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HAMILTON – The Bucknell Bison led by only three points at the half but pulled out a 73-59 win over the Colgate men's basketball team Wednesday night.

“They're as good of a team as we've played all season,” Raiders head coach Matt Langel said. “I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of Patriot League play they've worked themselves into a top-25 ranking just because they are so disciplined.”

Colgate (6-12, 0-2) was led by Murphy Burnatowski, who contributed 17 points in the game. He has reached double digit scoring in all but one game this year for the Raiders. Sophomore Damon Sherman-Newsome was 5-of-7 from the floor, giving him 13 points to add to the Colgate scoring. Luke Roh yet again dominated on the boards for the Raiders, pulling down nine rebounds.

The Raiders edged the Bison on the boards, outrebounding them 35-33. However Bucknell had the slight advantage on the shooting percentage. They outshot the Raiders 45.5 percent to 42.6 percent overall. After going 3-of-6 from downtown in the first 20 minutes, Colgate had a hard time finding the basket from long range. The Raiders missed all six of their shot attempts in the second half.

“We learned from the American game,” Langel added. “I was encouraged by some of the physicality we played with and the help-defense we played with. We made some good decisions on the offensive end that lead to some scoring opportunities.

“Obviously we made way to many mistakes throughout the game, especially in the early part of the second half. They don't force a lot of turnovers but when you turn that ball over against them they make you pay. Nine turnovers in the second half just digs you a hole, and with a team like Bucknell they're not going to let you out.”

Bucknell (15-3, 2-0) saw top-scorer Mike Muscala grab 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists throughout the contest. Fellow teammate Joe Willman also hit a personal achievement in the game, becoming the 37th player in Bison history to reach the 1,000-point mark. He ended the game with 10 points. Bryson Johnson (15) and Cameron Ayers (14) both hit double digits to add to the Bison scoring.

The Raiders came out aggressively, making the Bison work for each and every basket. In a high-paced first 20 minutes there were six ties and four lead changes. Sherman-Newsome got on the board when he banked one in to tie the game at 14-all. A big block on the defensive end by Clayton Graham gave the Raiders a chance to take the lead. And they did just that when Sherman-Newsome hit one from downtown to make the score 17-16 Colgate with less than 10 minutes to play in the half.

Bucknell would not go away, however, tying the game at 21-apiece when Ayers knocked one down from behind the arc. The Bison would re-take the lead at 35-29 with 1:02 left to play in the half after Johnson hit one of his three 3-pointers. Pat Moore answered for the Raiders, knocking down one of his own to cut the Bison lead to only three heading into the locker room.

Johnson would extend the Bison lead to nine midway through the second half on an 8-2 Bucknell run. But Burnatowski grabbed three back by driving to the basket and getting fouled. He completed the three-point play to cut Bucknell's lead to only six.

The Raiders then had a hard time finding the basket and allowed the Bison to grab a double-digit lead for the first time in the game with less than eight minutes to play. Colgate would get the lead down to seven but could not overcome the deficit as they fell to the 2012 Patriot League runner-up.

Langel's squad has only two days rest before facing the defending Patriot League Champions, Lehigh, in another conference matchup on Saturday at 7 p.m. They travel to the Lehigh Valley for their first road league game this season.

“They're very good and again they have a group of guys who have won a lot in their career,” Langel spoke about the next opponent. “They've played a few times without C.J. (McCollum) in the past and have won by a big margin.

“They played a top-25 VCU team for 25 minutes toe-to-toe without C.J., so they're really good and we'll have our hands full going on the road. But again, if we can continue to get better, in a couple days I'll feel good about our chances.”