The men’s basketball team ended a run of three winless games at home by defeating the Naval Academy 61-51 on Saturday before narrowly losing to American University 60-58 on Monday.
The Leopards (5-8 Patriot League, 10-16 overall) came out with a point to prove on Saturday after a 13-point loss at home to Loyola Maryland. Lafayette hounded the Midshipmen (5-7 Patriot League, 8-17 overall) on defense to open the game, not surrendering a basket in the first eight minutes of play.
The Maroon and White got off to a slow start offensively as well, but scores from senior center Justin Vander Baan and senior guard TJ Berger helped the Leopards build an early 8-0 lead. Vander Baan’s return to the lineup was a huge boost for the team after he had missed the Loyola game with illness.
Navy was finally able to get a foothold in the game offensively, but the Leopards would crack the game open in the first half. Freshman forward Folabomi Fayemi connected on a 3-point shot, which snapped a 0-7 run beyond the arc and sparked a 13-3 run that ended with a 23-9 lead. The score marked Fayemi’s first Patriot League points, who Vander Baan said has “kept a great attitude all year.”
After cutting into the deficit leading up to halftime, the Midshipmen looked strong to start the second half as well. However, a 7-0 run helped the Leopards widen their advantage to 34-20.
The teams traded scoring runs from that point, as the Maroon and White prevented Navy from chipping away at the lead. The Leopards continued to feed the hot hand, with Chaikin and Williams both recording solo scoring streaks of eight and seven points, respectively.
“We just have a lot of weapons,” Williams said. “We trust that everybody can do the same thing.”
Williams led the team in scoring with 17 points, closely followed by Vander Baan with 15 and Chaikin with 14. The Leopards also significantly improved from the 3-point line in the second half, after shooting 1-for-13 from beyond the arc in the first half. The team shot 5-for-10 in the second, including three from Williams, which he attributed to his coaches’ confidence in him.
“My coaches just said, ‘Keep shooting,’” Williams said.
The game showed significant defensive improvement from the Leopards, who gave up 20 fewer points than when the teams played last month. Vander Baan attributed the success to the team’s emphasis on details.
“At Navy, we kind of failed to execute at the end of the game, but we executed better through the duration today,” Vander Baan said.
The Leopards traveled to Washington to take on the Patriot League-leading American (10-3 Patriot League, 16-10 overall) in a game that went down to the wire. The Eagles jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game and were able to keep the Leopards at arm’s length despite five combined 3-pointers from Chaikin and sophomore guard Andrew Phillips.
After trailing 32-26 at the half, the second half was back-and-forth. The Leopards could not erase the American lead until a 9-0 run saw them finally wrestle control at 47-44.
The lead would change hands three times in the final two minutes of the second half, but the Eagles ultimately nudged ahead with three seconds left in the game, leading 60-58. Williams was given the ball for the Leopard’s final shot of the game, but his 3-pointer hit off the front rim to give the Eagles the win.
“We’ve only lost games by like two or three points,” Williams said. “Just a little possession, just little things we have to clean up. We gotta stay consistent.”
The Leopards, who currently sit in eighth place in the Patriot League, will host Bucknell University at Kirby Sports Arena on Saturday.
