EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men's basketball team never really got on track on Saturday afternoon inside a sold out Kirby Sports Center as Lehigh salvaged a split in the season series, sending the Leopards to a 62-59 defeat in The Rivalry.
 
Down by a 31-21 score at the break, Lafayette battled to pull back within three at the midway point of the second half and captured the lead on a Justin Jaworski triple with 3:12 to play. But Lehigh made the plays in the final three minutes to salt away the victory, dropping the Maroon and White to 7-5 in conference action and 15-8 overall this season.
 
Junior E.J. Stephens led all scorers with 14 points, going 5-of-5 from the foul line and adding a trio of rebounds. Senior co-captain Lukas Jarrett and freshman Leo O'Boyle chipped in with 11 points apiece as the other Leopards in double-figure scoring.
 
Lafayette shot just 6-of-27 from the three-pojnt line (22.2%) and made 20-of-54 overall (37.0%). Its 21 first-half points were its lowest half of the conference season and second-lowest of the season overall.
 
It took some time for both sides to settle into a crazy atmosphere in Kirby before back-to-back buckets from O'Boyle took the half under the 12-minute mark with Lafayette in front, 10-9. Lehigh took the upper hand through the second half of the opening stanza and carried that to the break, using an 8-0 run in the final 43 seconds to lead by a 31-21 score at halftime.
 
Lafayette's offensive struggles continued as the second half opened with Lehigh extending its advantage to 13, 38-25, after five minutes. Senior co-captain Myles Cherry led an 8-2 spurt for the Leopards over the next three minutes, though, to pull them back within seven, 40-33, with 11:48 to play.
 
A four-point play on a corner triple through a foul from Stephens forced a Lehigh timeout at 9:49 with its lead trimmed to three, 43-40. But the Mountain Hawks kept Lafayette from stealing momentum over the next five as the Leopards called timeout with 4:09 to play and a four-point deficit, 54-50.
 
Jaworski's triple from the top of the key with 3:12 on the clock put the Leopards in front, 55-54. However, that was the lone Leopard bucket before the game was in hand as Lehigh controlled the final stretch to a final of 62-59.
 
The Leopards hit the road for a pair this week, traveling to Army on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Holy Cross Saturday for a 2 p.m. tilt with the Crusaders.