HAMILTON – Colgate Men's Basketball had a rough shooting night and dropped a 71-54 decision to visiting Lehigh here Wednesday.
 
The Raiders finished the night 33.3 percent from the floor, which ties for its second-worst shooting performance all season.
 
Despite the loss, Colgate has secured a first-round bye in the Patriot League Tournament. To see a breakdown of the entire postseason seeding so far, please reference the section 'Patriot League Tournament' below.
 
Colgate was in front 13-12, but saw Lehigh use a 15-0 run midway through the opening half to break the game open at 27-13. The Mountain Hawks then maintained their 14-point advantage until there was 1:50 remaining in the period.
 
At that time, the Raiders were able to ride a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 34-25 at the break. Austin Tillotson hit one of his two 3-pointers at the buzzer to pull Colgate to within single digits.
 
With 12:30 left on the clock in the second half, Colgate sparked its second rally, this time a 10-2 run over 3½ minutes to get the score down to 46-42. During that stretch the Raiders used back-to-back makes from downtown.
 
Unfortunately, another massive 14-0 run from the Mountain Hawks ultimately sealed the deal for the visitors and handed them a comfortable lead, which they held onto to earn their eighth-straight victory.
 
Colgate saw Tom Rivard , Sean O'Brien and Tillotson all post a team-best 11 points in the contest. Dave Krmpotich added seven points to go along with Jordan Swopshire 's five.
 
Rivard led the Raiders with eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. Swopshire chipped in six and Krmpotich matched his career-best effort on the boards with five.
 
Tillotson compiled a game-high three steals, while three student-athletes tied for team highs in assists with two.
 
Wednesday's game marked Colgate's fourth annual LGBTQ 'Blue4Q' Awareness Game. The Raiders showcased their support for LGBTQ Initiatives by wearing rainbow ties, socks and pregame shirts.
 
Colgate closes out its regular season slate Saturday at Lafayette. The Leopards are coming off a devastating double overtime 86-83 loss to first place Bucknell on Wednesday. The noon tip will have live stats and video available at the start.
 
Bottom Line
• Lehigh 71, Colgate 54
 
Won-Lost Records
• Lehigh improves to .500 on the season at 14-14 with a 12-5 mark in Patriot League play -- currently good enough for second place in the conference.
• Colgate drops to 13-15 and 9-8, respectively.
 
Facts & Figures
• Rivard, O'Brien and Tillotson all earned a team-high 11 points.
• Rivard went 5-for-9 from the floor and 1-for-2 from long range. He added a team-best eight rebounds, including four the offensive boards.
• O'Brien and Tillotson made four field goals each in the game with O'Brien adding 3-of-6 attempts from downtown and Tillotson 2-of-5.
• O'Brien recorded two assists to go along with Tillotson's three steals as well.
• Krmpotich went 3-for-7 from the floor and 1-for-2 from the charity stripe for his seven points. The rookie also matched his career-best effort on the boards with five.
• Swopshire closed out the Raider top players with five points and six rebounds.
 
Inside The Box Score
• Colgate shot 33.3 percent from the floor after converting just 21-of-63 attempts. The Raiders went 9-of-26 from behind-the-arc and 3-of-5 from the free throw line as well.
• The Raiders committed nine turnovers to the Mountain Hawks' 16. But Lehigh held the edge on rebounds at 37-27.
• Colgate outscored its visitor 19-10 on points off turnovers and 6-4 on second chance opportunities.   
• The Mountain Hawks, however, notched 28 points from inside the paint compared to Colgate's 20.
• Lehigh slightly outscored Colgate on bench points at 17-16.
• Colgate lead for just 29 seconds, while the Mountain Hawks were in front for 38:15. The game was tied for 1:16
• The contest featured six lead changes and one tie score.  
 
Lehigh's Numbers
• Three Mountain Hawk players reached twin figure scoring with Tim Kempton leading the way with a double-double at 16 points and 12 rebounds.
• Austin Price added 14 points, while Kahron Ross chipped in 12.
• Ross handed out a game-high seven assists, while Jesse Chuku registered two blocks.
• Lehigh finished the night 26-of-49 from the floor for 53.1 percent shooting. The Mountain Hawks went 50 percent from behind-the-arc as well, hitting 10-of-20 attempts. They closed out the game 9-of-11 from the line.
 
Patriot League Tournament
• With just one game left for all teams in the regular season, some tournament seeds have already been established.
• Bucknell and Lehigh will be the top two seeds in the postseason. Bucknell will be the No. 1 seed if any of the following happen: they beat Navy, Lehigh loses to Army West Point, Boston University beats Holy Cross or Colgate loses to Lafayette.
• Boston University, Army West Point, Colgate and Navy are all in contention to host the other two quarterfinal games.
• Boston University, Army West Point and Colgate have all earned first-round byes. Colgate has the bye because if it falls to 9-9, Bucknell would have to be the No. 1 seed and Colgate's sweep of the Bison would give them any tiebreaker edge since they have split with any other teams that could be 9-9.
• American and Navy are in contention for the last first-round bye.
• Loyola will be either the No. 7 or No. 8 seed, since it cannot win any of the tiebreakers with teams at 9-9.
• Holy Cross will be the No. 9 seed and Lafayette the No. 10.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 1,049.
• Wednesday night marked Colgate's fourth annual LGBTQ 'Blue4Q' Awareness Game. The Raiders worked with the campus LGBTQ initiative in order to bring more awareness to this great cause. To read more about Colgate's LGBTQ Life webpage click HERE.
                                                                 
Next Up
• The Raiders travel to Lafayette on Saturday for their regular season finale.
• Game time is scheduled for a noon tip in Kirby Sports Center.   
• The Leopards dropped a heartbreaking 86-83 double overtime decision to first place Bucknell on Wednesday.
• The all-time series with Lafayette stands at 50-47 in favor of Colgate.
• Live stats and video will be available at the start.

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