Holy Cross (17-11, PL 10-3) extended its winning streak to five games over the Raiders (9-18, PL 3-10), who fell into seventh place in the Patriot League, one-half game behind Navy.
Also in double figures for the Crusaders was Kevin Hamilton with 17 points and Torey Thomas with 10.
Holy Cross had a slight edge in the rebounding department, 37-34. Marc Daniels and Todd Checovich were Colgate’s top glass cleaners with five apiece.
After Holy Cross opened the game with a layup by Thomas, Colgate scored eight straight points for an early lead. The Raiders held the advantage until Thomas made a jumper to give the Crusaders an 11-10 lead with 14:02 remaining.
With Holy Cross leading 19-17 with less than eight minutes left, the Crusaders scored six straight points for an eight point margin with 4:35 remaining. After Colgate cut the margin to three points on Simon’s 3-pointer and Reed’s layup, Holy Cross scored seven points for a 32-22 halftime lead.
Holy Cross led the entire second half, twice building up a 13-point advantage. Colgate, however, hung tough and fought back to trail by four-point with 6:42 remaining. That would be as close as Colgate would come until Gentile scored with 5.8 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 60-56.
Thomas sealed the victory for the Crusaders with a pair of free throws with five seconds left.
Colgate played the contest without its leading scorer Kyle Roemer, who suffered a concussion in the Navy game.
