EASTON, Pa. – Colgate Men's Basketball led for nearly 32 minutes here Saturday afternoon but couldn't outlast a feisty Lafayette team on senior day, dropping a 79-77 decision.
 
With the loss, the Raiders enter the upcoming Patriot League tournament as the No. 5 seed and will travel to meet Army West Point on Thursday. This 4-seed vs. 5-seed matchup will be a battle, as the two teams split during the regular season, with both winning on their respective courts. Game time has yet to be determined.
 
In Saturday's contest, Austin Tillotson was two points shy of matching his career best scoring effort. The senior went 10-for-17 from the floor and added 4-of-10 makes from long range for his game-high 26 points. He also pulled down five rebounds, while handing out a game-high seven assists.
 
Joining him in double-digits were Sean O'Brien and Jordan Swopshire. O'Brien reached a career-best 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while draining 4-of-6 from behind-the-arc as well. Swopshire recorded 11 points and was 3-for-7 from downtown. He led the Raiders on the boards with seven. Tom Rivard also chipped in nine points and six rebounds.
 
Colgate had jumped on the Leopards early and held a game-high 11-point lead on two different occasions in the opening half. It's most recent time came with six minutes remaining in the period after a Rivard trey made it a 31-20 ballgame.
 
The Leopards answered with a 13-4 run though to trail only 35-33 at the half.
 
Lafayette quickly erased the deficit in the second half and the teams went back and forth with neither holding larger than a five-point edge until Colgate rallied with less than nine minutes to play.
 
A small 8-2 run over nearly a two-minute span for the Raiders created a 69-61 gap between the teams. O'Brien hit back-to-back treys during that stretch.
 
The Leopards then sparked a rally of their own, using a 14-5 run to pull in front 75-74 with 1:35 remaining. Lafayette also converted consecutive 3-pointers during that time to swing the momentum back in its favor.
 
Colgate was ultimately never able to recover.
 
The Raiders head to Army West Point on Thursday for the Patriot League Quarterfinals. Live stats and video will be available at the start.
 
Bottom Line
• Lafayette 79, Colgate 77
 
Won-Lost Records
• Lafayette gets its sixth win of the year and ends the regular season with a 3-15 mark in Patriot League play.
• Colgate drops to 13-16 overall and 9-9 in the Patriot League.
 
Facts & Figures
• Tillotson, O'Brien and Swopshire all notched twin figures.
• Tillotson finished the game 10-of-17 from the floor, 4-of-10 from long range and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
• The senior added five rebounds, seven assists and three steals on the day. He currently has 149 season helpers, good for Colgate's all-time mark, and has recorded three steals in each of the last four games.
• O'Brien reached a career-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He added 4-of-6 makes from long range, while converting on 1-of-2 at the free throw line.  
• Swopshire drained 3-of-7 from downtown and added a layup for his 11 points to close out the Raider players in double-figures.
• The sophomore pulled down a team-best seven rebounds as well, while fellow classmate Rivard finished with nine points and six boards.
• Swopshire and O'Brien have hit double-digit scoring in 15 and 12 games, respectively.
 
Inside The Box Score
• Colgate went 27-for-55 from the floor for 49.1 percent shooting. The Raiders also drained 13-of-32 from long range to go along with their 10-of-14 makes at the free throw line.  
• The Leopards slightly outrebounded the Raiders 29-28.
• Lafayette also scored 28 points inside the paint compared to Colgate's 22. The hosts held the edge on points off turnovers and fast break points as well at 18-16 and 8-2, respectively.  
• The Raiders scored seven points on second chance opportunities to Lafayette's six.
• Colgate was in front for 31:05, while the Leopards led for 6:37. The game was tied for 2:18.
• The contest featured 11 lead changes and four tie scores.  
 
Lafayette's Numbers
• The hosts were led by Paulis Zalys, who posted a career-best 21 points in the contest. He was 6-for-6 from the floor, 3-for-3 from long range and 6-of-9 at the line.
• Monty Boykins and Matt Klinewski added 17 and 12 points, respectively, to close out the Leopards in twin figures. Boykins pulled down a career-best nine rebounds to lead all scorers.
• Bryce Scott handed out four assists, while Klinewski recorded two steals.
• Lafayette shot 57.1 percent for the day on 28-of-49 makes from the floor. The Leopards went 11-for-21 (52.4%) from behind-the-arc as well. Both marks were good enough for Lafayette's third best shooting night of the season.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Kirby Sports Center was 1,729.
 
Straight From The Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his thoughts from the game) "We have said all year long how tough it is to win on the road in this league. Today was no different. Without a few of their key guys, and nothing to lose, Lafayette played great and made big shot after big shot. Our offense got us good shots, and we made some, but our details on the defensive end were not good enough. After leading for most of the game, we didn't show the toughness necessary at either end down the stretch to get the result we wanted.
 
"This year's Patriot League has proved that anyone can win on any given night and our charge is now to prepare for Thursday's opponent, but most importantly to play our best basketball when it matters the most."
                                                                 
Next Up
• The Raiders travel to Army on Thursday for the Patriot League Quarterfinals. The two teams split the regular season series with both winning handily on their home courts.
• Game time is still yet to be determined.
• The Black Knights dropped an 82-72 decision to Lehigh on Saturday in their regular season finale.  
• The all-time series with Army stands at 60-58 in favor of the Black Knights.
• Live stats and video will be available at the start.