HAMILTON – The Colgate men's basketball team dropped a close 73-69 decision to Lafayette Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court. Due to results from around the league Saturday, the Raiders have secured the No. 6 seed in the Patriot League Tournament in addition to a first-round bye.
 
Sixth-seeded Colgate will head to third-seeded Lehigh Thursday for the Patriot League Quarterfinals. The winner advances to Sunday's semifinals.   
 
Junior Sean O'Brien led Colgate against Lafayette with a team-best 18 points. Junior Tom Rivard followed with 17, while classmate Jordan Swopshire chipped in 10.
 
The Leopards got out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first two minutes, but four points from Rivard, a layup from first-year Will Rayman and dunk from sophomore Malcolm Regisford helped Colgate pull within 10-8 at the 15:03 mark. Lafayette put five-straight points on the board, but O'Brien scored Colgate's next eight points to bring the Raiders back within one at 17-16 with 11:11 on the clock.
 
The Leopards then embarked on a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to pull ahead 26-16 with 6:21 left in the term. Three-pointers from Swopshire and O'Brien sparked a 14-9 Colgate run to close the half. The streak saw six points from O'Brien as the Raiders were able to pull within 35-30 heading into the locker room.
 
A Regisford layup and Rivard trey opened the second half as Colgate quickly tied the game at 35 less than two minutes into the stanza.  Lafayette's Paulius Zalys single handedly put the Leopards back ahead by five a minutes later and the teams exchanged baskets for the next few minutes before the Leopards controlled a 48-42 lead at the 12:39 mark.
 
A pair of Rivard free throws were followed by a three-pointer from Swopshire and a jumper from junior Jordan Robertson to help Colgate quickly put together a 7-2 run that narrowed the Lafayette lead to 50-49 two minutes later.
 
The Leopards answered with a 7-2 streak of their own and eventually stretched their lead to 65-58 with under four minutes to play. Lafayette held onto at least a five-point lead until the final minute when a Rayman trey and Rivard layup had the Raiders within 69-65 with 44.0 seconds on the clock.
 
Swopshire was then fouled when shooting a three-pointer and made all three free throws to make it 69-67 with 18 seconds to play. The Leopards made a pair of free throws on their next possession to pull ahead 71-67 with 13.7 seconds on the clock. Rivard tossed on a layup, but Lafayette added two points from the charity stripe in the final second to seal the 73-69 victory.
 
BOTTOM LINE

• Lafayette 73, Colgate 69

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• The Raiders wrap up the regular season at 8-10 in the Patriot League and 10-21 overall.
• Lafayette improves to 5-13 in league play and 9-20 overall.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• O'Brien's 18 points came from a 6-for-11 effort from the field and 4-for-8 clip from downtown. It marks his 20th double-digit scoring effort of the season.
• Rivard shot 7-for-8 from the field en route to his 17 points.
• Swopshire recorded his 18th double-digit effort of the season.
• O'Brien dished a career high-tying eight assists.
• Rayman pulled down a team-best six rebounds.

 
FACTS & FIGURES

• Colgate finished the game shooting 50.0 percent (24-for-48) from the field, 42.9 percent (9-for-21) from three-point range and 66.7 percent (12-for-18) from the free throw line.
• The Leopards shot 54.2 percent (26-for-48) from the field, 60.0 percent (9-for-15) from downtown and 66.7 percent (12-for-18) from the charity stripe.
• Lafayette controlled a 27-25 rebound edge.
• Matt Klinewski led Lafayette with 18 points.

 
 UP NEXT

• Colgate will open the Patriot League Tournament in the quarterfinal round at No. 3 Lehigh Thursday night at 7 p.m.
• The winner advances to Sunday's semifinals.
• Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.
• All information on how to follow can be found at Game Central.