Lafayette's Season Is Over

When the Leopards give the ball to Nick Lindner with the game on the line, he usually comes through for the team.

This simple end of game strategy has worked for Lafayette on endless occasions. But on Tuesday night’s Patriot League Tournament’s first-round matchup against Loyola Maryland, it did not.

With one minute remaining in the game, Lafayette was trailing 65-64. Lafayette Coach Fran O’Hanlon called the usual late game play: a pick and roll play with Linder and Matt Klinewski.

Lindner declined the screen from Klinewski and beat his man to the right side.

But this time he missed.

We have seen Lindner make this shot on endless occasions throughout his career. But when it mattered most for Lafayette this season, the roll did not go Linder’s way.

But this was still not the end of the game. With a stop and a score, Lafayette could still win.

Lafayette stopped Loyola on the next possession, forcing a tough shot and a miss.

Still down 65-64, Lafayette had one final chance to score.

This time Lindner and Paulius Zalys went screen and roll. But this time, Loyola doubled Linder off of the ball screen, and he was forced to pass the ball to Zalys who missed a wide-open 3-point shot.

Lafayette was forced to foul, and Chuck Champion made two crucial free threes. After a desperation 3-point shot by Linder hit off the right side of the backboard and nothing else, the season was over.

Loyola 67, Lafayette 64.

It was an absolute heartbreaker, especially since Lafayette controlled the game and had a lead for the first 36 minutes of the game.

In a season where Lafayette had low expectations and struggled all year, you would not think that a loss in the first round would feel as bad as it did on Tuesday night.

But this one hurt.

Lafayette had controlled the game throughout. They came out ready to play from the beginning.

Their offense had a great flow to it. They made a high percentage of their threes, moved the ball well, and got rare early scoring help from players like Eric Stafford and Zalys.

The Leopards also played great disciplined defense, and O’Hanlon had these guys ready to play.

But, as it has plagued Lafayette all season, missing outside shots down the stretch hurt them.

The missed layup by Lindner with 1:00 remaining did not lose the game for the Leopards. There were many plays in this game. But it was a crucial play in the game that, if he had made, the Leopards might have moved on to the next round.

The loss on Tuesday meant an end to a possible tournament run, the end to a season, and the end of a career for Nick Lindner.

During the game, Lindner became the first Lafayette player to ever have 1,500 points and 500 assists. The man has been a true leader for this team for four years, and he will arguably go down as the greatest point guard in Lafayette history.

Lindner is one of two seniors, Monty Boykins being the other, who will be graduating for this team, and his loss is enormous.

Lindner has been the team’s primary ball handler. He has been one of their biggest scorers, especially late in games. He has been entrusted by the coaching staff and his teammates to be the “go-to-guy” under high-pressure situations.

But this is how college programs work. You lose key players every four years or every year in Kentucky’s case, and you have to find a way to recruit new players and have the current players expand their roles.

That will be the challenge for Lafayette next season. The loss on Tuesday night ended Lafayette’s season. But watching Lindner walk off the court for the last time was the biggest loss of all.