EASTON, Pa. - La Salle shot 40.5 percent from beyond the arc to knock down the Leopards, 67-51, on Saturday afternoon in Kirby Sports Center.
Lafayette's primary scorers were
Eric Sondberg and
Kyle Jenkins, recording 13 and 12 points, respectively. Jenkins grabbed eight rebounds as the pair each dished an assist.
The Leopards were perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 5-for-5.
The Explorers took an 11-9 lead by the 16-minute mark, opening the game with a trio of 3-pointers.
La Salle went on a 7-4 run to 10:18, leading 18-13. A three-minute stretch of scoreless play was halted by Lafayette's
Luka Savicevic with a floating jumper at 7:17, trailing 18-15.
To close the growing gap to one point, Sondberg, Jenkins and
Justin Vander Baan all netted shots from beyond the arc to trim the margin to 25-24 at 2:32.
La Salle's Jhamir Brickus sank a final deep 3-pointer to keep a 28-24 advantage at the halftime break.
In the second half,
Kyle Jenkins made his presence known securing five points in the first minute of action to give Lafayette its first lead of the game, 29-28.
The Explorers retaliated with a pair of 3-pointers by Andres Marrero and Daeshon Shepherd at 16:47 to recover a 35-32 advantage.
Both La Salle players, as well as Brickus, sank additional shots from beyond the arc in a 15-7 run to the 12-minute mark, pulling away 50-39.
Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi fueled a 13-6 Explorer run with seven points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to stay out of reach, 63-45 at 5:54 in the 67-51 final.
La Salle shot 35.5 percent from the field and had 29 points off the bench as well as 18 off turnovers. Marrero led the Explorers with a career-high 20 points, shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 5-of-12 from the 3-point range.
Lafayette out-rebounded La Salle 40-38, while being edged 8-7 on the offensive glass.Â
Lafayette's next contest will take place at 2 p.m. on Dec. 21 versus Quinnipiac, following a 12-day break for the institution's final exams period.
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