HAMILTON – Ben Tweedy scored a career-high 28 points and
Jalen Cox recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 11 assists to lead Colgate to a 90-77 Patriot League quarterfinal victory over Loyola on Thursday night at Cotterell Court.
With the win, the Raiders advance to their ninth straight Patriot League semifinal and will face second-seeded Lehigh at noon Sunday at Stabler Arena.
Tweedy shot 9-of-12 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range. Cox added 11 assists with just one turnover.
Andrew Alekseyenko, who received his Patriot League Rookie of the Year plaque before the game, finished with 17 points and five rebounds.
Colgate shot a league season-best 62.7 percent from the field, 42 percent from beyond the arc, and 78.3 percent from the foul line while recording 19 assists on 32 made baskets.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tweedy set the tone early, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first nine minutes and assisting on Cam Brennan's two-handed dunk that gave Colgate a 23-6 lead midway through the first half.
Loyola answered with a 12-0 run sparked by 3-pointers from Jacob Theodosiou and Troy Cicero Jr., and later trimmed the deficit to 32-29 on back-to-back threes from Braeden Speed and Jordan Stiemke.
Tweedy scored 17 first-half points, including two late free throws during a 5-1 run that sent Colgate into halftime with a 46-39 lead.
Loyola briefly took a 56-55 lead on Cicero's 3-pointer with 14:33 remaining, but Tweedy and
Kyle Carlesimo responded with consecutive threes to spark an 8-2 run that put the Raiders back in front for good.
Cox led the closing push, scoring 14 of his 21 points in the second half. His back-to-back up-and-under baskets keyed a 9-1 run that extended Colgate's lead to 78-66 with under six minutes remaining.
Colgate broke the press and converted free throws down the stretch to seal the 90-77 win.
NOTES & NUMBERS
- Ben Tweedy has now scored at least 12 points in each of his last five games on the heels of his second 20-point game of the season.
- Jalen Cox has tied Murphy Burnatowski '12 for the most 20-point games in a season (at least since 2010) with 12.
- The Raiders now have six 90-point games this season, the second-most in the Langel era behind the 2022-23 team that posted seven such performances.
- Colgate had two 20-point scores in Ben Tweedy (28) and Jalen Cox (21) for the first time since Jan. 24 against Boston U.
- Colgate advances to the Patriot League semifinals for the ninth consecutive year, improving to 28-2 all-time at home in the tournament.
- Colgate is now 14-0 all-time against Loyola at home, including 3-0 in the Patriot League tournament.
UP NEXT
Colgate (18-14) heads back to Bethlehem, Pa., where Lehigh's Nasir Whitlock made a jumper at the buzzer to beat the Raiders 77-76 in overtime on Jan. 31. The Mountain Hawks also won by one point on a last-second shot in the Jan. 10 meeting in Hamilton, 78-77.
