WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lafayette men's basketball team never trailed in the Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals at Army on Thursday evening, using a balanced attack offensively and seven blocks on the defensive end to knock off the Black Knights by a 73-68 score and advance to the semifinal round for the first time since 2014-15.
 
The Maroon and White were determined from the opening tip, jumping out to an 11-5 lead early and carrying that to a 34-30 advantage at the break. Lafayette only extended its lead at the start of the second half, ballooning as high as 18 with 10 minutes left, and held on at the end at the foul line to keep its season alive.
 
Lafayette will travel to Hamilton, N.Y. for a meeting with No. 1 Colgate in the semifinal round on Sunday. The Leopards are the only Patriot League team this season to beat the Raiders twice in the regular campaign, winning on Jan. 15 in Easton, 71-67, and Jan. 29 in Hamilton, 80-78.
 
Freshman Leo O'Boyle continued his stretch of stellar play with a team-high 20 points on the night on 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Junior E.J. Stephens hit a number of tough midrange jumpers to finish with 14 points and senior co-captain Lukas Jarrett added 13 on 6-of-8 from the foul line.
 
Defensively, the seven blocks came from four different sources as Jarrett, Stephens and junior Dylan Hastings registered two apiece and freshman Neal Quinn added one. O'Boyle and sophomore Tyrone Perry added two steals each as well.
 
With Army the only team to sweep the Leopards in the regular season, Lafayette now boasts at least one victory against every Patriot League team in 2019-20. Its overall record improves to 19-11, while Army finishes at 15-15.
 
Lafayette looked locked in from the get-go, using five points from Jarrett and two steals and a block on the defensive end to take an 11-5 edge after the first five minutes. Army pulled back within a bucket at 12:56, but O'Boyle's triple through a foul from the left wing with 11:56 remaining put the Leopards' edge at eight, 17-9.
 
The Maroon and White kept control through the seven-minute mark with senior Kyle Stout's triple making it a 28-18 advantage, but Army made its move with around four minutes remaining in the half, forcing a Lafayette timeout at 3:50 with the margin at four, 32-28. The sides couldn't budge from that over the last four minutes as just one bucket was scored either way to send it to the halftime break, 34-30.
 
Lafayette jumped right back on the front foot to start the second half, using the fourth triple from O'Boyle to force an Army timeout with 14:40 remaining and the lead up to 14, 49-35. That advantage grew as high as 18 on a pair of occasions before a 6-0 Army run surrounding the eight-minute mark made it a 12-point game, 60-48.
 
Army brought the deficit to single digits by the four-minute timeout with Lafayette's advantage at eight, 64-56. A Tommy Funk layup cut it to four with 1:09 on the clock, but O'Boyle and Jarrett went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 24 seconds to ice the 73-68 final.