20 December, 2006
by Ryan Rissmiller
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| King’s (4-5) |
42 |
38 |
80 |
| Lafayette (5-7) |
58 |
31 |
89 |
| Kirby Sports Center – Easton, PA |
Boxscore |
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Despite being outscored in the second half, the Lafayette Leopards managed to fend off Division III opponent King’s College for their fourth win in five games. A balanced scoring attack led by Andrew Brown, who tied his career high in points with 20, allowed the Leopards to lead the entire game; their largest was 24 points. Matt Betley and Ted Detmer chipped in 17 and Bilal Adbullah added 15.
The Leopards came out of the gates shooting 65.0 percent from the three-point line and 60.0 percent from the field in the first half. The Leopards set a season high for three-pointers made with 16, beating their previous mark of 15 at NJIT. In fact, the Leopards went 13-for-20 in the first half alone, on pace to shatter that record, but a dismal 3-for-12 in the second half slowed them down. Along with setting season highs in points and three-pointers, the Leopards also had 25 assists which also eclipsed their previous mark of 20.
King’s was forced to play catch-up for most of the game thanks to the stellar first half performance of Lafayette. The Leopards lost their focus many times in the second half allowing easy transition baskets and points down low to an under sized team. Lafayette is not used to having the size advantage on the floor, and they seemed confused at times as to how to handle the gritty, quick to the ball style of play of the Monarchs. Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon praised the toughness of King’s: “We’re lucky the game ended when it did, because they were beating us — that’s a good basketball team.†John Soboleski had 18 points for the Monarchs, coming off aggressive inside play.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
Despite shooting the lights out in the first half, the Leopards could not build a substantial lead until the 6-minute mark when they went on a 23-10 run to distance themselves. Four three-pointers by four different Leopards helped them build up a 58-42 halftime lead.
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| Key sign it was over |
With a 24-point lead with 12 minutes to go, the game was pretty much in hand. But every time Fran O’Hanlon attempted to put his reserves in, King’s would surge and close the gap slightly forcing O’Hanlon back to his big scorers.
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| Key performance |
Bilal Adbullah. With all of his 15 points coming in the first half, Abdullah was 5-for-10 shooting in the half, which included 4 three-pointers. King’s could not rotate their defense faster than Lafayette could dump it into the left corner, where Abdullah was patiently waiting to knock down shot after shot.
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| Key statistic |
Hard to pick just one as Lafayette set season high marks in a couple of categories. The facet of the game that Lafayette is the most productive at is their three-point shooting, where they made a season high 16. Field goals attempted and made where also season highs with 33-of-63.
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| Notes |
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The last time the Leopards had 5 players in double figures was November of last year when they played Alvernia, out of Reading, PA — another Division III school.
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Although having the size advantage, Lafayette was once again out rebounded by a scrappy King’s 36-30.
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The Leopard will wrap up their 4-game home stand Friday night against Mt. St. Mary’s before traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Temple Owls on Dec. 28.
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