Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – A second half surge for the Colgate men's basketball team fell short here Sunday afternoon as Bucknell notched a 68-57 victory.

"You know coming into this place, into this arena, against Coach (Dave) Paulsen's program, that they are going to be ready to play," Colgate head coach Matt Langel said. "They aren't accustomed to losing, let alone losing a couple in a row, let alone losing at home to start Patriot League play. And they were ready to play today. A lot of credit goes to Bucknell for stepping up and making shots to which we did not. Obviously that had something to do with their defense, especially in the first half.

"In the second half we did a little bit better job. We're not just a 3-point shooting team; that's not our goal. Although it's been a big part of our early season success, we try to take what the defense gives us. And in the second half that's what we did in order to get ourselves back in the game. But when you dig yourself that big of a hole, in league play, on the road, it's really hard to get all the way back."

The Raiders started slow in the opening 20 minutes and found themselves down 40-24 at the break. But an 11-0 run to start the second half cut the Bison advantage to five at the 14:29 mark. The Raiders would continue to pressure Bucknell, getting the deficit down to two with less than four minutes to play. But five makes at the charity strip from the Bison in the last minute and a half of play ultimately secured them a win.

Colgate (6-7, 0-2 PL) received 15 points from sophomore Austin Tillotson after he went 4-of-6 from the floor. Damon Sherman-Newsome and Ethan Jacobs added nine points each, while Murphy Burnatowski, Matt McMullen and Luke Roh all recorded eight points. Roh and Jacobs also posted a team-high six boards in the loss and Sherman-Newsome notched the Raiders' lone 3-pointer.

Overall the Raiders shot 43.8 percent from the floor and a season-low 8.3 percent from downtown, making only one of their 12 attempts (also a season-low). Colgate outscored the Bison 33-28 in the second 20 minutes but could not overcome the first-half deficit. The Raiders held the slight edge on points in the paint as well, outscoring Bucknell 32-30.

Bucknell (6-7, 1-1 PL) came out on fire to start the game and saw Chris Hass go for a career-high 26 points. He went 10-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-8 from long range. Dom Hoffman and Cameron Ayers also registered double figures, finishing the game with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Steven Kaspar led all players with a career-high 10 rebounds and game-high seven assists.

The Bison jumped out to a quick start, hitting 53.8 percent from the floor and 50 percent from long distance in the first half. The Raiders on the other hand struggled a little, shooting 36 percent from the floor and a mere 11 percent from downtown.

Five minutes into the contest, Bucknell had already drained three of its seven treys to take an early 13-7 advantage.

The Raiders responded, however, as Sherman-Newsome make it a three-point game at 15-12 with less than 14 minutes to play in the half.

Bucknell would then go on an 8-0 run, creating an 11-point deficit between the teams. But a Roh pull-back jumper in the paint ended the Raider drought, which was a little more than 6½ minutes.

The Bison took a 16-point lead into the locker room, thanks to a 12-6 run to finish the half.

Colgate started the second half much like Bucknell did throughout the first, on a run, an 11-0 run to be precise, cutting the deficit to five at 40-35 with 14:29 left to play. Jacobs recorded four points during that stretch.

After seeing Bucknell extend its lead back to eight at 45-37, two quick jumpers from Roh and Tillotson pulled Colgate within four with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Over the course of the next 7½ minutes, both teams exchanged baskets until the Raiders went on a 6-0 run with less than four minutes to play, making it a two-point game at 55-53.

Unfortunately, that would be the closest Colgate would come as the Bison finished the contest on a 13-4 run, including five of seven makes at the free throw line in the final minute and a half of action.

The Raiders are back on the court Wednesday when they travel to Holy Cross to face off with the Crusaders in another Patriot League matchup at 7 p.m.