May 25, 2012

European Trip Coverage | European Trip Description

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Lafayette lost an 83-73 decision to the Belgian Under-20 National Team in the closing minutes on Friday night.

Dan Trist poured in 26 points for the Leopards who are now 1-1 on their European Trip. Levi Giese added 15 and Rob Delaney (13) and Seth Hinrichs (11) also reached double digits.

European Tour Blog

Rising sophomore Joey Ptasinski is chronicling the Lafayette men's basketball team's 2012 European Tour with daily blog entries. GoLeopards.com is also chronicling the trip with photo galleries, video updates and game recaps. European Tour Coverage | Roster

The Leopards did not shoot well from outside, connecting for just six three's, three of which came from Giese's hand.

In the third quarter, Trist drilled a 16-footer on the baseline and Tony Johnson forced a turnover on the next possession as Lafayette led 52-51 with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Belgians rallied to take a 58-55 lead at the end of the third.

Belgium outscored the Leopards 13-3 in the final two minutes as Lafayette was forced to foul. Boukichou scored seven points in the final minutes while Gorgemans scored 11 of the Belgians final 21 points.

Lafayette will play its second game in two days and third of the trip on Saturday. The contest will follow a day of sightseeing in Antwerp. Lafayette will travel directly to Melsele to face Basics Melsele in a 7:30 p.m. local tip-off.

NOTES: Lafayette spent about five hours earlier in the day touring the canal-lined city of Bruges, a 90-minute bus ride from the Leopards' home base of Mechelen. Lafayette then headed to Brussels for the second game of the week.

The Leopards played a 9 p.m. tip-off after the undercard of the Canadian and Belgian U-20 Women's Teams squared off in a 7 p.m. that ended in a tie.