The men’s basketball team returned to home court this past weekend, hosting the second annual Lafayette Classic. Over the course of the three-game stretch, the team fell to Le Moyne College 76-63 on Friday and Monmouth University 88-74 on Sunday, but picked up a 55-37 win on Saturday against Ball State University.
“The mindset for all of us was just to try and improve from what we’ve had in weeks past and games past,” senior guard Ryan Pettit said.
Through the first half against Le Moyne (4-5 overall), the Leopards (2-7 overall) remained on the Dolphins’ tail. Nine minutes into the game, both teams were tied at 13 apiece, with junior guard Andrew Phillips leading the charge with five.
Down five with four minutes left to play, Phillips and sophomore guard Caleb Williams sank a pair of threes, complemented by a layup from junior guard Mark Butler to give the Leopards a 35-33 lead. The Dolphins went on a 5-3 run in the final two minutes of the half to tie it at 38 apiece.
Coming out of the locker room, freshman forward Shareef Jackson tallied six points in the first three minutes, carrying the Leopards to a 49-43 lead. The hosts maintained a six-point lead until the 10-minute mark when the Dolphins broke through with a 13-2 run, leading by five. A late 7-0 run for the visitors sealed the defeat for the Leopards.
Phillips and Williams led the scoring column with 18 each, followed by freshman forward Christian Humphrey-Rembert, who tallied seven and pulled in five rebounds.
“All we said was just, we know what to do,” Pettit said. “We got to respond.”
Ball State (3-5 overall) entered the court the next day, falling victim to a Kirby Sports Center record for the lowest points allowed. Forging the path for the Maroon and White was Jackson, who recorded the squad’s second double-double of the season, registering 11 points and 14 rebounds.
There was little scoring throughout the first period, as no team had hit a three-pointer until Humphrey-Rembert nailed one with 5:31 remaining to pull within two. A 6-1 spurt later in the period gave the Maroon and White a 25-15 advantage over the Cardinals.
Twelve minutes into the second period, the Leopards gained momentum as a Williams three-pointer put them up 42-34. A 13-2 run over the next five minutes helped set up the final buckets of the game to give the Leopards the victory.
“The game plan was to build off of playing together and playing hard for all 40 min,” Humphrey-Rembert wrote in an email. “When we are playing together as a collective group moving the ball running the floor we are a hard team to beat.”
The Maroon and White met Monmouth (4-4 overall) on Sunday to cap off the tournament. The Hawks came out soaring in the first minutes, taking a 24-9 lead through the first six and a half minutes. The Leopards continued their fight with back-to-back three pointers from Williams and Humphrey-Rembert to tally the score at 41-32 at the buzzer.
Humphrey-Rembert, Williams and Phillips all hit three pointers to kick off the half, but the Hawks gained a 10-point advantage with 14 minutes left. This jump started an 18-9 run over the next six minutes to pull away from the Leopards.
“Played great defense and we rebounded the ball,” Pettit said about the tournament. “That’s something we’ve been emphasizing, but we haven’t necessarily been able to do for 40 minutes.”
The Leopards will remain home on Friday to take on Mercyhurst University (3-5 overall).
“We feel confident these non conference games will prepare us for anything we see,” Humphrey-Rembert wrote. “There will be high and lows and it’s about not riding the emotional roller coaster but staying consistent.”