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HAMILTON, N.Y. (1/4/2012) – Sophomore Pat Moore scored a team-high 18 points but it wasn't enough as the Colgate men's basketball team dropped its fourth-straight game with a 66-59 loss to Columbia Wednesday night at Cotterell Court.

Moore led the Raiders with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, while freshman guard Luke Roh scored a career-high eight points. Junior Mitch Rolls also scored eight points and dished out a season-high six assists, while senior Mike Venezia pitched in eight points with a career-high nine rebounds. Nick Pascale collected eight points to go with his five rebounds and three assists, while classmate Sterling Melville scored seven.

Colgate (5-9) scored the first four points of the game on a pair of layups by Pascale and Moore, before jumping out to a 17-7 lead with 12:35 left in the half. The teams then exchanged baskets as the Raiders led 19-9 with 11:31 remaining, before the Lions went on a 9-0 run to make the score 19-18 with nine minutes left.  Moore then drained a pair three-pointers to spark an 10-4 run for Colgate who extended its lead to 29-22 with 4:22 remaining, before the Lions closed the half with a 7-0 run to tie the score 29-29 as both teams entered the locker room. Moore led all scores with 12 points in the first half as Rolls pitched in six points and five assists.

Columbia (10-5) took its first lead of the game 40-38 with 12:54 left in regulation and never trailed again. The Raiders managed to tie the score on two occasions, including a 5-0 run with 4:40 remaining to knot the game at 50. But Meiko Lyles nailed three-pointer on Columbia's next possession and the Lions made nine-straight free-throws down the stretch to grab their third-straight win.

Lyles finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead the Lions, while Alex Rosenberg and Brian Barbour scored 12 points apiece.

Columbia shot 43.6 percent from the floor, including 50 percent in the second half, while Colgate shot 42 percent overall and 30.8 percent from downtown. Colgate won the battle on the boards 35-29, but committed 18 turnovers that resulted in 11 points for the Lions.

Colgate will open Patriot League play at American on Saturday, Jan. 7. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Bender Arena and will be streamed live on Patriot League All-Access.