OPENING TIP
* Lafayette heads to Hamilton, N.Y. eyeing a season sweep of top-of-the-table Colgate on Wednesday evening. The Leopards took the first meeting on Jan. 15, 71-67, the only league team to knock off the Raiders this season.
* Lafayette's Saturday wins over Lehigh for the men's and women's basketball teams marked the first time since the 2014-15 campaign that both programs along with the football team beat Lehigh in the same season. 
* Junior Justin Jaworski is moving up the Lafayette all-time scoring list after becoming the program's 46th 1,000-point scorer earlier this season. Jaworski currently ranks 37th among the program's top career scorers, tallying 1,070 points in two-plus seasons on College Hill.

LAST TIME OUT
Junior Justin Jaworski got back on track with a game-high 20 points to power Lafayette past Lehigh on the road on Saturday afternoon, 74-56, in the first 2019-20 edition of The Rivalry. The Leopards controlled the game for all but the opening 2:14, stretching an eight-point edge at halftime to 16 with a 10-2 run over the first four minutes of the second stanza to put it out of reach early. 

Jaworski made just 3-of-10 from distance, but went 5-for-7 on two-point field goals for his 20 points to go along with a pair of rebounds, assists and steals. Freshman Leo O'Boyle, who earned his first career start in the contest, was effective, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 from the floor with five rebounds and three assists to just one turnover in 23 minutes of run. Senior co-captain Lukas Jarrett was the other double-figure scorer with 11 points (4-of-6 from the field) and classmate Kyle Stout gave solid minutes as well with seven points and six boards in his 19:20 of action.

While Lafayette has held the upper hand in an all-time series with its rival by a 144-89 margin, the Mountain Hawks have gotten the better of it recently as Saturday's win snaps an eight-game slide for the Maroon and White in The Rivalry. The Leopards' last win prior to Saturday's contest came on Feb. 22, 2015, 63-61, in Bethlehem.

LAST MEETING
Sophomore Tyrone Perry sunk a triple from the right corner with 2.6 seconds to play and senior co-captain Myles Cherry followed with two free throws at the 1.5-second mark as Lafayette knocked off Colgate in the program's first-ever School Day game on Jan. 15 at Kirby Sports Center, 71-67.

Trailing by a 60-45 score with 6:45 to play, the Leopards flipped the switch in a second half dominated by Colgate up to that point. A 13-0 run over a 2:14 stretch including two triples from Perry forced a Raiders' timeout at 4:31 with the margin just two, 60-58.

After a three from senior co-captain Lukas Jarrett at the top of the key gave Lafayette its first lead since 5:30 left in the first half, the final 2:27 went back-and-forth as Colgate's Nelly Cummings answered a Cherry bucket in the lane to put the Raiders up 67-66 with 1:09 remaining. An offensive foul gave the ball back to the visitors, but Will Rayman missed on a three attempt to set up the biggest shot of the game from Perry.

At the end of the shot clock and the game clock ticking under five seconds, Jarrett drove to the middle and kicked to Perry in the right corner, who launched the winning bucket, a highly-contested three-pointer that caught nothing but net. Colgate threw the ball away on its counter opportunity and Cherry iced the game, making it a two-possession lead with a pair of foul shots and 1.5 seconds on the clock, closing it with a final of 71-67.

Much of the credit for the performance went to the fifth- and sixth-grade students from Easton Area School District, making it an incredible atmosphere all afternoon. More than 1,200 students filled Kirby Sports Center and were treated to an instant classic.

Perry led all scorers with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range. Junior Justin Jaworski, Cherry, junior E.J. Stephens and Jarrett all finished in double-figure scoring with 16, 14, 12 and 10 points, respectively, the second time this season Lafayette has put five in double digits.

Jarrett was all over the floor, coming just a few plays shy of a triple-double with nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists to accompany his 10 points. Lafayette committed just four turnovers to 11 assists in the second 20 minutes of action, shooting 49.1 percent from the field on the afternoon (28-of-57).

THE SKINNY ON THE RAIDERS
Lafayette's Jan. 15 victory has been the only blemish on Colgate's resume this season, entering Wednesday's contest with 7-1 Patriot League mark and a 16-5 overall record. The defending Patriot League champion and preseason favorite to repeat has won three straight since the Leopard defeat, with those three opponents all currently in the top half of the league standings. Head coach Matt Langel's squad has won 10 of its last 11 outings and is winning by a Patriot League-best +5.9 scoring margin this season.

Preseason All-Patriot League selections Jordan Burns and Rapolas Ivanauskas have been productive once again for a potent unit that features all five starters averaging double-figure scoring. Burns and Ivanauskas put up 14.9 and 12.9 points per game, respectively, while Will Rayman, Nelly Cummings and Tucker Richardson add 11.7, 11.3 and 10.3 points per outing apiece. Rayman has been outstanding on the glass for the Raiders, ripping down a Patriot League-leading 8.4 rebounds per night.

#BEATLEHIGH
As Lafayette continues to turn around its athletic program in a number of different sports, the three ticketed sports have all had success against their crosstown rival this season. Lafayette's football team defeated Lehigh in the 156th meeting of college football's most-played rivalry in Bethlehem on Nov. 21, 17-16, and both the men's and women's basketball teams defeated the Mountain Hawks in the first 2019-20  hardwood edition of The Rivalry on Saturday, Jan. 25. Prior to this year, Lafayette's football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams have not beaten Lehigh in the same season since the 2014-15 campaign, a notable win for the football program as it came in Yankee Stadium for The Rivalry's 150th anniversary. The Leopards' Ross Scheuerman rushed for a Lafayette-record 304 yards and three touchdowns in the 27-7 win. 

O'BOYLE RULES
Freshman Leo O'Boyle has hit his stride since entering conference play, averaging 7.0 more points in league contests than he did over the non-league slate. O'Boyle has been the biggest beneficiary of the transfer of Isaac Suffren in terms of minutes, up to 15.1 per outing in Patriot League contests. The rookie is putting up 8.5 points per game through eight conference contests, including a season-best 18 points on 5-of-6 from beyond the arc at Navy and a team-high 14 points on 5-of-9 from the field and a season-high six rebounds in the win over Loyola on Jan. 11. 

FOR THE KIDS
The early start for Lafayette's Jan. 15 contest with Colgate was unusual for the Maroon and White as it marked the first school day game in the program's history. More than 1,200 fifth- and sixth-grade students from Easton Area School District were  in attendance as the Leopards knocked off the defending Patriot League champions. 

Arriving around 9:15 a.m., fifth-grade students participated in organized activity with Lafayette's men's lacrosse, track and field and baseball teams in both Kirby Sports Center Arena and Kamine Gymnasium, learning about the college experience, physical fitness and leadership until about 10:30 a.m. From there, they transitioned to the arena, where they joined the sixth-grade class, eating lunch and taking in the game action. Following the conclusion of the contest, the sixth-grade students remained for programming with Lafayette's men's basketball players and coaches for about 30 minutes before returning to their respective schools.