Jan. 14, 2009

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Easton, Pa. - It was a game of who wanted it more, and Lafayette emerged victorious. The Leopards (5-11, 1-1) edged Colgate (5-10, 1-1) on Wednesday night in their conference home opener, 69-62.

Freshman Ryan Willen recorded double figures in points (14) for the third consecutive game and also added six rebounds to lead Lafayette. Andrew Brown and Jared Mintz complemented their teammate with 13 points and 12 points, respectively.

Lafayette held Colgate scoreless for the first three and a half minutes as Jeff Kari blocked a shot and the Leopards forced three straight turnovers.

The lead exchanged hands eight times in the first half before Lafayette took command in the final two minutes. Willen sank two free throws to tie it at 27 and Kari followed with a coast-to-coast layup to put the Leopards up 29-27.

Michael Gruner picked off a Colgate pass on the next possession, which led to a Willen layup. Though Trevaron Vinson laid it in with 24 seconds remaining, Lafayette had the last word. Freshman Nick Petkovich drained a three from the corner with five seconds to go to give the Leopards a 34-29 halftime lead.

The Raiders went on a 9-0 run midway through the second half to regain the lead after Jonson hit consecutive layups, 44-43. With the score tied at 50, Brown drained a three at 6:10 remaining before chipping in a layup on the Leopards' next possession, 55-52.

Brown's jumper with less than two minutes put Lafayette up 61-54 but the Raiders refused to go away. Yaw Gyawu, who led Colgate with 15 points, made it a one possession game, 61-58, when he dunked with 1:17 remaining.

Gyawu was fouled on the dunk, but he missed the free throw and Alex Woodhouse recorded his fifth foul on Mintz as they battled for the rebound. With the Leopards in the bonus, Mintz sank two free throws to put the game out of Colgate's grasp.

Next up, the Leopards host league leader Navy (2-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Game Notes Fran O'Hanlon swapped the starting five for the second consecutive game, using his fifth lineup of the season with Andrew Brown, Ben Wheeler and Jeff Kari at guard and Ryan Willen and Jared Mintz at forward.

All 12 Lafayette players that recorded minutes scored in the game. The last time all players scored in one game was on Feb. 16, 2008 when Lafayette lost to Navy, 82-80.