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HAMILTON – Colgate made history on Saturday afternoon with its 12th Patriot League victory of the year after defeating Lehigh 61-55.
 
That mark broke the old record of 11 wins and was achieved only once in the Raiders' prior 24 seasons in the league. Colgate registered an 11-3 conference record during the 1995 season before going on to win the league title.
 
Fans at Cotterell Court on Saturday also got to witness another impressive accomplishment – senior Damon Sherman-Newsome reached his 1,000 career point in the early parts of the second half to make him Colgate's 30th men's basketball player to ever hit that mark.
 
He finished the game with 11 points, as did fellow classmates Matt McMullen and Ethan Jacobs, to lead the Raiders. All three, along with Luke Roh, Pat Moore, Nic Lane and Anthony DeRiggs, were all honored prior to the start of the contest, as it was their last regular season game on home court.
 
Fortunately for the Raiders it wont be the last time those seven step onto Cotterell Court in a Maroon and White uniform this season. With Bucknell's nail-biting win over American, the Raiders shift to the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Meaning home court advantage throughout, at least until the championship game if Bucknell stays in the tournament.
 
Eight of the nine players that saw action on Saturday tallied at least three points. McMullen and Jacobs earned a team-high eight rebounds, while Alex Ramon handed out a team-best three helpers.
 
Colgate finished the contest shooting 50 percent from the floor and hit 12-of-22 shots from behind the arc. 10 of those 12 came in the first half of play, which was a season-high for makes in a half. Lehigh shot 40.4 percent from the floor and converted on 5-of-17 attempts from 3-point range. The Mountain Hawks converted on all four of their free throws, while the Raiders went 1-for-7 on the day.
 
The game started with three tie scores and seven lead changes in the opening 10 minutes of action with Lehigh holding the 27-23 edge. Colgate responded though with four consecutive 3-pointers by four different players to take the 35-27 advantage with five minutes remaining in the half.
 
Colgate had extended its lead to 12 points late in the period but a layup from Lehigh's Tim Kempton sent the Mountain Hawks into the break only down 42-32.
 
The visitors would continue to put pressure on the Raiders and would even get the advantage down to 50-48 midway through the second half.
 
Again, Colgate answered with an 11-2 run to push its edge back to double-digits at 61-50 with three minutes left to play.
 
Despite the Mountain Hawks scoring the final five points of the game, the deficit proved to be too much as the Raiders held on to claim the victory.
 
The Raiders now await the winner of the Army/Navy first round game, which will be on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland. Colgate will host the winner of that game on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Cotterell Court.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 61, Lehigh 55
• The Raiders took both regular season meetings against the Mountain Hawks for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate closes out the regular season with an overall record of 15-16 and a 12-6 Patriot League mark
• Lehigh falls to 16-13 and 10-8, respectively.  
• Colgate's 12 conference victories were the most ever in program history, beating the 1995 championship team, who went 11-3.
• With Saturday's victory and Bucknell's win over American, Colgate dropped to the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
 
Facts & Figures
• Sherman-Newsome reached 1,000 career points in the game and finished the afternoon with 11 total.
• He closes out the regular season, hitting double-digits in a team-leading 26 of the Raiders' 31 games.
• The Anchorage, Alaska, native added five boards, one assist and one steal in his 31 minutes of action.
• McMullen posted 11 points in the contest on 4-of-8 shooting, 2-of-3 makes from long and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
• The senior earned eight rebounds as well in the game, including three on the offensive glass.
• Jacobs closed out the Colgate scorers in double-figures with 11 points, also on 4-of-8 shooting. He added 3-of-5 from downtown, while pulling down eight boards of his own.  
• The Tipton, Indiana, native is currently riding a team-high six-game double-figure scoring streak heading into Thursday's Patriot League quarterfinal game.
• Alex Ramon matched his career-high in points with seven and went a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor. He added four rebounds and a team-high three helpers in his 17 minutes of action.  
• The Raiders shot 50 percent from the floor and hit 12-of-22 buckets from behind the arc. 10 of those 12 attempts came in the opening half of play. Colgate finished the game going just 1-for-7 from the line.
• The Raiders slightly outrebounded the Mountain Hawks 33-31.
• Lehigh converted on 30 points from inside the paint, compared to Colgate's 12. The Raiders compiled 10 points off of second chance opportunities, while the Mountain Hawks tallied seven.
• There were three tie scores and eight lead changes throughout the game.
• The Raiders held the edge for 28:26, while Lehigh was ahead for 10:18. The game was tied for 1:16.
• Colgate had the game's largest lead at 12, twice, with the last edge coming following a McMullen layup with 15:48 remaining in the game. Lehigh jumped out to the 12-6 advantage five minutes into the contest for the Mountain Hawks' largest lead in the game.
 
