HAMILTON – Colgate bounced back from its first Patriot League loss in over a year with a dominant 81-53 victory over second-place Lehigh here Wednesday night.
The Raiders led from start to finish to pick up their 12th conference win of the season, extending their lead to three games over the Mountain Hawks with five to go in the regular season.
Keegan Records scored 19 points and hauled in nine rebounds to lead Colgate offensively. Tucker Richardson finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Oliver Lynch-Daniels scored 12 to go with seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Jeff Woodward chipped in with 11 points, giving the Raiders 30 combined points from the center position.
Colgate shot 54 percent from the field with 26 assists on 35 made field goals. Defensively, the Raiders held Lehigh to 36 percent from the field and 24 percent behind the arc. Anchored by Records and Woodward, Colgate outscored the Mountain Hawks 56-28 in the paint.
Records converted a three-point play on the first possession to give Colgate the lead for good. Sam Thomson's layup midway through the first half stretched the lead to 24-14 and the margin was double-digits the rest of the way. Oliver Lynch-Daniels' 3-pointer sent the Raiders to halftime leading 43-26.
Colgate kept feeding the hot hands with 30 of its 38 points in the second half coming in the paint. Records (10) and Woodward (7) led the way for the Raiders, who shot a steady 50 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Records' layup with 4:44 left gave Colgate its largest lead of the game 76-45. The Raiders received several contributions off the bench, outscoring Lehigh's reserves 24-11, led by Woodward (11), Thomson (4), Nicolas Louis-Jacques (4), and Alex Capitano (3).
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
"Lehigh has had a pretty good league schedule. Obviously, they were a little short-handed tonight. Our guys did a nice job of taking advantage of the situation. We put good pressure on their guards and dominated in the paint. We talk about it all the time. The next game is always the most important one on the schedule.
"We had a good chance to reset after Saturday and had two really spirited practices this week. The community gives us great support every time out, and it makes a difference to play at home. Winning on the road is hard to do – hopefully, we can do it again Saturday – but there's no better place to play than here at Cotterell Court."
NOTES
- The Raiders improved to 7-0 at home during Patriot League play.
- Colgate hauled in a season-high 46 rebounds, winning the battle on the glass 46-30.
- The Raiders have held their opponent to 63 points or less in six consecutive games.
UP NEXT
Colgate (18-8, 12-1 Patriot) is back on the road to face Bucknell on Saturday at noon.
