HAMILTON – Extended scoring droughts and Harvard's hot shooting were too much to overcome despite a career-high 22 points from
Nicolas Louis-Jacques in Colgate's 76-70 loss to the Crimson on Wednesday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
"Harvard is a really good team and well-coached," head coach Matt Langel said. "They were disciplined and made their shots. We had some opportunities but didn't take advantage. We made too many defensive mistakes and we've got to clean that up.
"We have to keep working hard to not let that happen, especially playing against a talented team like Harvard. We're playing championship-caliber teams and when we don't play well, it makes it really hard to win against competition like that."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colgate raced off to a hot start with early 3-pointers from Louis-Jacques, Braeden Smith, and Ryan Moffatt establishing a 19-15 lead following a tip-in layup by Jeff Woodward.
From there, Colgate faced its first scoring drought, allowing Harvard to take control with a 18-2 run over 6:42 of game time. The Crimson were 7-of-10 from the field during their streak, including a pair of 3-pointers from Denham Wojcik giving the visitors a 33-21 lead.
Colgate cut it to single-digits after back-to-back drives from Louis-Jacques and Keegan Records ended the cold spell. Parker Jones' trey brought the Raiders within 36-30 at halftime.
Louis-Jacques started the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers but that wasn't enough to slow the Crimson, who raced on a 14-3 run behind a sharp 6-of-8 mark from the field. Smith's third 3-pointer of the afternoon trimmed the deficit to 54-44 with 12:34 left.
Another tough offensive stretch saw Colgate go without a field goal for nearly six minutes. Free throws from Records and Sam Thomson were the Raiders' only points during the stretch until Moffatt's 3-pointer cut the margin to 61-51 with 6:38 left.
Louis-Jacques gave the Raiders one last gasp with five unanswered points on back-to-back three-point plays. He swished two more 3s on consecutive possessions to bring Colgate within 69-66 with 29 seconds to go.
Jalen Cox and Smith made a pair of quick baskets in the waning moments but Harvard was strong enough from the free throw line to hold off the win, 76-70.
UP NEXT
Colgate (3-3) returns to Cotterell Court next Wednesday, Nov. 29, for an 8:30 p.m. tip-off against Binghamton.
