COLGATE Lafayette’s last-second 3-pointer deals Raiders first league loss

Lafayette erased a 15-point deficit over the final eight minutes and Tyrone Perry connected on the gamewinning 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left to lead the Leopards to a 71- 67 victory over Colgate on Wednesday.

The loss snaps Colgate’s 15game winning streak against conference opponents, which was the third longest streak in the country. In uncharted territory, this was the Raiders’ first Patriot League loss since Feb. 2, 2019.

“Credit Lafayette. They played terrific, they made every shot and finished every play they needed to down the stretch. We have talked with our teamabout this a lot: being down 15 against the only undefeated team left in the league, you have nothing to lose. Lafayette played that way and stepped up with some huge shots,” Colgate coach Matt Langel said. “I am proud of our group for putting us in the position we were in for the first three quarters of the game to be up 15 on the road. We will see what the film says, but our defense was the best it has been in some time. We just have to finish the deal.”

Lafayette refused to go away. Colgate led 60- 45 with 7:26 left in regulation, but suddenly the Leopards could not miss. Perry drained a pair of 3-pointers in a relentless 14- 0 run that turned a 60- 45 lead into a one-point game 60- 59 four minutes later.

Lafayette (11- 5, 3-2 Patriot) jumped ahead 64- 62 for its first lead of the half on another 3-pointer from Lukas Jarrett with 2:10 showing on the clock. Rapolas Ivanauskas

answered right back to tie the game 64- 64 and the two teams traded baskets over the next minute.

Colgate ( 13- 5, 4- 1 Patriot) inched back on top 67- 66 on a 3- pointer from Nelly Cummings with 1: 09 lef t. The Raiders got the ball back with the same score after an offensive foul, but an errant 3-pointer with 26 seconds lef t gave the Leopards the ball back still down one.

With the shot clock and game winding down, Lafayette’s Perry took an off- balance 3- pointer from the corner and swished the game winner with 2.6 seconds left. Myles Cherry all but solidified the Leopards’ win with a steal and two free throws to secure the 7167 final score.

Lafayette’s Perry finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc – all were career-best marks. Five Leopards finished in double figures.

Both teams went back- and- forth in the first half, with neither team leading by more than f ive points until the final minutes of the frame. Tucker Richardson scored five straight points before a Keegan Records layup pushed the Raiders in front 13-10 with 12 minutes left.

Colgate held onepoint leads of 22-21, 2423, and 26-25 before using a late 9- 0 run to build separation. Eight of the nine points came in the paint on layups from Records, Ivanauskas, Jordan Burns, and a traditional three-point play by Will Rayman to fuel a 34-31 lead at the intermission.

Burns converted another and-one five minutes into the second half and Colgate grew its lead to 48-38. The Raiders led by double digits for most of the second half, including a game-high 15 points 58- 43 with eight minutes left in regulation.

But from that point forward, Lafayet te closed the game on a 28-9 run to earn the victory.