BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lafayette advanced to the Patriot League Tournament Semifinal after taking out No. 3 Lehigh on Thursday night in Stabler Arena. The Leopards jumped out to a huge first-half lead and held on a 71-64 road victory. That combined with an American win over No. 2 seed Navy gave the Leopards the right to host American on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Patriot League All-Rookie selection Josh Rivera led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 56.3 percent from the floor and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. The New Brunswick, N.J. native added three free throws, four rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Junior Kyle Jenkins, who had 15 points on the night, kicked off the Patriot League Tournament's quarterfinal round, scoring on the first four Leopard possessions for an 8-2 lead at the 17-minute mark. Rivera knocked down a 3-pointer to force a Lehigh timeout at 16:39, holding an 11-2 advantage.

The Leopards continued to shoot 80 percent from the floor down to 14:03, forcing Lehigh to burn a full timeout, trailing 19-4 with Keith Higgins' free throws accounting for all of Lehigh's scoring.

Lafayette took a 10-8 stretch for a 27-12 advantage at 8:06. Rivera fueled the run with six points, followed by Jenkins and Justin Vander Baan with two apiece.

The Maroon and White continued to pepper the offensive rim over the next four minutes, holding Lehigh to only two points while knocking down eight for a 35-14 lead by 3:17. A 3-pointer from Leo O'Boyle secured Lafayette's largest lead of the game, up by 25 points (41-16) at 1:27. O'Boyle finished with 14 points and needs five more to pass the 1,000 career points milestone. 

Lafayette confidently held a 41-18 advantage at halftime, holding the Mountain Hawks to 16.7 percent from the floor in the opening half. The Leopards shot 53.6 percent from the floor and went 5-for-12 from 3-point range at the first buzzer.

Lehigh opened the second half with an 8-5 stretch, climbing to a 46-26 deficit at 15:41. The Mountain Hawks put together an 14-0 run down to 12:29, but still trailed 49-40.

The pendulum of momentum swayed towards Lehigh, but Kyle Jenkins put an end to the Leopard scoring drought with two free throws at 10:43 to hold an 11-point advantage, 51-40.

Both teams battled back and forth over the following five minutes, as Rivera paced the Leopards with five points in a 10-6 stretch for a 61-46 lead at 6:52.

The Mountain Hawks cut the deficit to 65-58 at 1:57 with a pair of 3-pointers by Evan Taylor. Lehigh's second-half surge brought them as close as six points, trailing 67-61 with 0:27 on the clock.

It was not enough to put down the Leopards, who secured a 71-64 final thanks to a flurry of CJ Fulton free throws in the closing seconds. Lafayette shot 18-for-24 from the charity stripe; O'Boyle led the team and knocked down all five of his attempts from the line, also adding a game-high nine rebounds. 

The Leopards will host No. 7 American on Sunday at 4 p.m. in a nationally televised game by CBSSN.
 

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