UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Colgate turned a double-digit deficit into a one-possession game late in the second half, but reigning NIT Champion Penn State rallied down the stretch and held on to defeat the Raiders 76-65 Saturday afternoon inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
 
Four Raiders finished in double figures, led by 15 from Will Rayman and 14 from Rapolas Ivanauskas. First-year Tucker Richardson recorded a career-high 13 points and Jordan Burns finished with 10.
 
Penn State hit on six of its first 10 three-pointers to open a double-digit lead midway through the first half. Rasir Bolton had four of them from beyond the arc, his latest giving the Nittany Lions a 22-9 at the 11:19 mark of the opening period.
 
Francisco Amiel sparked the Raiders with a forced turnover and Jack Ferguson finished with a nice drive in the lane to get the Raiders back within nine with 10:33 left in the frame. Back-to-back treys from the Nittany Lions, however, capped a 10-0 scoring run to open the home team's largest lead of the night at 32-13 with just over seven minutes left.
 
Colgate turned the tides and closed the deficit to 11 at intermission. Playing more aggressive in the paint, a layup by Dana Batt ignited a quick 6-0 run and Burns buried a triple with 3:39 left to cut the Penn State lead to 37-22. Richardson forced a turnover on the next Nittany Lion possession and Ivanauskas finished with a slam to pull the Raiders within 13, before a layup from Rayman closed the first half with the score 41-30.
 
The Nittany Lions tallied the first five points of the second half but the Raiders came roaring back from there. Richardson hit three treys in the second half -- all in just over a three minute span -- and another from Rayman cut the Penn State lead to single digits at nine (53-44) with 13:14 showing on the clock. 
 
The Raiders defense held Penn State without a field goal for nearly four minutes and the margin was down to six, 57-51, after a three-ball from Amiel from the top of the key with 8:58 left. With it a four-point game at 61-57, Colgate forced turnovers on four straight Penn State possessions but could not get any closer than three points after a layup from Ivanauskas made it 65-62 with 2:44 left.

The Raiders came away with a couple possessions to tie the game but could not capitalize. Penn State closed the game on an 11-0 scoring run, before Ferguson sank a three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to send the game to its final score, 76-65. 

BOTTOM LINE
• Penn State 76, Colgate 65
 
FOR THE RECORD
• Colgate fell to 7-4 on the season and back to .500 on the road at 4-4.
• Penn State improved to 5-4 on the season and 4-1 at home.

FROM THE SOURCE
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: 

"I am proud of the way we fought back today but at the same time disappointed that we did not play the way we should for a long stretch of the game. Some of it is was adjusting to this environment and playing against a team with their size, strength, and athletic ability, but part of it is the concentration and focus on a day-to-day basis that we need to have to be ready for a game like this.
 
"It is hard to win once you get down that much, but we certainly showed signs of the team we can be by battling back. We were much more focused on our details in the second half and stopping their strengths. We played some different defenses and just moved the ball around. We read the defense better. We did a lot of things that are going to be important for us to be a good offensive team. 
 
"We're looking forward to getting back home. This will be our first chance in a while to have a few back-to-back days of practice. Hopefully we can focus and work hard to get better as a team over these next 4-5 days because Marist is playing well. It will be nice to go into the holiday break with a win."

KEY RAIDER NOTES
• Colgate outscored Penn State in the paint, 28-22.
• Richardson finished 3-of-3 from distance in the second half.
• Burns finished with seven of his 10 points coming in the second half.
• Richardson and Burns each recorded a career-high three steals.
• Rayman finished 4-of-9 from the floor, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, and took all eight Raider throws.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the field and 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc.
• The Raiders finished with a 62.5 mark (5-of-8) on free throws.
• Penn State finished 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the floor and 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from three-point range.
• The Nittany Lions were 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) from the charity stripe.  

UP NEXT
• Colgate returns to action next Saturday for its final home game of the 2018 season.
• The Raiders take on Marist with tip from Cotterell Court slated for 2 p.m.