Feb. 26, 2014

HAMILTON, N.Y. - Lafayette scored the game's first basket, but Colgate went on a 20-5 run and the Leopards never fully recovered in an 83-66 decision on Wednesday night at Cotterell Court. Freshman Nick Lindner matched his career-high with 24 points.

Murphy Burnatowski led three Raiders in double-figures with 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Ethan Jacobs contributed 18 points and Chad Johnson chipped in 13. As a team, Colgate shot 61.2 percent from the field (30-of-49) and outrebounded Lafayette 30-25, led by Jacobs' 10.

Lindner's 24 points came on an 11-of-15 performance from the floor, while Dan Trist added 19 points. Lindner handed out six assists for the Leopards, who were held to 19 percent from beyond the arc in the loss.

Colgate got off to a hot start, hitting eight of its first 11 shots and capitalized on four Lafayette turnovers in the opening seven minutes to secure a 20-7 lead. Burnatowski hit a trio of threes, his third capping the 13-3 start, and Johnson drained another as the duo combined for 18 of Colgate's first 20 points.

Lafayette (10-18, 6-11) trimmed the deficit to six with the next seven points on a jumper by Lindner and Zach Rufer's straightaway three and layup. After the two sides traded field goals, the Leopards pulled within four on Trist's bucket in the paint with nine minutes to play (22-18), and then again five minutes later on a layup by Joey Ptasinski that made it 33-29.

Leading by four, Colgate (11-17, 5-12) closed the half on a 9-2 run that included consecutive buckets by Tillotson, a Burnatowski slam and a triple by Jacobs. The Raiders shot 56.7 percent from the field before intermission and had 10 assists, including five by Tillotson, on 17 made field goals.

Each team matched the other with three straight baskets to start the half and Lafayette trailed by 10 on Bryce Scott's three. Colgate responded with the next seven points thanks to Burnatowski's three-point play, and opened up a 55-38 lead on his layup with 15:53 on the clock. The 17-point advantage was Colgate's largest of the night.

Lafayette answered with an 8-0 run and held Colgate scoreless for 5:23 until Damon Sherman-Newsome hit a contested elbow jumper with 10:30 left. Michael Hoffman and Jacobs traded baskets and each team sank a pair at the line, prior to Jacobs' triple from the top of the key that put Colgate up 64-50. Lafayette was forced to call timeout at that point with eight minutes remaining.

The closest Lafayette got was nine points over the final eight minutes as its four-game winning streak came to an end.

Lafayette's regular season finale is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. when the Leopards take on Army in West Point, N.Y. The game can be seen live online on the Patriot League Network.

Game Notes:

Freshman Monty Boykins did not play because of a right wrist injury. Sophomore Billy Murphy missed the game due to illness.

Lafayette fell to 0-9 on the season when surrendering 80 points or more.