WORCESTER, Mass. – Colgate saw Holy Cross rally late to take a come-from-behind victory here Thursday night.
 
The Raiders held a 36-27 advantage at halftime but a 43-24 edge in the second half from the Crusaders ultimately secured the hosts a 70-60 victory.
 
Holy Cross' 43-point second period marked the most points Colgate has given up in any half of league play this season.
 
Colgate was ahead by eight five minutes into the second half when Damon Sherman-Newsome converted on a layup. Holy Cross rallied back though to take a 50-49 lead on a 22-6 run, which lasted nearly 12 minutes. During that span, the Crusaders also held the Raiders scoreless for seven minutes.
 
That edge was the Crusaders first advantage in the game since a 7-6 lead 17 minutes into the contest.
 
Despite the Raiders getting the margin down to 59-55 with three minutes left, Holy Cross hit all six of its final free throws to hold on for the 10-point win.
 
Colgate saw four players finish the game with double-figures in Ethan Jacobs, Matt McMullen, Austin Tillotson and Luke Roh.
 
Jacobs led the Raiders with 13 points, 10 of which came in the first half alone. McMullen added 12 points and went 3-for-4 from long, while Tillotson and Roh both chipped in 10 points each.
 
Roh added six boards and four assists as well, which were both a team-high.
 
Sherman-Newsome had his team-best 10-game double-digit scoring streak snapped in the contest as he only accounted for nine of Colgate's total points.
 
Overall the Raiders shot 47.9 percent from the floor and went 8-for-19 from long-range. Colgate took its 61.9 percent overall shooting and 60 percent 3-point shooting into the break at half but shot just 37 and 22.2 percent, respectively, in the second half.
 
Colgate still remains at the top of the league and sits in a first-place tie with Bucknell with a league mark of 7-4.
 
The Raiders have a quick turnaround as they play host to American on Saturday at 2 p.m. During that game Colgate will also be acknowledging the 20-year reunion of the 1994-95 and 1995-96 Patriot League championship teams, in which Colgate saw its only two NCAA tournament appearances.
 
Bottom Line
• Holy Cross 70, Colgate 60
• The 10-point deficit was Colgate's largest margin of defeat since a 78-43 loss at Syracuse way back on Dec. 22 and only its third time losing by 10 or more points this season.
 
Won-Lost Records
• Holy Cross shifts to 9-12 overall and 4-7 in Patriot League play
• Colgate slants to 10-14 and 7-4, respectively.
 
Facts & Figures
• Jacobs recorded a team-high 13 points in the contest after hitting 6-of-13 shots.
• The senior pulled down two boards to go along with his one block.
• McMullen notched 12 points, two rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal on the night.
• Tillotson and Roh closed out the Raiders in double-figure scoring with 10 points each.
• Tillotson finished hitting four of his seven shots and matched his season-best four boards.  
• Roh added a team-high six rebounds, while also leading Colgate with four assists.
• Sherman-Newsome recorded nine points in the contest, snapping his team-high 10-game double-figure scoring streak.
• The senior has still reached double-digits in 21 of the Raiders 24 games so far this season.
• Colgate shot 47.9 percent from the floor overall, while hitting 8-of-19 from downtown.
• Holy Cross recorded 29 rebounds to the Raiders' 22, with 10 of those coming on the offensive glass.
• The Crusaders outscored the Raiders 34-32 from points inside the paint and finished converting 18 points off of Colgate turnovers.
• Colgate registered 12 second-chance points to Holy Cross' nine but saw its host tally a 22-6 edge on bench points.   
• The game saw five tie scores to go along with its six lead changes.
• Colgate's largest lead of the game at 36-22 came following one of McMullen's made baskets from behind the arc with three minutes and 35 seconds remaining in the opening half.
• The Raiders had the advantage for 26:56, while Holy Cross had the lead for 9:13. The game was tied for 3:46. 
 
