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HAMILTON – The Colgate men's basketball team clung to a one-point lead with 4:34 to play, but closed the game on a 15-4 run to earn a 70-58 victory over Army West Point Wednesday night at Cotterell Court.
 
With the win, Colgate completes its first season sweep of Army since the 2008-09 season. The Raiders won the season's first meeting 79-76 in overtime on Jan. 11.
 
First-year Will Rayman put together a monster game with 28 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Junior Sean O'Brien followed with 15 points, while classmate Jordan Swopshire chipped in 14.
 
The Raiders started 4-for-4 from the field got out to an early 10-0 lead just over two and a half minutes into the game to force an early Army timeout. Colgate cooled off, however, as the Raiders weren't able to convert a field goal in the next nine minutes and Army put together a 14-3 run to take a 14-13 lead with 9:05 to play.
 
Swopshire then embarked on a personal 8-0 run over the next two minutes before sophomore Dana Batt tossed in a layup to put Colgate back in front 22-14 with just over six minutes on the clock. Army once again answered with a run of their own, this one a 9-3 streak, to narrow the Colgate advantage to 25-23 with 2:28 to play.
 
Rayman answered with back-to-back three-pointers as Colgate scored six of the half's final eight points to carry a 31-25 lead into the locker room.
 
Five points from Rayman helped Colgate open the second half on a 9-2 streak to stretch the Raider lead to 40-27 and force another Army timeout less than five minutes into the term. An 11-2 Black Knight streak pulled Army within four at 42-38 as the clock wound down to 11:26.
 
Colgate was back ahead by seven at 48-41, but the Black Knights put the game's next six points on the board to trim the Raider lead down to 48-47 with just under eight minutes to play.
 
Five points from Rayman helped Colgate go back up by five at 55-50, but Army once again worked its way within one at 55-54 with 4:34 on the clock. That would prove to be as close as Army would get the rest of the way, however, as a Swopshire trey sparked a 7-0 Colgate run and gave the Raiders a 62-54 cushion with just under three minutes to play.
 
The Black Knights wouldn't get closer than six the rest of the way as Colgate closed the game out with a 6-for-6 showing from the free throw line en route to the 70-58 victory.
 
 
BOTTOM LINE

• Colgate 70, Army West Point 58

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• The Raiders earn their second-straight win and move to 7-6 in Patriot League play and 9-17 overall.
• Army falls to 9-16 overall and 3-10 in Patriot League action.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• Colgate has won five of its last seven games and the Raiders secure back-to-back wins for the second time this season.
• Rayman's 28 points mark his fifth 20-plus point game of the season and 19th double-digit effort. His 28 points tie his second-highest scoring effort.
• Rayman's 28 points came from a 9-for-14 effort from the field, 4-for-5 showing from downtown and 6-for-9 performance from the free throw line.
• O'Brien's 15 points were aided by a 6-for-6 showing from the charity stripe.
• Swopshire tallied his fourth-straight double-digit effort. 
• Rayman added a team-best seven rebounds.
• Amiel dished a squad-high five assists.

 
FACTS & FIGURES

• Colgate finished the game shooting 43.2 percent (19-for-44) from the field , 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from three-point range and 78.6 percent (22-for-28) from the free throw line.
• Colgate's 22 free throws were a season high.
• Army shot 42.0 percent (21-for-50) from the floor, 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from downtown and 76.9 percent (10-for-13) from the charity stripe.
• The Black Knights were led by Tommy Funk's 13 points. Matt Wilson followed with 12 points.

 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel

• "I think our defense has continued to improve and I'm really proud of how connected we've been on the defensive end. We knew we needed to stay determined to play 40 minutes of basketball, and our guys did a really good job of that."
• "Will Rayman has improved so much as a player. He had some big scoring nights early on in the season, but has improved so much as a player since then. He's taken less shots and still scored big numbers."

 
UP NEXT

• The Raiders hit the road for a nationally-televised battle at first-place Bucknell Monday.
• Tipoff from Sojka Pavillion is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be aired live on CBS Sports Network.
• All information on how to follow can be found at Game Central.