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HAMILTON – Bucknell was again no match for Colgate Men's Basketball as the Raiders defeated their first-place visitors 91-81, making it four-straight over the Bison.
 
With the win, Colgate completed the regular season sweep of Bucknell after also beating the Bison 84-73 back on Jan. 16.
 
Ironically, the same person who led the Raiders during that earlier contest was the man of the game on Saturday as well. Sophomore Tom Rivard went for a career-best 24 points after going nearly perfect on the day. He was 10-for-12 from the floor, 2-for-3 from behind-the-arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. In his 30 minutes of action, he compiled four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal as well.
 
Rounding out the Raiders in twin figures were Austin Tillotson with 20 points, Jordan Robertson with 17 and Sean O'Brien with 14. Colgate moves to 7-2 when four or more players finish with double-digit scoring. Their only two losses have come in overtime contests.
 
Tillotson and Jordan Swopshire led Colgate on the boards with six rebounds each. Tillotson also handed out a team-best four helpers, pulling him to within nine of matching the Raiders' season assists mark of 139.
 
The Raiders shot an impressive 60 percent from the floor, while hitting 7-of-18 from downtown. Colgate went a season-best 18-for-19 from the charity stripe as well.
 
Matt Langel's squad was in front for much of the game but the Raiders found themselves tied at 56-all with 13:51 remaining in the game. Colgate then used a 9-0 run over just under a two-minute span to break the game open at 65-56.
 
The Bison got the lead down to 74-70 with two made free throws from Nate Jones with six minutes to play but that would be as close as they would come. Colgate answered with another 7-1 run to push the edge back to 81-71. The Raiders then maintained a comfortable advantage for the rest of the contest.  
 
Colgate is back on the road Wednesday when it travels to Boston University for a 7 p.m. tilt in Case Gym. The Terriers are coming off a 73-65 victory over Loyola on Saturday. Live stats and video will be available at the start.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 91, Bucknell 81
• Colgate is currently riding a four-game winning streak over the Bison, dating back to a 68-62 victory on Jan. 3, 2015.
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improves to 12-13 overall and 8-6 in Patriot League play.
• Bucknell drops to 13-12 and 10-4, respectively.   
 
How It Happened
• After the Bison opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Raiders answered with an 11-0 run to take an 11-3 edge early.
• Bucknell ended its drought with a trey but another 8-0 run from Colgate increased its advantage to 18-6.
• The visitors slowly started to chip away at the deficit and knotted the game at 22-all with 9:14 remaining in the opening period.
• The two teams went back and forth with the Raiders pushing their lead back to 40-33. But a 6-4 run from the Bison made it a 44-39 ballgame with five seconds to play.
• Bucknell added a half-court buzzer-beater right before the break though that sent the Bison into the break just down 44-42.
• With 13:51 left in the game, the contest was tied for the fifth time at 56-56 following a free throw from Bucknell's Jones.
• From that point, Colgate sparked a 9-0 run over a little under two minutes to push its lead back to 65-56.
• The Bison pulled within 74-70 following two more makes at the charity stripe from Jones with 6:03 left to play.
• That would be as close as they would come. Colgate answered with a 17-9 run over five minutes to create a 91-79 gap between the teams.
• The Raiders were able to hold on in the remaining seconds to secure the victory.
 
Facts & Figures
• Rivard had himself a night, scoring a career-best 24 points on almost perfect shooting. The sophomore went 10-for-12 from the floor, 2-for-3 from the long range and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
• He added four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal on his already impressive day.
• Also reaching double-figure scoring was Tillotson, who posted 20 points in the contest. That marked the fourth time this year he recorded 20 or more points and his 21st game in double-digits.
• The senior handed out four helpers, while tying Swopshire for leading the team with six rebounds.
• Closing out the Raiders in twin figures were sophomores Robertson and O'Brien with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
• Robertson also went nearly perfect on the night shooting 6-for-7 from the floor, 3-for-3 from downtown and 2-for-2 from the line.
• O'Brien added three assists and went a career-best 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, while rookie Dana Batt compiled a career-best two steals.
• The Raiders finished 33-of-55 from the floor for 60 percent shooting on the day. Colgate added 7-of-18 attempts from long range to go along with its 18-of-19 (94.7 percent, which was a season-best mark) makes from the line.
• Colgate recorded 91 points, it's most in conference play and most since a 98-101 double overtime loss to Cornell back on Nov. 16.
• The Bison bench outscored Colgate's at 38-22. Bucknell also tallied 16 points off of turnovers compared to the Raiders' 12.
• Colgate held the 42-16 edge on points in the paint and on fast break points at 5-2.
• There were nine lead changes and five tie scores throughout the game.
• Colgate was in front for 31:13, while the Bison held the lead for 6:35. The game was tied for 2:12.
• The Raiders increased their advantage to a game-high 12 points on two different occasions. Their most recent came with 50 seconds remaining when O'Brien converted on his second free throw to make it a 91-79 ballgame.
 
Bucknell's Numbers
• Three Bison players tallied twin figures with Chris Hass' 17 points leading the way. The senior went 6-for-13 from the floor, 3-for-5 from downtown and 2-for-2 from the line. He notched 15 of those 17 points in the first half alone.
• Also grabbing double-figures was Zach Thomas and Jones with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
• Thomas not only went a team-best 8-for-12 from the line but he pulled down 10 rebounds as well, four on the offensive glass, to lead all players.
• Stephen Brown handed out a team-high four assists in his 30 minutes of action.
• The Bison finished the day shooting 49 percent from the floor (25-of-51), while draining 10-of-21 from behind-the-arc. Bucknell also went 21-of-33 from the charity stripe.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 1,063, which was Colgate's best turnout so far this season.
• Earlier this week, Melanie Pellowski from the Patriot League teamed up with Colgate's Athletic Communications to do a feature on former Raider standout and 13-time NBA star Adonal Foyle '98. To watch the video feature click HERE.

Straight From The Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his thoughts from the game) "I'm pleased with the overall team effort. A lot of teams, with the recent results that we've had, could go in the tank a little bit, but our guys just kept battling back against a team who's sitting in first place.
 
"We really focused on ourselves and I thought we shared the ball and played great on offense. But it was ultimately, short of that one run that (Chris) Hass had in the first half, we did a phenomenal job taking away what their strengths are. I really credit our whole group for being discipline on the defensive end.
 
"It's a great win for us."
                                                                 
Next Up
• The Raiders are back on the road for a 7 p.m. contest with Boston University on Wednesday.  
• The Terriers defeated Loyola 73-65 on the road on Saturday.   
• The all-time series with Boston U. stands at 24-18 in favor of the Terriers. The last meeting between these two programs, Colgate defeated Boston U. 84-73 on Cotterell Court.
• Live stats and video will be available at the start of that game.  

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