HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lafayette men's basketball team could never get its offense working on Wednesday evening in Hamilton, New York, dropping a defensive battle to Colgate, 57-47.

The Leopards posted their best defensive performance against a Division I opponent in just shy of a year, but couldn't reciprocate that on the other end. Lafayette last held a D-I team under 60 points in an 81-54 win over Army at Kirby Sports Center on Feb. 7, 2018.

Colgate extended its home record to 7-0 this season, moving to 12-8 overall and 4-3 in Patriot League action. With the loss, Lafayette drops to 2-5 in league play and 5-13 overall.

Sophomore guards Alex Petrie and Justin Jaworski were the lone double-figure scorers for the Maroon and White with 12 points apiece. Senior co-captain Paulius Zalys added eight points, seven rebounds and three assists, while freshman Sean Good chipped in with three boards and two blocks.

Colgate's Rapolas Ivanauskas led all scorers with 13 points on the night, followed by Will Rayman with 12 for the Raiders. The glass was a difference-maker for the home side in the second half, out-boarding Lafayette 23-10 in the second 20 minutes of play.

Both sides took their time getting settled in as Petrie's steal and run-out was answered by a Tucker Richardson three with 12:20 on the clock to put Colgate in front by three, 7-4. Three's from freshman Tyrone Perry and Jaworski got it to a one-point game past the nine-minute mark, but seven straight from the Raiders put their advantage at eight with 7:53 to play in the half.

Colgate kept the margin at six late in the half, leading by a 27-21 score with 1:48 remaining. The only points in that final stretch came from an Ivanauskas dunk with nine seconds left as the game went to intermission with the Raiders in front, 29-21.

Colgate opened the second half with a bucket to move the advantage to double digits, but an 8-3 response from the Maroon and White, finished off by a right-corner three from Jaworski, brought the Leopards within five at 34-29 with 15:38 to go. That deficit stayed around that mark past the 12-minute mark as junior Lukas Jarrett found a cutting Zalys for a pair to make it 40-34.

Freshman Isaac Suffren's stick from beyond the arc on the right wing with 8:11 left cut the Raiders' lead to four, 42-38. From there, the teams traded buckets through the five-minute mark as a Jack Ferguson layup at the end of the shot clock made it 48-42.

Petrie's three from the left wing and a forced turnover on the other end took the game to the final media timeout with momentum on the Leopards' side and the Colgate lead at three, 48-45. But it was all Raiders down the stretch as the home side scored seven of the final nine points to close it out with a final of 57-47.

Lafayette returns home for a three-game stand beginning on Saturday, a home meeting with Army at 2 p.m.