EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette College men's basketball team returned to Kirby Sports Center after four-straight road contests only to drop a 74-67 decision to Sacred Heart Thursday night.
 
"We didn't get off to the start we wanted, and a lot of that had to do with defensive intensity," said head coach Fran O'Hanlon. "We started to pick it up a little bit and did a much better job, but it comes down to a couple of possessions where you need a stop and a shot and we just didn't get enough of those."
 
Junior Neal Quinn poured in a season-high 20 points to go along with eight boards and three assists in the loss.
 
After struggling at the start, shooting just 1-for-8 in the early goings, Lafayette saw itself behind early, 28-15 with 8:46 left in the first half.
 
The Leopards kicked it into gear, scoring 15-unanswered when junior Leo O'Boyle got hot and connected on a 3-pointer of the senior Tyrone Perry dish. O'Boyle hit two more triples during the run and freshman CJ Fulton added another to give Lafayette a 30-28 lead with 3:42 remaining in the first.
 
O'Boyle had 15 points, matching a career-high five 3-pointers while Fulton added nine points.
 
After trailing by five at the break, the Leopards were able to regain the lead early in the second when Fulton got a steal and found senior Tomas Verbinskis in transition for the easy deuce to make it 46-45.
 
Shortly after, Fulton added another bucket to make it a three-point lead before a 9-0 Pioneer run to make it 54-48 with midway through the second half.
 
Quinn put an end to the visitor's outburst with a monster dunk through contact out of a side-line inbounds to spark a quick 5-0 streak to make it 54-53.
 
Lafayette cut the SHU lead to just one point on five occasions over the final 9:26, but ultimately could never regain the lead.
 
Perry closed the night with 11 points and a season-best five assists while sophomore Kyle Jenkins collected a career-high 13 rebounds with six points.
 
SHU shot it at 50% for the game, led by Aaron Clarke's 19 points and five assists while Alex Watson and Tyler Thomas had 17 and 15, respectively.
 
The Leopards will look to bounce-back Sunday afternoon, hosting NJIT at 2 p.m. inside Kirby Sports Center and on ESPN+.
 
For the latest on the Lafayette College men's basketball program, follow the Leopards on Twitter @LafayetteMBB and Instagram @lafayettembb.