EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men's basketball team dropped a defensive battle to Boston U. on Sunday night at Kirby Sports Center, suffering through a cold shooting night in a 64-61 defeat.
 
The Leopards had a chance to send it to an extra frame late, taking over possession with 11 seconds to play, down three. Unfortunately, efforts from freshman Jon Brantley and sophomore Leo O'Boyle fell short and long, respectively, before time expired.
 
The loss drops the Maroon and White to 5-3 overall, sitting at 3-1 in central division action, while Boston U. improves to 3-5 on the year and 1-5 in north division play.
 
Senior co-captains E.J. Stephens and Justin Jaworski paced Lafayette offensively with 17 and 14 points apiece, while junior Tyrone Perry added 13 on 6-of-10 from the field. Senior co-captain Dylan Hastings was stellar on the defensive end with five blocks to tie a career best.
 
Cold shooting was the story on both sides of the ball as the teams combined to go 8-for-49 from distance on the night (16.3%), 4-for-26 on the Leopards' side (15.4%). Lafayette went 21-of-62 overall (33.9%), but hit 15-of-20 from the foul line (75.0%).
 
Boston U. picked up where it left off on Saturday, jumping out to an early 7-2 advantage before Perry's triple from the right wing brought it back within a bucket at 7-5 after four minutes. Consecutive buckets from Stephens around the 12-minute mark pulled the Maroon and White within a point at 13-12, but Ethan Britain-Watts' triple at 8:41 kept Boston U. in control, up five, 22-17.
 
The Terriers continued to control the pace of play, moving their edge to double digits on a finish in the post from Sukhmail Mathon with just over five minutes to play in the half. A Jaworski triple following the fourth block of the half  Hastings brought the Leopards within six into the final stretch and Perry's step-back buzzer-beater sent the game to the break at 35-31.
 
The second half started slowly for both sides as the Leopards continued to struggle shooting from the outside before freshman Kyle Jenkins' long jumper made it a three-point game, 40-37, after five minutes. Lafayette finally knotted it on a step-back Stephens jumper to take the game under the 12-minute mark at 41-41.
 
Boston U. kept its lead, although slim, through the seven-minute mark, as a Walter Whyte drive-and-finish down the left side of the lane made it 54-51. That one-possession margin remained through the four-minute break before Lafayette finally took its first lead of the night with 3:12 to play with sophomore Neal Quinn's finish on the block making it a 58-57 contest late.
 
Jonas Harper's free throws with 11 seconds left on the clock put the Terriers up three, giving Lafayette a chance to send it to an extra period, but it wasn't meant to be as the clock ran out on a 64-61 final.
 
Next up for the Maroon and White is a two-game set with American next weekend. The Leopards travel to Washington, D.C. on Saturday for a 2 p.m. outing, followed by a 4 p.m. tilt in Kirby on Sunday.