EASTON, Pa. - Lafayette held a nine-point lead at halftime and never looked back, defeating Navy 62-41 on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. Nick Petkovich scored 11 points off the bench to lead three Lafayette players in double figures.

Lafayette (10-13, 5-3) limited Navy to a season-low 41 total points and held the Mids (3-19, 0-8) to 17 second-half points, tying the lowest scoring output by an opponent in any half this season. Both previous lows occurred at Holy Cross on Jan. 19. The last time Lafayette held and opponent to 41 points or fewer was Jan. 14, 2004 when it defeated Army 76-40.

Following a sloppy start by each team through the first 12 minutes of the opening half, Petkovich gave Lafayette a 19-12 lead after scoring on consecutive possessions. The senior connected on his second trifecta of the contest and then followed Jim Mower’s miss with a rebound and tip-in to give Lafayette a seven-point lead at 6:30.

Tony Johnson forced Navy’s 11th turnover of the first half, streaked ahead of the pack and laid-in a basket to give Lafayette a 25-15 lead with less than four minutes remaining. After Jordan Sugars hit one of two from the line, Ryan Willen knocked down a three to put the home team up 28-16. The Leopards took a 33-24 lead into the break after shooting 52 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

Willen’s two handed lay-in at 14:52 handed Lafayette a 42-28 advantage. Two possessions later, Willen found Les Smith open in the corner where Smith drained a three to give the Leopards a 17-point lead and cap a 10-0 spurt. The Mids scored the next five points to pull within 12, but wouldn’t get any closer during the final 12 minutes.

After Navy’s mini 5-0 run, Lafayette scored 10 straight points, punctuated by Petkovich’s straightaway triple, to take its largest lead to that point at 55-33.

Willen and Seth Hinrichs each finished with 10 points in the victory while Johnson scored eight points and dished out six assists. Willen also grabbed a game-high six rebounds. Lafayette won the battle on the glass, 30-25, and forced 20 Navy turnovers.

Lafayette returns to the floor on Wednesday when it travels to West Point, N.Y. to play Army at 7 p.m.

Notes:

Joey Ptasinski scored five points before leaving with an ankle injury in the first half.

Lafayette’s five blocked shots tied a season-high in Patriot League contests this year.

Lafayette improves to 6-0 when holding opponents to 20 or fewer field goals and 7-0 when opponents shoot less than 40 percent.

Navy’s leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore J.J. Avila, did not play in the game.

Click here to see a breakdown of the game's stats.