Feb. 7, 2007
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - An Andrew Brown three-point attempt to tie the game fell short as time expired as Colgate walked away with a 54-51 victory over Lafayette on Wednesday night at Kirby Sports Center. Colgate used 15 points from Jon Simon while the Leopards were led by Bilal Abdullah with 14 points.
The Leopards, who trailed for the majority of the game, showed their resiliency throughout the second half. Lafayette sliced the Colgate lead to three (51-48) off two Ted Detmer free throws with 2:51 on the clock. The game stayed at a stalemate, with each team unable to capitalize on critical possessions down the stretch. An Abdullah free throw narrowed the Raider lead to two with 21 seconds remaining.
Sitting on six team fouls, Lafayette was forced to foul twice to send Colgate to the line. Two quick fouls from Andrew Brown sent Willie Morse to the charity stripe, where he converted on both attempts, placing the Raider lead back to four (52-48).
A steal on the ensuing possession by Kyle Chones forced the Leopards into another foul situation. Chones missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Abdullah responded with a traditional three-point play at the other end to again trim the deficit to one (52-51). Two more Morse free throws with five seconds remaining upped the Raider lead to three and gave the Leopards one last attempt to send the game into overtime.
Out of a 30-second timeout, Brown used a fade screen to get open for a good look at a three-pointer from the right side of the court. However, his attempt fell short and Colgate held on for the three-point victory.
Both teams got off to a slow start, combining for 21 points through the first seven and a half minutes. A Paul Cummins three-pointer gave Lafayette (8-16, 2-7) an 11-10 advantage with 12:31 left in the first half. From there, Colgate rode an 11-0 run, starting and ending with Simon three-pointers to give the Raiders a 21-11 lead at the 10:16 mark.
Lafayette began to chip away at the Colgate lead. A quick 12-5 spurt by the Leopards, capped off by an Abdullah free throw cut the deficit to three (26-23) with 5:03 left before intermission. Colgate led 31-29 at the break.
Detmer finished with his first double-double of the season (the team's second) for Lafayette, tallying 12 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Brown was the third Leopard in double figures, finishing with 10 points on the evening. Along with Simon, Kyle Chones was the only other Raider in double figures, recording 11 points on the night.
Lafayette shot an uncharacteristic 36 percent (16-for-51) from the field, while the Raiders finished at 37 percent (18-for-48) on the night. Colgate held a slim 37-34 advantage on the boards.
The Leopards were 15-for-21 (71 percent) from the free throw line, paced by Detmer's 8-for-9 evening. Colgate was 9-for-15 (60 percent) from the charity stripe.
Lafayette will use the next two days to prepare for a showdown with Navy on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
NOTES:
STREAK SNAPPED: The Raider win ends a three-game winning streak for the Leopards over Colgate.
BLOCK PARTY: In addition to his career high in rebounds, Detmer continued his control on the paint in the blocking department. The junior finished with two blocks to add to bring his season total to 18. He also added four steals.
