7 February, 2007
by Ryan Rissmiller
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| Colgate (9-14, 4-6 Patriot) |
31 |
23 |
54 |
| Lafayette (8-16, 2-7 Patriot) |
29 |
22 |
51 |
| Kirby Sports Center – Easton, PA |
Boxscore |
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The Colgate Raiders made it three straight Patriot League road wins Wednesday night in College Hill against the Lafayette Leopards, 54-51. This quick-paced, exciting game saw a player for each team record a double-double and the teams combined for 8 blocks.
The Raiders were led by their usual leading scorer Jon Simon, who had 15 points. Kyle Chones was close behind with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Colgate was successful at slowing down Lafayette and forcing them to play their brand of grind-it-out basketball.
For Lafayette, Bilal Abdullah led the team with 14 points, on 4-for-10 shooting. Ted Detmer provided a much-needed inside spark with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Colgate led by only two at halftime, as they saw their 9-point lead dwindle. The second half was a tough physical game for both sides, which included hard fouls and body sprawling across the hardwood. The game would eventually come down to the very last possession, as Lafayette, with five shooting specialists on the floor, had 1.3 seconds to get off a three. Andrew Brown wound up taking a decent look from the right wing that bounced hard off the back of the rim to douse any chance of overtime.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
Starting from 4:11 to go in the first half and lasting until the 11:18 mark in the second half, there was a total of 13 minutes in which Lafayette failed to score a field goal. Eleven straight misses were not as hurtful as would be expected for the Leopards; 7-for-10 free throw shooting meant they were able to keep pace, only finding themselves down 40-34 when the drought was over.
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| Key sign it was over |
Leading by 9 points with 4:30 remaining, the Raiders could not keep Lafayette at bay. Lafayette capped off 7-0 run with a steal by Betley giving it up to Abdullah in transition as he took it hard to the rack drawing the foul, and converting the three-point play. With 21 seconds to go, Lafayette was forced to foul and after going back and forth the Leopards had the last possession with an opportunity to send it to overtime. With 1.3 seconds on the clock, after looking for their first and second options (Paul Cummins and Jesper Andersson respectively), Brown peeled off a screen caught a tipped inbound pass for a decent look at the basket for three — off the back of the rim to end the game.
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| Key performance |
Kyle Chones recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He was a huge presence inside. Kyle Chones and Detmer went back and forth all night battling for inside dominance. Detmer for Lafayette also recorded a double-double, with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
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| Key statistic |
The Raiders attempted a season high 24 three pointers, two more than their previous mark of 22, which was also against the Leopards in January when the two teams met at Cottrell Court. They also tied their season high for three-pointers made with 9, a mark they hit twice this season against Bucknell and Lehigh.
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| Notes |
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Lafayette was dead cold in the seconds half: 1-for-11 from beyond the three-point arc, which really hurt this team that relies so heavily on the long shot. Altogether they were 7-for-26 from the field (26.9 percent) in the second half.
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The game saw starters Dan Gentile and Marc Daniels foul out for Colgate. As a result, Peter Minchella and freshman Ben Jonson saw significant time off the bench.
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Along with Detmer’s double-double, he contributed immensely on the defensive end, recording 4 steals and 2 blocks. He also went 8-for-9 from the foul line.
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Lafayette hosts Navy on Saturday, as their chances of getting a favorable seed in the Patriot League tournament become thinner and thinner. Colgate, who now stands in fourth place in the league, hosts American Sunday.
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