LEWISBURG, Pa. – Earn the home court and you get the spoils.
 
Top-seeded Bucknell completed a second-straight sweep of the Patriot League regular season and tournament titles with an 83-54 home-court decision over second-seeded Colgate here Wednesday night.
 
The final margin can't put a damper on what remains an outstanding Colgate basketball season. The 19-win Raiders await word on a possible invitational postseason bid, while Bucknell earns the league's automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
 
All-Tournament Team member Will Rayman scored 17 and Jordan Burns added 12 to lead Colgate. The Raiders held Patriot League Player of the Year Zach Thomas to five points, but the senior forward paced all rebounders with a dozen.
 
Bucknell's Stephen Brown was the scoring leader with 22.
 
Just as Colgate's home crowd did Sunday at Cotterell Court, nearly 4,000 fans in orange at Sojka Pavilion had an impact. Bucknell rode waves of noise and momentum to a 35-21 halftime lead, putting together runs of 9-0 and 14-0 in the first half, and 17-0 in the second to keep the Raiders out of striking range.
 
A miracle last-minute comeback would not be necessary this time against Colgate.
 
This marks the eighth time in 12 tries that the Patriot League regular season champion has celebrated a tournament title on its home floor. Bucknell owns the last four doubles, all since 2011.
 
Bottom Line
Bucknell 83, Colgate 54
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 19-13.
• Bucknell improved to 25-9.
 
Game Recap
• Points were at a premium over the first 10 minutes.
• It was 13-10 Raiders with 9:15 left before halftime on the strength of seven points from Rayman.
• But seemingly out of nowhere, Bucknell answered with a 23-2 run over a 5:07 span that surged the Bison in front 33-15.
• Colgate made up a bit of ground and went to the locker room trailing 35-21.
• As nip-and-tuck as the early portion of the first half was, both teams came out smoking to start the second stanza.
• By the first timeout, it was 11-11 for the opening 4:10.
• But that meant the Raiders were merely trading baskets; they never got closer than 11 points.
• Bucknell's third big run of the game, 17-0, pushed the lead to 66-36 with 9:02 remaining.
• The Bison began removing starters around the 5-minute mark and coasted to the 83-54 final.
 
Key Raider Info
• Colgate was vying for its third Patriot League title and first since the Raiders won back-to-back in 1995 and 1996.
• The Raiders were in the championship game for the first time since 2008.
• Colgate's five-game winning streak came to an end. It was the program's longest since 2008.
• This was the first Colgate-Bucknell meeting in the Patriot League tournament since the Raiders won 54-40 during their 2008 run.
• Bucknell earned its eighth NCAA tournament bid and played in the tournament final for a record 12th time.
 
Patriot League All-Tournament Team
• Stephen Brown, Bucknell (MVP)
• Will Rayman, COLGATE
• Jehyve Floyd, Holy Cross
• Nana Foulland, Bucknell
• Zach Thomas, Bucknell
 
From the Sources
• Head Coach Matt Langel (On the game) "I'm proud of my guys. I'm proud of our season, of our fight and our ability to get here. Obviously, we kind of ran into a buzz saw tonight. That's the team Bucknell could be all year long, and whether those guys knew to save their best for last and build up to it, I have no idea. They were fantastic. They were very well prepared and their players played great.
 
"I've got to tip my cap to the champions. They are regular season and tournament champions for a reason."
 
"If you look at any team in the country in any conference, if you take three first-team all-league players and they're from one team, that's going to be a really difficult team to stop. Stephen Brown has been playing like the league MVP. He's got the ball in his hands, he's making really good decisions, he's making jump shots and he's finding his teammates. They have the player of the year, and not only three first-team all-leagues but they've got two players of the year on the same team.
 
"They space the floor and they know how to play with one another. They're a really good all-around basketball team."
 
(On Sean O'Brien) "When we recruited him, I didn't know he would be a 1,000-point scorer or a guy who I could never take off the court. I thought he would be a guy who would help our program, but I didn't know the magnitude that he would help our program.
 
"To be an all-conference player and a 1,000-point scorer, and certainly in my time, the winningest player we've had – I just respect and love him so much for everything he's poured into Colgate Basketball. For me, selfishly, I would love to keep playing because I'd love to keep coaching him and his teammates and keep this season going because it's been a really special year for us."
 
• Senior guard Sean O'Brien (On advancing to the championship game) "Ever since my freshman year, our ultimate goal has been to compete for a championship. This is the first time we've played for a championship in my four years, but it didn't just start this year. We wanted to build a different legacy, and this year we had some success toward that goal. It started with guys before me but the seniors this year wanted to take the program further."
 
(On playing in a postseason tournament) "Coach Langel mentioned that is a possibility. It's hard to process that right now; we just had a tough loss. But we will handle that in the next few days."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Sojka Pavilion was 3,946.
 
Up Next
• Colgate finds out Sunday night if the team earns a bid to an invitational postseason tournament.