HAMILTON – Senior Damon Sherman-Newsome converted on a clutch layup with 19 seconds remaining to seal a 59-58 win over Loyola here Saturday afternoon.
 
The Raiders, despite leading for nearly 33 minutes, found themselves trailing by two with 1:27 left to play. From that point on, however, Sherman-Newsome took over the game, scoring the final three points to lift Colgate over the Greyhounds.
 
He started out by making one of his two free throw attempts with 1:13 on the clock after Loyola had fouled him driving to the basket. With the Greyhounds still ahead 58-57, Colgate forced its visitors to turn the ball over with a strong defensive presence, giving the Raiders a chance to take back the lead. Sherman-Newsome then saw an opening and finished off a hard drive to the basket to give Colgate the one-point edge with 19 seconds left.
 
Then after a Greyhounds timeout, Loyola handed the ball off to Eric Laster, who tried his luck at a jumper. Senior Matt McMullen was there though for a huge block to secure that the Raiders would stay unbeaten at home in Patriot League play.
 
Colgate received double-figures from Sherman-Newsome (16 points), McMullen (12 points), and Ethan Jacobs (11 points).
 
McMullen added a game-high eight boards, two assists, two blocks and two steals to his already impressive day. Jacobs matched his career-best three blocks in the game as well.
 
The Raiders finished the afternoon shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. Colgate did better its free throw shooting from the last game as well, making 18 of its 22 attempts.
 
With the victory Colgate remains tied with Bucknell for first in the conference standings with a league record of 6-2. The Raiders also shifted their overall record to 9-12.
 
Colgate is back on Cotterell Court on Wednesday hosting Lafayette at 7 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.

Colgate Stays Tops In League
• The Raiders are now 6-2 to open Patriot League play for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
• With Saturday's victory Colgate remains in a tie with Bucknell for first place in the conference standings.
• Colgate and Bucknell also opened up a two-game lead over the rest of the league, not including American, which does not play until Monday night.  
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 59, Loyola 58
• It was the Raiders' smallest margin of victory so far this season.
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate shifts to 9-12 overall and 6-2 in Patriot League play.
• Loyola dips to 7-12 and 3-5, respectively.
 
Facts & Figures
• Sherman-Newsome led the Raiders in scoring for the fourth-straight game.
• The senior finished the night with 16 points, including three very critical ones in the final 1:13 of play.    
• He went 5-for-6 from the floor, 1-for-2 from downtown and 5-for-8 from the charity stripe, while dishing out a game-high three assists.
• The Anchorage, Alaska, native has now tallied double-figures in 19 of the Raiders' 21 games this year
• McMullen chipped in 12 points to Colgate's total but what's more impressive is the fact that he went 4-for-4 overall, 1-for-1 from long and 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
• He is now the second Colgate player to shoot perfect from the floor during conference play this season. Fellow classmate Jacobs achieved that same feat back on Jan. 31 at Lehigh, when he went 9-for-9 overall, 4-for-4 from downtown and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
• McMullen pulled down a game-best eight rebounds to lead the Raiders on the boards as well for the sixth consecutive contest.
• Jacobs closed out the Colgate players in double-figures with 11 points in the game. He also matched his career-best three blocks.
• Colgate shot 47.5 percent from the floor making 19 of its 40 attempts, matching its second lowest made field goals of the season.
• The Raiders also only attempted nine 3-pointers, hitting just three. The nine shots attempted were a season low, while the three made buckets matched Colgate season low.
• Loyola held the slight edge on rebounds at 31-28, while also committing just 12 turnovers to the Raiders' 17.
• Colgate scored 30 points from inside the paint and 19 points off of Loyola turnovers.
• The Greyhounds converted on 17 second-chance opportunities to Colgate's four.
• The game saw five tie scores to go along with its five lead changes.
• Colgate's largest lead of the game at 13 happened after Alex Ramon finished off a layup midway through the second half. Loyola's largest lead came a little less than three minutes into the contest when the score was 7-3.
• The Raiders had the advantage for 32:31, while the visitors had the lead for 3:04. The game was tied for 4:25. 
 
Loyola's Numbers
• The Greyhounds saw two players in double-figures with Laster leading the way with a game-high 20 points. Andre Walker added 16 points as well with both him and Laster pulling down a team-high five rebounds.
• Those two players also helped hand out a team-best two assists each.
• Loyola shot 37.3 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from long, while hitting 17 of its 21 shots from the free throw line.

