14 overall with a 6-9 record in conference play with three regular season contests remaining.

Preseason All-Patriot League selection Andrew Kostecka still runs the show for the Greyhounds despite Aldama's emergence as of late. Kostecka leads the Patriot League in scoring this season at 20.7 points per night and is second in the conference in steals on the other end at 2.0 per contest. Aldama's 12.8 serves as the only other Greyhound averaging double-figure scoring with Isaiah Hart, Cam Spencer and KaVaughn Scott adding 9.8, 9.3 and 9.1 points per game, respectively.

NEXT MAN UP
Heading into the 2019-20 campaign, the Leopard roster looked much deeper than it currently stands as Lafayette was without four major contributors the last time out against Boston U. and is expecting just one of those to return this season. Junior Alex Petrie, second on the team in scoring as a sophomore at 14.5 points per game and the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2017-18, has missed his entire junior season with a medical condition, while Isaac Suffren, who put up 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game through the fall semester, transferred over the interim.

More recently, junior co-captain Justin Jaworski suffered a season-ending knee injury at Army on Feb. 12. The Leopards' leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, Jaworski accounted for just shy of 24 percent of the Leopards' offense prior to his absence. The fourth missing part will likely return to the lineup for Sunday's tilt with Loyola as senior co-captain Lukas Jarrett has missed the last three games with injury. Jarrett provides 9.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and a team-leading 3.2 assists to a unit desperately in need of another reliable option on both ends of the floor. 

Jaworski was carrying the load for the absence of Petrie, with that role likely falling to either sophomore Tyrone Perry or junior E.J. Stephens for more offensive production in Jaworski's absence. Freshman Leo O'Boyle has seen his minutes increase since the departure of Suffren, while senior Kyle Stout and junior Dylan Hastings have filled in Jarrett's role during his recent injury hiatus. 

A WINNING CAMPAIGN
Lafayette's victory over Holy Cross on Feb. 15 gave the Maroon and White their 16th win of the 2019-20 season, securing a winning season. The Leopards have not recorded a winning record since their championship run in 2014-15 when that team went 20-13 on its way to the NCAA Tournament. Lafayette went 9-9 in Patriot League action that year and the Leopards have not finished with a regular-season conference mark above .500 since going 10-4 in the 2012-13 campaign. 

PLAYOFF PUSH 
Lafayette heads into the final three games of the regular season in fourth in the Patriot League standings. The league's top-four seeds earn a home game in the quarterfinal round, while staying in the top six secures not having to play in the tournament's First Round. The Leopards are two games clear of that bottom four with Navy and Bucknell sitting at 7-8, and their competition for the top four is looking to be American and Army, sitting at 10-5 and 8-7, respectively in league action.