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HAMILTON – For the second time in as many games, the Colgate men's basketball team was on the losing end of a double overtime nail-biter. This time it was at the hands of Lehigh, which grabbed an 88-81 victory here Thursday night in the Patriot League opener for both teams.

"I credit their players such as Mackey McKnight, who was held scoreless in the first half and rebounded by getting 18 in the second half," Colgate head coach Matt Langel said. "Their frontcourt really dominated our frontcourt, and that hurt us."

In a game that featured 17 lead changes and 14 ties, both teams took turns holding possession. Neither team, however, was able to extend its lead to more than eight points throughout the course of the entire game.

Lehigh's McKnight hit a trey with 27 seconds remaining, sending the game into overtime. An even first extra period forced another five-minute overtime, during which the Mountain Hawks outscored the Raiders 16-9. Seven of those 16 points were from the free throw line in the last minute of action and were the deciding factor in the victory for Lehigh.

Colgate moves to .500 on the season with an overall record of 6-6, 0-1 in league play. Senior Murphy Burnatowski led all scorers with a game-high 26 points and five rebounds. Four other Raiders hit double-figures, with Damon Sherman-Newsome recording 16 points and seven boards, Austin Tillotson posting 13 points, Luke Roh notching 11 points, nine boards, and a team-high six assists, and Ethan Jacobs registering 10 points.

These five starters accounted for 76 of the Raiders 81 total points.

Langel had plenty to say about Burnatowski's game-high performance.

"We need him. We need him to be a good player, we need him to be tough to play against and defend. It's good to have him back, obviously, because we can't be the team that we have the potential to be without him."

The Mountain Hawks outrebounded Colgate 40-38 but the Raiders held the advantage on assists at 18-15. Colgate finished the game slightly outshooting the Mountain Hawks, 44.8 percent to 44.1 percent. The Raiders also outshot Lehigh from long range, hitting 10 of their 29 attempts for 34.5 percent shooting.

Lehigh saw rookie Tim Kempton earn a double-double with a team-high 25 points and game-high 13 boards. Both McKnight and Jesse Chuku scored 18 points, while Corey Schaefer added 16 points to close out the Mountain Hawks in double-figures.

Colgate led for most of the first half, creating a seven-point margin early in the game following a 3-pointer from Burnatowski that made the score 11-4.

The Mountain Hawks would not let up, however, as they fought to take their first edge in the game after a make from downtown by Austin Price. The trey made it a one-point game at 21-20 with less than eight minutes to play before half.

In the last minute of action in the opening 20 minutes, the Raiders found themselves down by four. A 3-pointer from Jacobs with four seconds left, though, sent the teams into halftime with Lehigh holding the one-point advantage at 29-28.

The second half featured a lot of back and forth basketball.

Clayton Graham made it a three-point Raider edge at 43-40 at the 14:21 mark, but the Mountain Hawks quickly answered with an and-1 from Kempton to knot the score.

Lehigh gained a four-point lead at 57-53, but four-straight from Colgate again tied the game at 57-all with less than two minutes to play.

Following a steal and layup from Tillotson, the Raiders held a three-point advantage at 62-59 with 34 seconds left in regulation. However, the Mountain Hawks would answer by hitting a trey with 27 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Both teams recorded 10 points in the first overtime, with Burnatowski and Jacobs leading the Raiders with five points each.

After two makes from Burnatowski at the charity stripe to kick off the second overtime, the Mountain Hawks went on a 9-2 run that created a five-point advantage for them at 81-76. Lehigh would finish the game hitting seven of its eight shots from the free throw line to ultimately secure the win.

Colgate has a short turnaround as it travels to Lewisburg, Pa., on Sunday to face off with the Bucknell Bison at 2 p.m. in the first road conference game of the year.

When asked about the Raiders' upcoming game against the Bison, Langel had this to say.

"I was just telling the guys this in the locker room: It's league play. If you can't be ready to play a league game than you really have to rethink what you're doing. I take some of the blame in that this evening. I don't think we understood the significance of the league game. How every possession matters to the outcome of the game."

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