LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lafayette College men's basketball team erased a 17-point second-half deficit to force overtime with Bucknell, but ultimately fell 92-89 Saturday evening in Sojka Pavilion.
 
Junior Neal Quinn scored a game-high and career-high 24 points with nine assists and four rebounds to lead the way for the Leopards while sophomore Jon Brantley came off the bench to hit the game-tying 3-pointer in regulation, finishing with 18 with 14 in the second half.
 
After trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Leopards found themselves down just four points at the 10-minute mark after Brantley capped of an 11-0 run with a jumper.
 
Bucknell hit a few free throws before another seven-unanswered by Quinn and senior Tyrone Perry cut the Bison lead to just two. A Bucknell 3-pointer at the four-minute mark made it a six-point game again before junior Leo O'Boyle answered with a 3-ball of his own and Quinn converted a pair of free throws.
 
The two sides traded free throws down the stretch, but Bucknell's Xander Rice hit what was thought to be a dagger of a 3-pointer to make it a five-point game with under two minutes to play in regulation.  
 
After some more free throws on each side, Brantley stepped up as he did last time these two teams met and hit a deep, straight-away 3-pointer with just 10 seconds left to tie the game and force overtime.
 
Brantley got going early in the overtime period, but Bucknell took the early lead, 87-86, before Perry knocked down a 3-pointer with just 1:15 to play to give Lafayette the two-point edge.
 
A pair of Bison free throws tied the game with 54 seconds left and followed that up with a fallaway corner 3-pointer as the shot clock expired by Andrew Funk, who led the Bison with 20 points, to break the tie.

Both teams shot the ball extremely well throughout the duration of the afternoon as Bucknell grew its 17-point lead early in the second half by connecting on four of its first five field goal attempts of the second half.
 
However, Lafayette shot it a season-best 57% and connected on four of its first five 3-pointers in the second half to begin the comeback.
 
Perry finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and four rebounds while sophomore Kyle Jenkins had 11 with career highs in steals and blocks with four and three, respectively.
 
The Bison shot it nearly 67% on their home floor in the first half to take an 11-point lead into the break, while Lafayette connected on just 2-of-12 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The final week of the regular season is upon the Patriot League as the Leopards have three key contests approaching, beginning with Holy Cross inside Kirby Sports Center on Monday night.
 
For the latest on the Lafayette College men's basketball program, follow the Leopards on Twitter @LafayetteMBB and Instagram @lafayettembb.