NEWARK, N.J. – The Colgate men's basketball team came out on the short end of a back-and-forth battle at NJIT Saturday afternoon as the Highlanders earned a 74-68 victory at the Fleisher Athletic Center.  
 
The Raiders held a three-point lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game, but NJIT closed the contest on a 19-10 run to earn the Highlanders' second victory of the season.
 
Three Raiders finished the game in double figures as junior Jordan Swopshire led the way with 14 points in addition to a team-best eight rebounds. Junior Sean O'Brien added 11 points and a season-best seven assists, while sophomore Malcolm Regisford chipped in 10 points.
 
The Highlanders made four of their first five attempts from the floor to take an early 10-6 lead 3:43 into the game. A layup from senior Nathan Harries sparked a 15-4 Raider run over the next 6:09 to give Colgate a 19-12 advantage with 11:04 left in the opening half. The streak saw six points from Swopshire and five from O'Brien.
 
The Raiders held onto their seven-point lead at 22-15 a minute and a half later, but the Highlanders rattled off 10 straight points to reclaim the lead at 25-22 with 6:23 on the clock.
 
A Tom Rivard layup halted the NJIT streak at 5:57 and ignited a 12-3 Colgate run that took nearly five minutes off the clock and put the Raiders back in front 34-29. Rivard and Harries both chipped in four points during the run, while the Raiders went 6-for-9 from the field and forced three Highlander turnovers in the time frame. NJIT made the final basket of the opening half, but the Raiders took a 34-31 lead into halftime.
 
The Highlanders scored seven of the second half's first nine points to snatch back the lead at 38-36. A pair of Swopshire treys and four points from Regisford helped the Raiders answer with a 10-2 run to claim a 46-40 advantage with 14:14 to play.
 
Colgate retained a five-point lead at 48-43 with 11:51 on the clock before the Highlanders used four free throws to pull within one at 48-47. NJIT tied the score at 51 with 8:50 to play, but Harries answered with a big three-pointer to put Colgate right back in front. The Raiders stretched their lead to three at 58-55 a few minutes later, but seven points from Damon Lynn helped NJIT string together a 13-4 run over the next three minutes as the Highlanders grabbed a 68-62 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
 
Layups from Harries and Regisford pulled Colgate within two at 68-66 with 1:17 left on the clock, but NJIT went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch to claim the 74-68 victory.
 
BOTTOM LINE

• NJIT 74, Colgate 68

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• The Raiders fall to 1-2 on the young season.
• NJIT improves to 2-2 overall.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• Swopshire's 14 points and four three-pointers were both season highs.
• O'Brien dished a season-best seven assists, just one shy of his career high of eight helpers.
• Harries tallied a season-best nine points thanks to a 4-for-6 showing from the field.
• Robertson also accumulated a season-high nine points.

 
FACTS & FIGURES

• The game saw four ties and three lead changes.
• Colgate finished the game shooting 47.3 (26-for-55) percent from the field compared to NJIT's 42.3 (22-for-52) percentage.
• The Raiders were 7-for-20 (35 percent) from three-point range and 9-for-15 (60 percent) from the free-throw line.
• NJIT controlled a 38-28 rebound edge. The Highlanders scored 21 points off Colgate's 15 turnovers.
• NJIT was led by Lynn's 24 points, 15 of which came from the charity stripe.

FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel

• "As we anticipated, it was a hard-fought game. NJIT is a veteran group that has experienced postseason play twice and has two guys in Coleman and Lynn that have made the plays necessary to win games countless times over their careers."
• "I was proud of how our guys competed to put us in the position to win in the last four minutes. Unfortunately, in winning time, NJIT made the shots and plays at both ends of the court."
• "I certainly tip my cap to a very good NJIT team and hope we can learn from the loss and use it to help us grow moving forward."

UP NEXT

• The Raiders continue their five-game road trip to open the season with a Thanksgiving Eve game at Penn State.
• Tipoff from Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.
• The game will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.