March 7, 2010

Easton, Pa. - The team picked to finish in last place in the Patriot League will now play for the 2010 Men's Basketball Championship, as No. 3 Lafayette scored the last four points of the game to win a back-and-forth Patriot League Tournament semifinal over No. 7 Holy Cross, 66-63, on Sunday afternoon at the Kirby Sports Center.

The Leopards trailed, 63-62, before Jared Mintz hit the eventual game-winning bucket in the lane with 35 seconds to play. Holy Cross' Andrew Beinert missed two consecutive shots on the other end, and Mintz drained two free throws with 5.7 seconds left after being fouled in the rebounding action. The Crusaders got a good look at a three-pointer to send the game to overtime, but R.J. Evans' attempt was just off the mark.

Lafayette moves on to the Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship on Friday at 4:45 p.m. on ESPN2. The Leopards will face the winner of tonight's second semifinal pitting No. 4 American at No. 1 Lehigh, which can be seen on the CBS College Sports Network beginning at 8 p.m. The Leopards would host American in the final, while they would visit the top-seeded Mountain Hawks.

Lafayette is in the Championship game for the fourth time overall and first since going in three consecutive seasons from 1998-2000. Lafayette improves to 19-12 with the win, while Holy Cross' season comes to an end at 9-22.

Playing in front of a raucous home crowd, the teams went back and forth with runs throughout the game. After Holy Cross scored the first four points, Lafayette put together a 12-2 stretch to take a six-point lead with 15:10 left in the first half. Holy Cross came right back with eight straight points to re-claim the lead, but Lafayette later opened things up behind the hot-shooting of Jim Mower. The sophomore who ranks in the top five nationally in three-point percentage drilled three consecutive treys for a personal 9-0 run to put the Leopards up, 27-19, with 5:58 to go in the first half. Holy Cross trimmed the gap to two, but Lafayette closed the first half on an 8-1 run for its biggest lead of the period at 39-30 at the break.

The Leopards built the lead as high as 12 early in the second half, but Holy Cross battled back to cut the gap to five at 50-45 with 12:25 to go. Lafayette responded with a layup by Mintz and three-pointer by Mower for a 55-45 advantage with 11:32 to play in the game. But Holy Cross scored 12 straight points to respond, coming all the way back to re-claim the lead at 57-55 on an Evans layup with 6:31 to go.

There were seven lead changes in the final five minutes alone, the last of which came on Mintz' game-winner. Jeff Kari had two big shots for the Leopards, hitting a three for a 58-57 lead with 4:57 to go and answering a Mike Cavataio jumper with a runner in the lane for a 60-59 Lafayette edge with 3:24 to go. Evans scored to put Holy Cross back in front with 2:38 left, but Mintz hit a pair of free throws 21 seconds later to make it 62-61 for the Leopards. Holy Cross took its last lead of the game with 56 seconds left when a tip-in by Cavataio made it 63-62, but Mintz had the biggest shots of the contest down the stretch.

Four Lafayette players scored in double figures, led by Mower with 17 while hitting 5-of-10 shots from three-point range. Ryan Willen scored 15, while Mintz had 14 and Kari added 10. The Leopards made 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field and 9-of-24 from three-point range, and came through at the line by making 15-of-17 attempts. Lafayette had 18 assists on its 21 field goals and only turned the ball over 12 times. Mintz, Ben Wheeler and Michael Gruner each had four assists, while Willen and Kari had three. Wheeler had seven of Lafayette's 28 rebounds. The Leopards have still never lost a Patriot League Tournament game at the Kirby Sports Center, moving to 6-0 all-time including wins in this year's quarterfinals and now semifinals.

Evans led Holy Cross with 21 points, making 7-of-14 from the field. Cavataio had 14 on 7-of-12 shooting, while Beinert scored 10. Cavataio, Evans and Eric Meister shared team honors with seven rebounds apiece, as Holy Cross held a 36-28 advantage on the boards. The Crusaders made 47 percent (27-of-58) of their shots for the game, heating up to hit 16-of-31 after halftime to lead the comeback effort. The Crusaders were not as good from long range, making just 3-of-14 for the game and missing all seven attempts in the second half. The Crusaders made 6-of-11 free throws, and only got to the line once in the second half. Holy Cross falls to 10-3 in the semifinal round of the League Tournament, and falls in the semis for the first time since 1994. The Crusaders had won their last eight semifinal games.

While Holy Cross' semifinal win streak came to an end, Patriot League Tournament history mostly held in the game. The higher-seeded team improves to 38-1 in the semifinal round, with wins in 37 straight games in the past 19 years. Host schools improve to 19-2 in the semifinal round, with wins in all 11 games over the past six seasons. No team seeded lower than No. 3 has ever advanced to the Patriot League Championship, with Lafayette becoming the seventh No. 3 seed to make the final. Lafayette and Holy Cross are now tied, 2-2, in Patriot League Tournament matchups.

For a full recap from each institution and the box score from the contest, go to the links below.

at Lafayette 66, Holy Cross 63
Box Score