Lehigh's Numbers
• Kempton posted a game-high 18 points in the contest on 8-of-17 shooting. He added 10 rebounds during his 26 minutes of action.  
• Austin Price and Brandon Alston reached double-figures as well with 16 and 10 points, respectively.
• The Mountain Hawks shot 40.4 percent from the floor and converted on 5-of-17 attempts from long-range. Lehigh also went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Interesting Notes
• Colgate earned its program-leading 12th Patriot League victory with the win.
• The Raiders put up 10 treys in the opening period of play, which was a season-high for any half this season.
• Colgate earned its first sweep over the Mountain Hawks during the regular season since the 2010-11 campaign.
• The Raiders earned three series sweeps this year during Patriot League play coming against Bucknell, Boston U. and most recently Lehigh. 
• Colgate is now 9-4 on Cotterell Court and finished the regular season with a 7-2 conference mark on home court.
• The Raiders earned the second seed in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since the 1996 season.
 
Alaskan Hits Milestone
• Sherman-Newsome became Colgate's 30th men's basketball player to ever reach 1,000 career points during their time in the Maroon and White.
• He achieved that feat at the 1:07 mark in the second half with a tip-in on his initial miss.
• Sherman-Newsome also became the ninth Alaskan player to reach 1,000 career points at the NCAA Division I level.
• He joins some notable names such as Trajan Langdon (Duke – 1,974), Chris Devine (UC Santa Barbara – 1,607) and Carlos Boozer (Duke – 1,506).

How It Happened
• The Mountain Hawks jumped out to the quick 12-6 advantage just five minutes into the contest.
• Lehigh took a 27-23 edge at the halfway mark but a 12-0 run shifted the momentum to the hosts, making it a 35-27 Colgate lead.
• It was a 42-32 ballgame at the break and the Raiders maintained a double-digit advantage for much of opening six minutes of the second half.
• The Mountain Hawks got the edge down to 50-48 following a layup from Kahron Ross but again the Raiders answered with an 11-2 run to create an 11-point gap between the teams at 61-50.
• Lehigh scored the final five points of the game but the deficit proved to be too much as the Raiders held on to win.
 
Records Watch
• Moore is still in the hunt for reaching 1,000 career points. He is sit 78 short.
• Tillotson recorded two assists in the game, which handed him 123 on the season. The junior is now just 10 helpers shy of matching his total from a season ago, which placed him third all-time in season-assists.
• Roh registered one assist in the contest as well and sits with 337 career helpers. He is now just 19 assists shy of matching Dave Hardy '03 for third all-time.

Straight From The Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his overall thoughts from the game) "It was a great effort. I couldn't be prouder of our group."
 
"I have to tell a Pat Moore story here. I was planning on starting him for Austin (Tillotson) in the lineup as you typically would on senior day. But Patrick came to me yesterday and said "hey Coach I don't know if you're planning on starting me but I've started plenty of games in my career, I really want to win. We have a good thing going with me coming off the bench so if you don't mind let stick with that." That just says a lot about our team, their character and where their hearts are. And I think it showed on the court today."
 
"We played a great offensive first half and then our defense was there when we needed it in the second half."
 
• Colgate guard Damon Sherman-Newsome (on scoring his 1,000 career point, while also grabbing the victory) "It feels special and it feels even better to do it in a win. I've been lucky. I've been put in places to succeed, I've worked hard and I've been able to get 1,000 points."

Up Next
• The Raiders finished their regular season winning three of their last four games to compile a Patriot League mark of 12-6.
• Colgate now awaits the winner of one of the Patriot League Tournament First Round contest in which Army is scheduled to meet rival Navy. That game time is set for a 7 p.m. tip on Tuesday night.
• The Raiders welcome to winner of that matchup on Thursday at 7 p.m. on Cotterell Court.
• Fans can purchase tickets by calling the Colgate Athletic Ticket Office at 315-228-7600, or by visiting the ticket office in Reid Athletic Center from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, unless otherwise posted.