Interesting Notes
• After a heartbreaking loss at Army on Wednesday, Colgate got back into the win column with the victory.  
• Colgate is 4-0 during conference play, while playing in front of its home crowd.
• The Raiders are outscoring their opponents in league play by an average of 5.6 points per game.
• Sherman-Newsome recorded double-figures in the game for his eight consecutive game. He has also hit double-digits in 19 of the Raiders 21 games so far this season.
• The only two games Sherman-Newsome missed that mark were contests in which he got injured during the game.
• Jacobs is also riding a double-digit scoring streak with his number sitting at nine straight. That streak matches Tillotson's team-high mark, which he scored double-figures from Nov. 15 to Dec. 11.
• During conference play the Raiders are shooting 50 percent from the floor and 45 percent from 3-point range.
 
Defending the 'gate
• Colgate is now 6-2 overall at home with a 4-0 conference mark on Cotterell Court.
• The only two games the Raiders dropped on home hardwood were to Albany by four and Sacred Heart by one.
• The Raiders are also riding a six-game home unbeaten streak.
• A lot of their home winning record comes from hard defensive play. For a team that's second from the bottom in blocks with 2.5 per game, the Raiders came up with five very timely stops during Saturday's contest.  

Relive the Action
• Loyola jumped out to a 7-3 lead a little less than three minutes into the game to create its largest margin in the contest.
• Colgate answered though with a 14-2 run to take over the edge at 17-9 four minutes later. 
• The Greyhounds pulled even at 21-all with less than five minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the half.
• Again, the Raiders would go on a 12-5 run to close out the opening period and take a seven-point edge into the break.
• Loyola jumped out to a quick second half start, cutting Colgate's lead down to three with 17:22 left to play.
• The Raiders, however, increased their advantage to a game-high 13 points following a Ramon layup midway through the second period.
• From that point on Loyola went on a 20-5 run over the course of eight minutes to take over the two-point advantage with 1:27 remaining in the game. All five of Colgate's points during that stretch were from the free throw line.
• Sherman-Newsome then drove to the basket, getting fouled a long the way 14 seconds later. The senior made one of his two opportunities making it a one-point game.
• On the opposite end of the court, Colgate forced the Greyhounds to turn the ball over, which gave the Raiders life with 41 seconds remaining.
• Again, it was Sherman-Newsome, who took the game into his hands, converting on a layup with 19 seconds left to give the Raiders the go-ahead basket.
• The Greyhounds till had 14 seconds remaining to try and find the game-winner but a block from McMullen on a Laster shot ultimately sealed Colgate the victory.
 
Record's Watch
• Moore, who is still within reach of breaking the 1,000-point barrier for his career, currently sits with 886 points.
• Tillotson already has 95 season assists on the year. He recorded 133 helpers a year ago during his first season with the Maroon and White, which placed him third all-time.
• With his assist on Saturday, Roh's career assist total shifts to 308. He is now 15 assists shy of matching Alvin Reed '06 for fourth place all-time.
 
Straight From The Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his overall thoughts from the game) "These games are always hard-fought and closely contested. To win at home in a league like ours is kind of what you have to do if you want to be in position to be at the top at the end of the season."
 
"Our crowd was terrific today. Our student section showed up along with some youth groups, which made for a great environment. That absolutely helped us win and pull the momentum back our way."
 
(on the game's last two possession, including Damon Sherman-Newsome's winning basket) "We had a couple timeouts left but we didn't want their defense to get set. We wanted our guys to attack the basket. They know each other well enough and we had the guys in the game that we wanted down the stretch. The guy that's been carrying us on the offensive end for a lot of the season just made a really good play to the basket and made a nice finish."
 
"We then tried to make it difficult for them to make it up the floor a little bit. But we locked in and focused on doing what we've just really been trying to do by making it hard to get a shot off. Matt McMullen did a phenomenal job. He didn't let Laster, who had a terrific game, catch it where he wanted. Our ball screen defense was where it needed to be and then he made a great contest to not foul at the end of the game."

Up Next
• The Raiders next welcome Lafayette to Cotterell Court on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tilt. That game will be broadcast live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.
• The Leopards are coming off a 75-71 setback against their rival Lehigh on Saturday.  
• Lafayette sits with a 3-5 conference mark after defeating Army, Boston U. and Loyola.  
• The Raiders and Leopards go head-to-head for their 94th all-time meeting. Colgate holds the slight 48-46 advantage.
• Colgate took both games against Lafayette a season ago, defeating the Leopards 75-68 on the road before taking a 83-66 win at home.
 
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