Holy Cross' Numbers
• The Crusaders were led by Justin Burrell's 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
• Malachi Alexander, Eric Green and Malcolm Miller added 14, 13, and 12 points, respectively.
• Taylor Abt pulled down a team-best six rebounds, while Burrell handed out a team-high 8 assists.
• Holy Cross finished shooting 54 percent and 46.2 percent from 3-point range. The Crusaders shot an impressive 66.7 percent from the floor in the second half to go along with their 6-of-13 makes from downtown.

Interesting Notes
• The Raiders 10-point loss was their largest margin of defeat since a 78-43 loss at Syracuse on Dec. 22. That was also just the third time this season the Raiders lost by 10 or more points having also dropped a 70-50 decision to then No. 13/14-ranked Ohio State earlier in the year.
• Sherman-Newsome had his double-digit scoring streak snapped in the contest. His mark stood at 10-consecutive games and matched Jacobs for a season best. Jacobs achieved his 10-game streak from Dec. 28 - Jan. 28.
• During conference play the Raiders are shooting 51 percent from the floor and 43 percent from 3-point range.
• Colgate still remains in a first-place tie with Bucknell as both sit with a 7-4 conference mark.

How It Happened
• Neither team held more than a six-point advantage throughout the opening 12 minutes.
• Two made free throws from Miller gave the Crusaders a one-point lead at 20-19 with under seven and half minutes to play in the half.
• Colgate's Tillotson responded with a 4-point play, however, after he was fouled on a made 3-pointer. His four points sparked a 17-7 Colgate run to end the half as the Raiders took a nine-point lead into the break. During that span Colgate kept Holy Cross scoreless for three minutes.
• The Crusaders cut into the Raiders lead early in the second half but a good layup from Sherman-Newsome gave Colgate a 41-35 lead with 15 minutes left to play.
• Holy Cross would not go away answering with a 22-6 run over the course of a little under 12 minutes to take a 57-49 edge with 4:49 remaining on the clock.
• Colgate would try to rally late when they pulled to within four, at 61-57, on a Sherman-Newsome layup two minutes later but the Crusaders saw Alexander drains a trey 27 seconds after that, which ultimately secured them the victory.
• Holy Cross then converted on all six of its final free throws to hand Colgate the loss.
 
Record's Watch
• Sherman-Newsome and Pat Moore are still in the hunt for reaching 1,000 career points. Sherman-Newsome is 93 points shy, while Moore sits 107 points short after two made 3-pointers in Thursday's game.
• Tillotson recorded one assist in the contest, which handed him 102 on the season. The junior is now just 31 helpers shy of matching his total from a season ago, which placed him third all-time in season-assists.
• With his four helpers on Thursday, Roh's career assist total shifts to 308. He is now seven 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) "It's another Patriot League game. Anybody that follows and watches the league can turn on a Patriot League game and be in for a good contest. That's what our league is this year and that's what we've come to expect every night."
 
"They needed a win. They've been playing well enough to win some of the close ones they've lost. They made the shots and some of the defensive plays necessary to do so tonight."
 
Offensively we were in pretty good shape. Defensively we didn't play quite as well as we have in some of the other games we've won in close fashion. We let them get to the rim a little too easy and we weren't in the right help positioning that we needed to be a number of times."
 
"Credit Holy Cross. Malachi Alexander stepped up and made a couple huge 3-point shots and obviously Justin Burrell, in his last go around, had 15 points on seven shots and eight assists with no turnovers. That is a fantastic game."

Up Next
• The Raiders are back on Cotterell Court Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest with American.  
• The Eagles are coming off a 64-49 victory over Loyola on Wednesday.
• American sits with a 6-5 conference mark heading into Saturday's contest and sit just one game out of first place
• The Raiders and Eagles will go head-to-head for their 34th all-time meeting. American holds the 28-5 record advantage.
• The Eagles also took the teams earlier meeting down in Washington, D.C., when they recorded a 71-69 double overtime victory.
• Saturday's contest will feature a special celebration of Colgate's 1994-95 & 1995-96 Patriot League championship teams. Those two years still mark the only times the Raiders reached the big dance.