HAMILTON – The Colgate men's basketball team got out to an early lead and held off a late Navy rally to capture a 55-52 victory and snap the Mids' eight-game win streak Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
 
The Raiders got out to an early 22-9 lead and held off a late Navy rally as the Mids pulled within one in the final minute. Colgate's stout defensive effort held Navy to a season-low 32.8 field goal percentage to hand the second-place Mids their first loss since Jan. 5.
 
Junior Jordan Swopshire led the Raiders with 13 points, while classmate Sean O'Brien followed with 10. First-year Will Rayman chipped in nine points. Junior Jordan Robertson and sophomore Malcolm Regisford added seven points apiece to round out a balanced team effort.
 
Navy scored the game's first basket, but a Rayman layup, Regisford jumper and seven-straight Swopshire points put together an 11-0 Raider run that gave Colgate an early 11-2 lead with under 16 minutes to play.
 
A pair of Navy free throws halted the Colgate streak at the 15:31 mark, but a monstrous Regisford dunk followed to keep Colgate's lead at nine. The Raiders were still ahead by nine at 18-9 a few minutes later before an O'Brien layup and beautiful Robertson alley-oop stretched Colgate's lead to 22-9 at 9:14 and forced a Navy timeout.
 
The Mids scored six of the game's next eight points to pull within 24-15, but layups from sophomore Dana Batt and junior Tom Rivard put Colgate's advantage back in double-figures at 28-17 with four minutes left in the term. Navy added six points compared to Colgate's three in final minutes, but the Raiders were able to carry a 31-23 lead into the locker room.
 
The teams exchanged baskets to open the second half, but Navy put together a 13-6 run over a six-minute span to trim the Raider lead down to three at 41-28 with 9:55 to play. An O'Brien jumper sparked a 7-0 Raider run that was capped off by a Robertson trey as Colgate came back to take a 10-point lead at 48-38 with 7:34 on the clock.
 
Navy answered with nine of the game's next 12 points to narrow the Raider advantage to 51-47 with under three minutes to play. Colgate remained ahead by four at 53-49 with 1:02 on the clock before Navy's Bryce Dulin drained a corner three to put the score at 53-52 with 48 seconds to play.
 
Colgate couldn't convert on its next possession, giving the ball back to Navy with 23 seconds on the clock. The Mids missed a pair of attempts before O'Brien corralled a huge rebound and drew a foul. The junior captain made both of his attempts at the free throw line to give Colgate a 55-52 lead with seven seconds to play. The Mids would have one more shot, but Colgate's strong defense prevailed to seal the 55-52 victory.  
 
 
BOTTOM LINE

• Colgate 55, Navy 52

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• The Raiders improve to 6-6 in Patriot League play and 8-17 on the season.
• Navy's eight-game win streak comes to a close as the Mids fall to 8-4 in league play and 13-11 overall.

 
 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• The Raiders held a Navy team that was averaging 69.1 points per Patriot League game to just 52 points. It was Navy's second-lowest offensive output of the league season.
• The win marks Colgate's second league home victory of the season.
• Swopshire's 13 points came from a 4-for-6 showing from three-point range.
• Regisford pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
• Sophomore Francisco Amiel dished a career-high seven assists. It bested his previous high of five helpers.

 
FACTS & FIGURES

• The Raiders finished the game shooting 45.7 percent (21-for-46) from the field, 30.4 percent (7-for-23) from three-point range and 85.7 percent (6-for-7) from the free throw line.
• The Mids shot 32.8 percent (19-for-58) from the floor, 30.4 percent (7-for-23) from downtown and 85.7 percent (6-for-7) from the charity stripe.
• The Mids controlled a 34-33 rebound edge.
• Navy pulled down 15 offensive boards, but scored just eight second-chance points.
• Shawn Anderson led the Mids with 12 points, while Hasan Abdullah followed with 11.

 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel

• "I was really proud of the overall team effort. A guy like Jordan Robertson steps in and played with confidence and made a lot of great little plays. Navy is a fantastic offensive rebounding team and we did a really good job of keeping them off the offensive glass."
• "We were poised and made a lot of really good decisions. We made some timely shots and certainly made some big free throws. We did a good job of not giving them the best of looks

UP NEXT

• The Raiders remain home to host Army West Point Wednesday night.
• Tipoff from Cotterell Court is set for 7 p.m.
• Colgate will be looking to complete the season sweep of the Black Knights after claiming a 79-76 overtime victory in the season's first meeting on Jan. 11 in West Point.
• All information on how to follow can be found at Game Central.