Lafayette trumps Penn basketball late, 79-76

EASTON, PA. — After a dominant 85-66 victory over Niagara on Tuesday, Penn basketball had a prime opportunity to carry its momentum through Thanksgiving Break and beyond at winless Lafayette Saturday.

But it was the Quakers who ultimately ran out of gas, relinquishing a nine-point, second-half lead and falling to the Leopards, 79-76, despite a 26-point effort from senior forward Fran Dougherty.

“I think [Dougherty’s] scoring ability really has nothing to do with the overall outcome of the game,” coach Jerome Allen said. “We felt like we could get whatever we wanted in the paint. I can’t say this is his coming-out party.”

The Quakers (2-4) struggled to pull away early in the first half, due largely to their 11 turnovers and the nine offensive rebounds that they gave up to the Leopards (1-5). Senior guard Miles Cartwright got into foul trouble early, playing only eight minutes in the first half.

“We just didn’t have the mentality for [rebounding] today,” Dougherty said. “They imposed their will and we didn’t really show up. They did a great job on rebounds today.”

However at halftime, Penn still maintained a 38-37 lead and seemed as though it was a few small fixes away from a strong victory. Indeed, the Quakers surged to a 56-47 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the game before the Leopards clawed their way back.

“The ball stopped moving,” Allen said. “Every time the ball got into one guy’s hands, they felt like they were going to be the one to make a play instead of trusting the system.”

Lafayette traded threes with Penn down the stretch, eventually making a handful of difficult buckets late in the shot clock that proved to be too much for the Red and Blue.

Penn had one final shot as sophomore guard Tony Hicks attempted what would have been game-tying three pointer at the buzzer, but his shot bounced harmlessly off the rim.

“Make or miss, I feel like the game shouldn’t have come down to that shot,” Allen said.

Lafayette’s offense was paced by junior guard Seth Hinrichs, who contributed 28 points, six rebounds and three assists on the afternoon.

Hinrichs has had his way individually against the Ivy League so far this season, scoring at least 27 points in each of his three contests against Ivy competition in 2013-14.

“It’s not necessarily just one particular guy, it’s just the team having a defensive DNA,” Allen said. “Everybody being engaged in every defensive action. We get a possession where there’s two guys locked in and the other three guys are out to lunch.”

Throughout the game, the Red and Blue sought to slow a deep-shooting onslaught from Lafayette. The Leopards attempted 13 threes in the first half and 29 throughout the entire game.

“There were breakdowns all over, we had a lot of switches,” senior guard Miles Cartwright said. “Lafayette did a great job of being patient with their offense, waiting for us to make that one mistake. When we did, they buried us with their shooting.”

Coming off of his 33-point performance earlier this week, sophomore guard Tony Hicks only mustered 16 on 6-for-15 shooting. Fellow sophomore Darien Nelson-Henry returned to the starting lineup and contributed eight points and eight rebounds for the Red and Blue after coming off the bench against Niagara.

The loss marks Penn’s second straight to the Leopards following last year’s 85-83 Lafayette victory at the Palestra, the first win at the Palestra in Lafayette program history.

Next up on Penn’s schedule is Villanova, who will host the Quakers Wednesday at 8 p.m.

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