WASHINGTON, D.C. - Men's basketball was bested by No. 2 American, 71-69, during the Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinal game on Thursday evening at Bender Arena.

Out of six total Leopards on the scoresheet, four played more than 30 minutes of action. Leading the way were freshman guard Alex Chaikin, who clocked in all 40 minutes, and senior Justin Vander Baan's 39. The Leopards crafted a 51 percent shooting performance on 53 attempts on the floor. Chaikin's career-high eight 3-pointers allowed Lafayette 11 buckets from deep total. Chaikin capped his first season in the Maroon and White with a career-high 29 points on 10-of-13 from the floor with six boards.

Vander Baan (14) and sophomore Andrew Phillips (12) also reached double figures. Vander Baan added six rebounds, five assists and five blocks to in hsi final game in a Leopard uniform. He rests in second and 11th place on Lafayette and the Patriot League's respective all-time blocked shots list with 188 swats.

The Leopards opened the contest with a 15-9 start, paced by Vander Baan and Chaikin's four points apiece by the 12:26 point in the opening half. Ryan Pettit added a pair of steals in that time, including a fast-break bucket, to rank him third in steals in the conference this winter.

The Eagles responded with a 14-3 run, fueled by Matt Mayock and Greg Jones' five points apiece, to the seven-minute mark to overtake the advantage, 23-18.

Chaikin knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers at 4:45 and 3:49 as the Leopards regained control and led 28-23. Lafayette kept American scoreless through the final six minutes of the first half, while tallying 16 points, to enter the halftime break with a game-high 11-point, 34-23 lead.

In the second half, American's Elijah Stephens posted six points a four-minute stretch to get the Eagles as close as four, 46-42, at 14:28.

The Eagles used their home-court momentum to make a 14-5 jump ahead, 56-51 by 9:10. Lincoln Ball contributed six points in the spurt.

Lafayette and American fought back and forth before two Eagle 3-pointers allowed American to take a 65-61 advantage at the three-minute mark. Chaikin countered with a shot from beyond the arc at 2:22 to bring the deficit to three, 67-64.

The Leopards were then forced to foul in order to regain possession in the final minute, grabbing Jones. The American sophomore forward made both attempts before Chaikin drained another 3-pointer with 11 seconds on the clock, trailing by two, 69-67.

The Eagles converted their remaining two charity stripe shots before Vander Baan sent off his collegiate career with a final layup as the buzzer sounded in a 71-69 final.

American used nine scorers on the evening, commanded by Jones' 17 points and five rebounds, to outscore the Leopards 48-35 in the second half. The Eagles shot 46 percent from the floor overall and made 11-of-16 at the line compared to Lafayette's 4-for-5. The last two meetings with American this year were decided by a total of four points.

The Maroon and White concluded the 2024-25 season with a 13-20 (7-11) overall record.

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