HAMILTON – Colgate's first home Patriot League loss in more than three years came to the hands of Lafayette, 69-64, on Wednesday evening at Cotterell Court.
The loss is Colgate's first against a Patriot League opponent at Cotterell Court since Jan. 3, 2021, when Army bounced back from a 101-57 loss to beat the Raiders 75-73 one day later. Colgate had won 23 straight regular season home games against conference foes – and 32 total including the postseason with three straight titles at Cotterell Court.
COACH LANGEL'S COMMENTS
"Lafayette deserved to win the game tonight. They were way more disciplined. We played to their style, we got frustrated and that affected us too much. It's taking us too long to find the identity of the game. Once we start to recognize what the challenge is for any given game, we'll become the team that we think we can be.
"Conference play is hard. Winning streaks don't matter. All that matters is being as ready as you can be when the ball goes up the next time. That's where our efforts will continue to lie."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colgate never led in this one. The early woes continued and Lafayette led 6-1 at the first timeout. A six-minute scoring drought in the first half allowed the visitors to establish a 22-13 lead, ended by a two-handed slam from Jeff Woodward with 5:36 left in the opening frame.
Woodward's dunk sparked a brief stint of momentum but Lafayette answered with a 9-2 burst, capped by a 3-pointer from center Justin Vander Baan giving the visitors their largest lead of the game, 31-17, with 1:32 left in the first half. Keegan Records scored the final five points of the first half to cut the deficit to 31-22 at the intermission.
Lafayette scored the first basket of the second half before a 3-pointer from Nicolas Louis-Jacques – Colgate's first triple after going 0-for-7 in the first half – ignited a 9-0 burst bookended by a free throw from Ryan Moffatt to slice the margin to 33-31.
Colgate still trailed by two, 45-43, after a three-point play by Woodward with 10:29 to go.
Moffatt swished a pair of triples on back-to-back possessions, each time cutting the deficit to three points, but Colgate could not get a stop when it needed one most and the Leopards pulled away with a 12-2 run to establish a 66-53 lead with 1:08 to go.
The Raiders fought to the final buzzer, closing an 11-point gap down to three points (67-64) with 13 seconds left after Lafayette struggled from the free throw line, but the Leopards made just enough down the stretch to seal the final score 69-64.
Colgate shot 38 percent from the field (23-61) and 30 percent from behind the arc (5-17). Lafayette connected on 48 percent from the field (25-52) and 35 percent from the perimeter (6-of-17).
GAME NOTES
- Ryan Moffatt scored his first collegiate double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
- Keegan Records posted his second double-double of the season and ninth of his career, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Colgate (8-8, 2-1 PL) continues Patriot League action on Saturday when the Raiders visit Bucknell (5-11, 2-1 PL) for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff from Sojka Pavilion.
