LEWISBURG, Pa. – Led by six Raiders in double figures and a stellar shooting performance from the free throw line, Colgate bounced back to beat Bucknell 84-73 on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
Braeden Smith paced Colgate with 14 points to go with nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Nicolas Louis-Jacques scored 13 on 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Brady Cummins and Sam Thomson each had 11 points and Jeff Woodward 10. The Raiders finished 27-of-31 from the free throw line for a season-best 87.1 percent clip in the victory.
COACH LANGEL'S COMMENTS
"Really nice to get a win on the road. League games on the road are so difficult. We've continued to have good practices and our guys responded. Total group effort for sure. We didn't all play our best but we were focused on the right things.
"We got enough stops there early in the second half to get the game going in our direction and fight off a Bucknell group that's really motivated to compete. Great environment for a college basketball game. Proud of the group for finding a way to get a win. Now we get ready to move on for what's going to be a challenging week ahead."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cummins swished a buzzer-beating triple to give Colgate the lead for good, 37-34, heading into halftime. Smith and Louis-Jacques opened the second half with back-to-back treys to push an 11-0 Raider run into a 45-34 lead with 18:05 remaining in the game.
Bucknell cut the deficit down to four after two free throws from Jack Forrest made it 59-55 with 8:06 to play but that was as close as the home team would get. Smith beat the shot clock with a runner in the lane and Moffatt cashed a 3-pointer in a quick 5-0 response to ease the pressure with the lead back to double-digits, 69-58, with 1:51 to go.
Colgate finished 27-of-31 from the free throw line, including 24-for-28 in the second half alone, to seal the 84-73 victory.
The Raiders shot 44.4 percent overall (24-54) and 47.4 percent from the perimeter (9-19). Bucknell shot 47.5 percent from the field (28-59), 31.6 percent from three-point range, and 64.7 percent (11-17) from the charity stripe. Bucknell won the battle on the glass, 33-32.
The first half was back and forth with neither team leading by more than five points. Colgate's best run was sparked by a nifty up-and-under from Parker Jones. His efforts led to an 8-2 burst, capped off by a second-chance layup from Woodward giving the Raiders a 21-16 lead.
Chandler Baker scored seven points in the first half, another key contributor to Colgate's bench outscoring Bucknell's reserves 30-8. The Bison climbed back to tie the game 34-34 on a jumper from Elvin Edmonds with 1:51 left in the half.
On the final possession of the half, Smith let the game clock wind to under eight seconds before driving to the lane. He was blocked off before kicking the ball out to an open Cummins, who swished a 3-pointer at the horn to give the Raiders a 37-34 halftime lead.
Cummins' trey was the beginning of Colgate's 11-0 run that carried over to the second half and Colgate led the rest of the way.
GAME NOTES
- Brady Cummins made his second career start, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds in a season-high 29 minutes played.
- Six Raiders finished in double figures for the first time since Colgate beat Loyola 92-73 in last year's Patriot League semifinals (March 2, 2023) at Cotterell Court.
- Colgate's 27 made free throws were its most in a game since making 29 against Holy Cross on Jan. 17, 2021.
- The Raiders have won three straight in Sojka Pavilion for the first time in program history as part of their seven-game head-to-head win streak against Bucknell.
UP NEXT
Colgate (9-8, 3-1 PL) is back on the road next Wednesday, Jan. 17, to take on Army (5-12, 1-3 PL) with a 6 p.m. tipoff set from Christl Arena.
