EASTON, PA (1/14/09) – Freshman Ryan Willen tallied 14 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Lafayette Leopards to a 69-62 win over Colgate Wednesday in Patriot League play at the Kirby Sports Center.
Lafayette (5-11 overall, 1-1 Patriot League) snaps a three-game losing streak, while Colgate falls to 5-10 overall and 1-1 in the league. The Raiders, who had won their last two games, finishes their eight-game road trip with a 3-5 mark.
The story of the game came at the free throw line where Colgate was just 13-of-25 (52 percent), while Lafayette made 24-of-29 attempts (83 per cent).
Freshman Yaw Gyawu (Lilburn, GA) led Colgate with 15 points, while Ben Jonson (Dallas, TX) tallied 10 points and four rebounds before fouling out with three minutes left. Alex Woodhouse (Alexandria, VA) had nine points and six boards and Nick Pascale (Dewitt, NY) added nine points (all in the first half) and four caroms.
Other Lafayette players in double figures were Andrew Brown with 13 points including four from the charity stripe in the last 25 seconds to clinch the victory. Jared Mintz finished with 12 points.
The first half saw 10 lead changes and six ties. Colgate used a six-point run to take an early 10-9 lead as both teams battled back-and-forth. The Raiders lead 25-23, but Lafayette closed out the first half with a 9-2 run including a three-pointer by Nick Petkovich with five seconds left.
Lafayette quickly extended its lead to eight points, 43-35, with 14:38 left, but Colgate scored 11 straight points for a 46-43 advantage with 11 minutes remaining. Jonson had four points in the run, while Willie Morse (State College, PA) nailed a 3-pointer.
With the score tied at 50, Brown hit a 3-pointer for the Leopards to give his team the lead for good. That was the start of an 11-4 run as Lafayette opened up a seven-point lead, 61-54
Colgate shot 44 percent from the field making 23-of-52, while Lafayette was 20-of-49 for 40 percent. The Raiders held the top 3-point shooting team in the league to 5-of-22 from behind the arc. Lafayette out-rebounded the visitors, 37-33.
Colgate returns home on Saturday entertaining preseason and defending Patriot League champion American University at 2 p.m.
(Boxscore)
