MBB Colgate Closes Down Lafayette, 73-69

WBB Colgate Conquers Lafayette, 71-52

MBB Colgate Closes Down Lafayette, 73-69

Colgate snatched the lead in the second half and held on to beat Lafayette 73-69 Wednesday night inside Kirby Sports Center.

The sixth and final lead change occurred when Keegan Records’ spinning left-handed layup off the glass put Colgate in front 54-53 with 11:36 to go. Chandler Baker’s third 3-pointer of the night capped a 6-0 burst and gave Colgate a 57-53 edge less than a minute later.

But Lafayette kept scrapping. Justin Vander Baan led the Leopards with 23 points and his jumper with 5:40 left cut the margin to 66-65. The Leopards trimmed the margin to one possession three separate times over the final six minutes but Colgate had an answer every time.

Braeden Smith sank two clutch free throws with 31 seconds left to extend Colgate’s lead to four points and that was the winning margin, 73-69.

Tucker Richardson scored 17 points and tied his career high with nine assists to go with two steals. Oliver Lynch-daniels scored 14 points — all in the first half — and Jeff Woodward chipped in 12 to give the Raiders three double-figure scorers.

Lynch-daniels carried Colgate in the first half, scoring 14 points and burying four 3-pointers, including his second triple of the stanza which gave the Raiders their largest lead of the game 21-13.

Colgate’s lead was still eight points 38-26 when Lafayette closed the final 5:51 on a 12-4 surge to tie the game 38-38 at halftime.

The lead changed hands three more times before Colgate reclaimed it for good on Records’ layup midway through the second half.

WBB Colgate Conquers Lafayette, 71-52

After holding the lead for 39:33 of the game, Colgate women’s basketball topped Lafayette 71-52 at home to split the regular season series with the Leopards.

The Raiders ended the game shooting 62.3 percent from the field after making 32-of-51 attempted field goals. Junior Tiasia Mcmillan and Sophomore Taylor Golembiewski combined for 14-of-32 made buckets.

Golembiewski scored a team-high 17 points to lead the Raider offense. Mcmillan captured a team-high eight rebounds to go along with 14 points. Forward Lindsay Blackmore tallied eight points off the bench in the fourth quarter for the Raiders.

The Raiders opened the game hot, scoring ten straight points with eight coming from Golembiewski and Mcmillan. The Leopards slashed the burst with a 6-2 run to finally get on the board in the game to trail 12-6 with 3:54 left of the first.

Colgate answered with a 6-3 run to extend the lead to nine points with a little over a minute left of the period. Lafayette closed out the first with four straight points to trail 18-13.

Mcmillan, Golembiewski, and freshman Madison Schiller opened the second with a basket apiece to bump the lead to 11 points. The Leopards drew a foul to cut the run with a free throw to trail by 24-14 with 7:14 left of the first half.

Freshman Christina Midgette scored three quick points, but Lafayette scored seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to single digits at 27-21. Golembiewski cut the run with a field goal that started a 6-3 run to push Colgate ahead by nine with 1:25 on the clock. Lafayette closed out the second with three quick points to trail 33-27 at the break.

Mcmillan started a 9-0 Raider run mid-third period to push Colgate’s lead back to double-figures at 44-31 with 4:35 left of the third. Golembiewski scored five points in the run, including a three-point play.

Lafayette broke the run with a field goal that started an 8-4 stretch to cut the lead to nine with 23 seconds on the clock. Mcmahon closed the third with a three-point play to push the score to 51-39.

Golembiewski opened the final stanza with a jumper that sparked an 8-2 Raider run that extended the lead to 18 points. Golembiewski scored four points in the run. Colgate applied the pressure scoring six more unanswered points to push the deficit to its largest margin at 22 with less than two minutes on the clock.

Lafayette drew a foul that allowed the Leopards to score three points at the line with 1:05 on the clock, but a defensive rebound from freshman Nicole Parks closed the game to secure the 71-52 victory.