HAMILTON – Colgate made just enough plays to match its best Patriot League start in program history with Saturday's 71-65 victory over Bucknell at Cotterell Court.
The Raiders with the win improved to 6-0 in the Patriot League for just the second time ever, matching the 1996-97 team for the best start to conference play in program history.
Tucker Richardson filled the stat sheet with 23 points, five assists, five rebounds, and four steals in Colgate's sixth consecutive win. Oliver Lynch-Daniels (13) and Jeff Woodward (10) were also in double-figures, while Keegan Records and Sam Thomson each scored eight points.
After a back-and-forth first half, Colgate broke it open with a 12-4 surge early in the second half. Back-to-back layups for Records sparked the run, capped off by a Richardson drive to push Colgate's lead to 52-44 with 11:04 remaining.
Colgate led by as many as 13 points (63-50) after an alley-oop from Richardson to Records highlighted a 9-2 run. Bucknell hung around and cut the margin to 69-65 after a 3-pointer by Xander Rice with seven seconds left.
The Raiders missed three straight 1-and-1 front end opportunities, but Richardson and Chandler Baker sank Colgate's final four attempts from the line to hold off the Bison, 71-65.
Colgate shot 49.1 percent overall, 33.3 percent from behind the arc, and 59.1 percent from the charity stripe. Bucknell was 19-of-20 from the foul line and connected on 42 percent from the field.
There were eight ties and eight lead changes in the first half. Bucknell led by as many as six points (17-11) before six straight points by Richardson brought the game even 22-22 with 7:36 left in the opening stanza.
Jack Forrest had back-to-back baskets for the Bison, who established a 28-24 advantage, but Colgate held Bucknell scoreless over the final 2:00 of the first half. A steal by Ryan Moffatt led to a two-handed transition slam for Sam Thomson to give the Raiders a 34-32 edge at halftime.
Andre Screen scored the first six points of the second half for the Bison, who led 38-37 when Colgate turned the tides with a 12-4 run to take the lead for good.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
"Our experience, intensity, and ability to recognize the game that we were in was the difference in the second half. We certainly didn't play our best and Bucknell played pretty well, which is coming to be normal for us to get everybody's best shot. I'm proud of this group and their toughness to find a way to make enough plays and get enough separation."
NOTES
- The Raiders improved to 29-1 over the past two seasons when their opponent scores less than 70 points. Wisconsin is the only team to beat Colgate with less than 70 points during that span after holding on for a 67-60 decision in the first round of last year's NCAA tournament.
- Tucker Richardson is five steals away from passing Pat Campolieta '02 (193) for the most in program history.
- Oliver Lynch-Daniels' six assists were a career-high.
UP NEXT
Colgate (12-7, 6-0 Patriot) heads to Worcester, Mass., on Wednesday for its first meeting against Holy Cross this season. Tip-off from the Hart Center is 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
