HAMILTON, N.Y. – It's official. The Raiders are Patriot League regular season champs.
Colgate clinched the program's sixth regular season championship and third under head coach
Matt Langel with another gritty performance – knocking off American 63-49 Monday night for its 10th consecutive win.
The Patriot League tournament runs through Hamilton for the third consecutive year in the league's full-season format.
First it was the storybook 2018-19 season that saw the Raiders capture their first regular season championship since the mid-90s. Then it was the back-to-back regular season title in 2019-20. Now it's the red-hot Raiders bringing home another one in 2021-22.
The Patriot League didn't label a regular season champion for the shortened 2020-21 season. Colgate at 11-1 earned the No. 2 seed, but hosted the championship after top-seeded Navy lost in the semifinals. The defending-champion Raiders have another chance at history in 2022.
Jack Ferguson led three Raiders in double figures Monday night with 15 points.
Tucker Richardson scored 13 points and matched his career high with four steals, and
Keegan Records posted his second double-double in four games with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Raiders made another championship run in the second half. American cut it to 33-30 four minutes into the second half when Colgate plotted a 15-1 run over four minutes.
Nelly Cummings swished 3-pointers on each end of the run to put the Raiders in front 48-31.
Colgate's double-digit lead stood all the way to the finish line. The Raiders led by as many as 19 and stayed unbeaten in February with the 14-point victory.
A back-and-forth opening half saw five lead changes and eight tie scores. Ferguson answered two three-balls from American with a pair of his own before Richardson added a scoop and score to tie things up at 20-20 with 7:51 showing on the clock.
Records found some rhythm down low and keyed a quick 10-3 run with five points over a four-minute stretch to open a 30-23 lead at the final media timeout of the first half. American scored six of the final seven points and closed the gap to 31-26 at the break.
Colgate outscored the Eagles 32-23 over the final 20 minutes en route to its 10th consecutive win.
Colgate's 14 Patriot League wins match 2019-20 for the most in program history.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
"To win the last three regular season championships is a big deal. To win one is a big deal, but for this group to be at the top now for three consecutive years is incredible to be honest. To have home court again for the playoffs, we need to stay in this rhythm and continue to grow our crowd and take advantage of playing at home."
"Tonight's win was big. We didn't talk about how there was a regular season championship on the line but the guys knew and we played a little uptight. We turned it over uncharacteristically in the first half. Our determination showed through in the second half. We made better decisions, took care of the ball, made some shots, and got a number of stops on the other end.
"We've been a one-day-at-a-time team for a long time now. Playing Monday-Wednesday-Saturday for four straight weeks is uncharted territory and it's going pretty well. The guys have been really focused and that's what we need to continue to do to grow and learn and be better versions of ourselves."
UP NEXT
Colgate (18-11, 14-2 Patriot) is on the road for one last time during the regular season Wednesday at Holy Cross with tipoff set for 7 p.m. The Raiders return home Saturday for the regular season finale and Senior Day against Navy at 2 p.m. Postseason tickets are scheduled to go on sale Wednesday morning. Stay tuned to ColgateAthletics.com for more information.
