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HAMILTON – Murphy Burnatowski hit a big three with two minutes left to give the Colgate men's basketball team some life late in the second half, but the Raiders eventually fell to Albany 67-61 Saturday afternoon.

"Albany's a very good team," head coach Matt Langel said. "They've been in a lot of close games, but to be 8-2 at this point in the season you've got to give them credit. They play a style and a brand that allows the game to be close. I give our guys credit for getting down in double figures a couple times and fighting back."

After more than three weeks of being on the road, the Raiders returned home to Cotterell Court to face College Insider Mid-Major No. 25-ranked Albany. Heading into the game, the Great Danes were 7-2, with their only losses being to No. 4 ranked Ohio State and Loyola (Md.).

Colgate (3-7) had a rough first half, hitting only 9 of 31 shots from the floor (29 percent). The Raiders turned it around in the second, shooting 55 percent from the field by making 16 of 29. Even after outscoring the Great Danes in the second 20 minutes (38-34), the Raiders were unable to close the gap needed to take the lead.

"We got really stagnant in the first half," Langel added. "We got a couple good looks and they didn't go in. Then we strayed away from our game plan a little bit playing one-on-one basketball. That's not our identity and we haven't figured that out on a full-time basis yet. We have to continue to work on that.

"In the second half, we went to the basket and made some good shots. It would have been nice to have made a couple more foul shots to see what we could have done at the end."

Burnatowski led the Colgate scoring with 13 points. Three other Raider players hit nine points in Mitch Rolls, Luke Roh and Pat Moore. Colgate also out-muscled the Great Danes, pulling down 39 rebounds to Albany's 34. Brandon James (9) and Roh (7) led the Raiders on the boards.

After hitting the first two baskets of the game, Albany (8-2) answered with a quick jumper and a three to take the lead 5-4. Mike Black's three was one of six the Great Danes would hit in the first half.

The Raiders stayed close with Albany throughout much of the half until the Great Danes posted a 15-0 run, making it 26-11 in favor of the visitors. Sophomore Matt McMullen would end the Raider drought by hitting a jumper with 5:12 to go in the half.

In the closing minutes before halftime, the Raiders would pull to within nine after being down by as much as 15. Albany headed into the locker room with the 33-23 advantage. The Great Danes saw senior Jacob Iati hit 4-of-6 from downtown to make him the game's leading scorer with 12.

The Raiders would come out in the second half on a 13-6 run, bringing the game to within three at 39-36. Colgate would get the score down to three points five different times in the second half but could not find the equalizing basket. 

Colgate was down by 10 with less than five minutes to play, but found a spark going on a 7-0 run to once again pull within three at 59-56. Moore, James and Rolls all hit jumpers during the stretch.

Albany hit two free throws to regain the five-point lead at 61-56, but the Raiders would respond with a quick fast break from Roh, who took it to the hoop after a missed one and one by the Great Danes with 31 seconds left. Colgate trailed just 61-58.

The Raiders applied high pressure in the remaining seconds of the game, looking for the steal. Unfortunately the steal wouldn't happen and the Great Danes sealed the win after a few makes at the charity strip.

Colgate has 10 days to recover after this hard fought loss before they are back on the hardwood. They travel to Providence on Dec. 18 to face the Friars at 7 p.m.