The Lafayette Leopards held off a huge rally from the American Eagles to win the Patriot League final, 65-63. They clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will go dancing for the first time since 2000.
Lafayette wins Patriot League basketball tournament 2015: Leopards survive American rally, 65-63
American had a thrilling rally to make the end of the game interesting, but Lafayette held on to win the Patriot League Tournament and punch its ticket to the big dance.
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Lafayette had a red-hot shooting hand from the start, shooting 68.4 percent from the field in the first half. American, on the other hand, went over six minutes without scoring a single point. The Eagles dug their own hole at that point, and Lafayette took a comfortable 34-25 lead into halftime.
The second half looked to be more of the same, but American made a furious rally to keep things interesting. The Eagles ripped off a 17-3 run midway through the second half and even took a one-point lead with less than five minutes to go. Lafayette took the lead back and held it through the final minutes, holding off every comeback attempt by American to squeeze out the victory.
Nick Linder led the way for the Leopards with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Lafayette finished the game with a 64.9 field goal percentage and won the rebounding war, 24-17. Four American players scored in double digits, with Marko Vasic and Pee Wee Gardner both having 15 points.
Lafayette will be a likely No. 16 seed and may need a bit of luck to avoid the First Four.
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