LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lafayette men's basketball closed out the regular season Saturday afternoon at Bucknell with the Bison earning a 75-65 victory thanks to a late run.

Sophomore Justin Vander Baan and freshman Josh Rivera paced the Leopards with 21 points each. Vander Baan also managed 10 rebounds for his second career double-double. 

The Leopards got out to a fast start, going on a 6-0 run spurt to open the game, led by Vander Baan who netted four points. The Bison retaliated with a 7-0 run of their own to take the 7-6 lead at 16:06. 

The Bison then put together a 12-0 run led by Andre Screen with four points at 8:58 to lead 24-15. Vander Baan ended the Bucknell streak with a mid-range jumper to cut the deficit to 24-17 at 8:33. Vander Baan only missed one shot from the floor during the opening half, shooting 6-of-7. 

The Maroon and White went on an 11-2 run fueled by two three-pointers from senior Leo O'Boyle to cut the Bison lead to one, 29-28 at 5:24. Vander Baan hit a turnaround jumper with five seconds remaining to make the score at halftime 34-32 in favor of Bucknell.

The second half was tightly contested, seeing several lead changes until the final minutes of action. Bucknell's Alex Timmerman banked home a layup before the first media timeout to give the Bison a 36-35 lead. Eric Sondberg tied the score at 43-43 with 11:40 remaining thanks to five points from the junior. 

O'Boyle drained a jump shot at 9:39 to give Lafayette a 48-47 lead before Bucknell started to take over. The Bison went on a 16-4 run which included three point shots from Xander Rice and Jack Forrest to give them a 64-51 lead at 2:36. The Leopards tried to claw back after two three pointers from Rivera, but ran out of time.

Forrest and Timmerman led the Bison with 16 points each. Timmerman also hauled in 10 rebounds to secure the double-double. The Leopards shot 43 percent from the field and 43.5 percent (10-23) from beyond the arc. Lafayette committed 14 turnovers compared to nine from Bucknell. Lafayette was nearly even on the glass with the Bison (33-32).

The Leopards will have to wait for the results of the remaining Patriot League games this afternoon before the tournament seeding can be finalized.


For the latest on the Lafayette College men's basketball program, follow the Leopards on Twitter @LafayetteMBB and Instagram @lafayettembb.