The men’s basketball team closed its regular season with an 83-77 win over Army West Point in Saturday’s Senior Day game before returning to action Tuesday night for a Patriot League tournament play‑in matchup against Holy Cross.
Despite a tight finish, the Leopards came up just short in an 82-77 loss to bring their season to a close.
On Saturday, the Leopards (8-10 Patriot League, 11-21 overall) wasted no time establishing control over Army (5-13 Patriot League, 11-21 overall), attacking the paint early behind freshman forward Shareef Jackson and junior guard Mark Butler. Junior guard Andrew Phillips also provided an early spark, knocking down a transition three to extend the lead. Senior guard Ryan Pettit pushed the pace in transition, and sophomore guard KaiMani Murdock buried a wing three to widen the gap to 21-11 at the 10-minute mark.
“We kept running them off the three‑point line and making them do stuff they aren’t used to,” Butler said.
By the time Phillips drilled a deep three at the halftime horn, the Leopards had built a 37-26 advantage.
“Our defensive energy was really working this game,” Pettit said. “Guarding the 3‑point line and rebounding the ball helped us get easy buckets. That energy and urgency pushed us to get stops when we needed them.”
Army opened the half with urgency, cutting the margin to 40–39 within four minutes. The Black Knights briefly surged ahead 43–42, their first lead since the opening minutes.
Butler swiftly hit the go-ahead jumper before five Leopards each knocked down layups, alongside a dunk from junior center Misha Bednostin to push the hosts back out to a 59–46 advantage.
“We know anyone on this team can come in and make a difference,” Pettit said. “No matter whose night it is, we’re going to defend and let the chips fall wherever.”
Freshman forward Christian Humphrey‑Rembert delivered late buckets that kept Lafayette in front, and the Leopards’ defense closed the door by forcing enough contested threes to secure the 83-77 victory.
“Our attacking game was working well tonight,” Butler said. “I don’t know how many points we had in the paint, but it felt like a lot.”
In Tuesday’s tournament action, the Leopards absorbed an early Holy Cross (5-13 Patriot League, 11-21 overall) push before settling in and taking control, leaning on perimeter shooting and interior play. The bench flipped the momentum, with Murdock drilling three shots from downtown and Pettit adding two more, carrying the Leopards into halftime with a 39-34 lead.
Murdock’s nine-point first half was enough to match his season high.
“We were playing great defense, we were able to get out in transition, and my teammates were able to help me get open and create easy looks for me,” Murdock said.
Holy Cross opened the second half with an 18-4 burst to evaporate the Leopard lead. The Leopards struggled to settle offensively through the first five minutes, missing several looks at the rim while turnovers fed Crusader momentum to a 52-43 lead.
Phillips briefly stopped the run with a 3-pointer and two free throws, and Williams ignited the offense with three momentum‑swinging conversions from downtown, taking back a 63-61 lead.
“I’ve heard from a lot of coaches that you need a memory like a goldfish,” Murdock said. “A goldfish forgets everything after five seconds, so as a shooter, if you’re stuck thinking about your last miss, you’re going to hesitate. We just let go of whatever happened and kept shooting.”
The game remained back‑and‑forth over the final eight minutes. The Crusaders managed a 14-6 run, but Pettit’s layup trimmed the deficit to 75-71. Williams hit two free throws before Jackson tied the game at 75 off a Butler assist, but Holy Cross answered with a deep three in the final minute to regain control.
“I think we just lost track of some of the little details, like box outs and knowing who you’ve got on defense, and credit to Holy Cross because they took advantage of it,” Murdock added.
The Leopards generated two clean looks from three in the closing seconds but failed to convert, and late free throws from the Crusaders sealed an 82–77 victory.
With the final buzzer, the Leopards’ season came to a close, sending them into an eight-month-long offseason.
“I think we proved that when we were, we were a team nobody wanted to play,” Murdock said. “Unfortunately, it just mattered if we were hot or not.”
Benjamin White ‘27 contributed reporting.