WASHINGTON, D.C.- Lafayette earned a 68-62 victory in Bender Arena on Saturday afternoon, splitting the 2023-24 series with American.

In total, the Maroon and White shot 48.9 percent from the field and hit 13-of-27 from long distance, improving to an 11-16 (10-4 PL) overall record.

The Leopards' top performance came from junior Devin Hines, who netted a career-high 20 points and grabbed three rebounds. Luka Savicevic also had a career outing, adding 14 points to the stat sheet, shooting 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Hines sent Lafayette out to an early 8-5 lead at 14:22 in the first period, scoring all eight points which were capped by a deep 3-pointer.

American made a 13-7 run by 6:56 for an 18-15 advantage. Matt Mayock led the Eagles' spurt with seven points.

Senior Kyle Jenkins led a 10-8 Lafayette stretch with five points to get within one point of the hosts, trailing 26-25 with 34 seconds on the clock.

A flurry of fouls by American led to a pair of free throws by Eric Sondberg with just one second remaining in the first half. The Davidsonville, Md. native sank both shots from the charity stripe as the Leopards shut down the Eagles' last chance shot from deep for a 27-26 lead at the break.

Justin Vander Baan, Hines and Sondberg each kicked off the second half with a shot from beyond the arc for a 36-35 lead at 15:43. Savicevic followed with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 17-10 Lafayette run by the 8-minute mark for a 53-45 advantage.

Despite American's 12-10 spurt to 3:19, the Leopards stayed out front, 63-57, thanks to two Vander Baan jumpers.

The Eagles began fouling to get out of their 65-60 deficit at the one-minute mark. Jenkins (2) and Sondberg (1) secured shots from the charity stripe, assisted by a Ryan Pettit steal to shut down American's final offensive chance, to claim a 68-62 victory.

American shot 38.9 percent from the field and was held to 7-of-22 from beyond the arc overall. Rogers led three Eagles in double figures with a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds. The hosts out-rebounded Lafayette 32-28, including a 10-4 margin on the offensive glass. 

The Leopards host Colgate on Monday evening at 6 p.m. inside Kirby Sports Center. Jason Knapp and Mo Cassara will call the game on CBS Sports Network.


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