EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette's Myles Cherry's put-back with 30 seconds to go in regulation gave the Leopards a 65-63 victory over the Columbia men's basketball team in both teams' season opener Tuesday night. Senior Mike Smith led all scorers with 22 points in his first game since December 6, 2018 while recovering from injury.
 
With 14.3 seconds left, the Lions drew up a play for first-year Jack Forrest, who was left open for a 3-pointer at the top of the key. However, Forrest's shot rolled off the win as Lafayette escaped with the win.
 
"After we went down by 10, I thought we responded, got some big stops when we needed to and put ourselves in position to hit that last shot," head coach Jim Engles said. "Lafayette played really well and did a good job taking away some of our offense. We had some good looks and now it's just a matter of staying confident and continuing to play at a pace to allow us to get those shots consistently."
 
The Leopards led by as many as 10 in the second half, but Columbia chipped away at the deficit and pulled within 54-41 after Smith recorded back-to-back buckets with 8:48 on the clock. Lafayette's Kyle Stout hit a trey to bring the margin back up to eight before another Lions rally.
 
Ike Nweke scored six of his 12 points during another crucial stretch that saw Columbia cut the deficit to 61-59 at the 3:29 mark. The Lions finally drew even after Maka Ellis converted on a layup with 48 seconds to play before Lafayette's eventual game-winning bucket on the ensuing possession.
 
After slow offensive start from both teams in the first half, a 7-2 spurt gave the Leopards a 16-11 advantage with 8:03 left in the first half. Joseph Smoyer erased that deficit himself with five straight points before Lafayette heated up from 3-point range to regain a five-point cushion with 3:44 remaining in the frame.
 
Columbia used back-to-back triples from Jake Killingsworth go ahead, 31-30, at the 2:13 mark. However, Lafayette posted the final four points of the half to take a three-point advantage into the locker room.
 
Lafayette shot 52.0 percent from the floor and held the Lions to 37.7 percent. Columbia was also 0-of-7 from beyond the arc in the second half and 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) for the game.
 
The Leopards were led by Cherry's 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lafayette's leading scorer in 2018-19, Justin Jaworski, was limited to just seven points.
 
The Lions return to action Sunday, November 10, to take on Wake Forest. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
 
Tickets for upcoming home games can be purchased by visiting gocolumbialions.com/tickets or calling 888-LIONS-11.

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