BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Raiders put together their highest-scoring first half of the season before holding off a late Lehigh charge to earn a big 76-72 win at Stabler Arena Wednesday night.  

Colgate led by 28 points late in the first half and carried a 50-32 lead into halftime. The Mountain Hawks chipped away throughout the second half, pulling within two points in the final 15 seconds. A pair of big free throws from senior Sean O'Brien and a key defensive possession followed to seal the 76-72 wire-to-wire Raider win.

First-year Jordan Burns led four Raiders in double-figures with 18 points. O'Brien and senior Jordan Swopshire tallied 13 apiece. Senior Jordan Robertson chipped in 10 points to help Colgate hand the Mountain Hawks their first home loss of Patriot League play.

The Raiders were hot right out of the gate as Colgate made five of its first six shots to jump out to an 11-2 lead just over four minutes into the game. The Mountain Hawks were within three at 11-8, but a three-pointer from O'Brien sparked a 25-4 Colgate run over the next 6:35.

The streak saw eight points from Robertson and six apiece from O'Brien and Swopshire as Colgate was 7-for-11 from three-point range during the six-minute span. A pair of Robertson free throws capped the run that put Colgate's lead at 36-12 with 7:57 left in the opening half.

Colgate's advantage was at 50-22 with just over two minutes remaining in the term before Lehigh closed the half on a 10-0 streak. The Raiders still turned out their highest scoring first half of the season to take a 50-32 advantage into the locker room.

Nine points from Lehigh's Lance Tejada and eight from Pat Andree helped the Mountain Hawks open the second half on a 24-14 run to trim Colgate's lead down to single digits at 64-56 with under eight minutes to play. A corner three-pointer from sophomore Will Rayman had the Raiders in front by 10 at 72-62 with 3:14 to play, but Lehigh responded with six of the next eight points to pull all the way back within four at 74-70 with 1:27 on the clock.

Lehigh's Kahron Ross hit a jumper with 21 seconds left to make it 74-72. After a few Lehigh fouls and well-executed Colgate inbound plays, O'Brien converted two big free throws with 10 seconds on the clock to give the Raiders a four-point cushion. Robertson came up with a clutch block on Lehigh's final possession before a last-second shot flew wide and the Raiders held on to win 76-72.

BOTTOM LINE
•    Colgate 76, Lehigh 72

WON-LOST RECORDS
•    The Raiders improve to 9-9 overall and 4-3 in the Patriot League. Colgate is 3-1 in league away games.
•    The Mountain Hawks drop to 8-10 on the season and 3-4 in league action.

KEY RAIDER INFO
•    The win snapped a five game losing streak against the Mountain Hawks. Prior to tonight, Colgate's last victory over Lehigh came during 2014-15 season.
•    Burns finished 7-for-15 from the field and 4-for-7 from three-point range. The four three-pointers tied his career best. In addition to his 18 points, the rookie added four rebounds, three assists and three steals in the strong all-around effort.
•    All 13 of Swopshire's points came in the first half as he registered his 14th double-digit effort of the season.  The senior finished with a team-best seven rebounds.
•    O'Brien was 4-for-9 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range in addition to the two key free throws in the final seconds.
•    Robertson fell one point shy of his season high with 10 points. He added three rebounds and two blocks.
•    Junior Malcolm Regisford stuffed a season-high four blocks.
•    As a team, the Raiders registered a season-best eight blocks.

FACTS & FIGURES
•    Colgate finished the game shooting 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the field, highlighted by a 55.9 percent (19-for-34) effort in the first half.
•    The Raiders were 41.9 percent (13-for-31) from downtown, with 10 of those three-pointers coming in Colgate's big first half.
•    Colgate went 7-for-8 (87.5%) from the free throw line.
•    Lehigh finished the game with a 39-31 rebound edge.
•    Colgate tallied seven steals on 13 Lehigh turnovers.

FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
•    "This win means a lot for a lot of reasons. We haven't beaten Lehigh in five tries and it has been a couple of years so that means a lot. We've been working hard."
•    "I told the guys before the game that we haven't had any horrible games. We've been in every game we've played this year, which is important, but we haven't yet strung together a full 40 minutes."
•    "We probably had our best 18 minutes of basketball this season in the first half tonight. We lost our focus a little bit. Credit to Lehigh because you know they're going to come back and they've got some talented guys who started making shots. We fell off our assignments a little bit and didn't convert a few times we had good chances, and the next thing you know you're looking at a close game."
•    "It's a hard thing to do as a player to be up 28 points in a game and turn around and see that you're only up nine. Nine is usually a great lead, but all of the sudden nine starts to feel like you're losing."
•    "I credit our leadership and our veterans. Jordan Robertson was terrific tonight. He gave us some meaningful minutes, scored the ball and gave us good defense when we needed it. Sean O'Brien's free throws down the stretch were huge."

UP NEXT
•    The Raiders return home to host Loyola Saturday.
•    The Greyhounds are coming off 78-70 loss to first-place Bucknell Wednesday.
•    Tipoff from Cotterell Court is slated for 2 p.m.