Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
13-12 (10-4PL)
Colgate
12-13 (8-6PL)
Bucknell Men Drop Second Straight Game, 91-81 at Hot-Shooting Colgate
2/13/2016 4:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HAMILTON, N.Y. – Tom Rivard scored 24 points on 10-for-12 accuracy, and Colgate shot 60 percent from the field in a 91-81 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court. Chris Hass tallied 17 points for the Bison, who have now lost consecutive games for the first time since December and saw their lead in the Patriot League reduced to one game.
Zach Thomas recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Nate Jones set a career high with 10 points off the bench for the Bison, who fell to 13-12 overall and 10-4 in the Patriot League.
Bucknell went 10-for-21 from the 3-point arc – including a Kimbal Mackenzie halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of the first half – and shot a respectable 49 percent on the road. But the Bison just could not get enough stops, as Colgate went 33-for-55 from the field and 7-for-18 from the 3-point arc. Bucknell also left quite a few points at the foul line, finishing 21-for-33 compared to Colgate's 18-for-19.
Jordan Robertson, who scored 17 points off the bench for the Raiders (12-13, 8-6 PL), hit a 3-pointer that gave Colgate an 18-6 lead just 5:05 into the contest. But then Mackenzie and Jones hit back-to-back treys to send Bucknell on an 18-4 run. Hass took the game over for a two-minute stretch, hitting five straight shots, including three treys, to help the Bison regain the lead.
Colgate rallied to go back up by seven, but Mackenzie's heave from mid-court made it a two-point game at the half at 44-42.
Dom Hoffman hit a 3-pointer on Bucknell's first possession of the second half for the first of six lead changes in the first six minutes of the period. It was 56-all after Jones hit 1 of 2 at the foul line, then Colgate took control with a 9-0 run. Robertson's 3-pointer was the Raiders' ninth straight made field goal, and it gave them a 65-56 lead with 11:57 to play.
Bucknell pulled within four at 74-70 after Jones converted both ends of a 1-and-1, but Jordan Swopshire answered with perhaps the biggest shot of the day, a turnaround jumper in the lane that he converted into a 3-point play. The Bison went 1-for-4 at the foul line in the next minute, while Rivard scored twice in the paint to stretch Colgate's lead to 10 at 81-71 with just 3:31 to go.
The Raiders went 8-for-8 at the line in the final 2:17 to ice the game.
Austin Tillotson scored 20 points, and Sean O'Brien added 14 for the Raiders, who have now beaten Bucknell four straight times for the first time in 26 years as Patriot League rivals.
Most of Bucknell's offense came from the perimeter. The Bison hit eight 3-pointers in the first half and had just two points in the paint – those coming on a Thomas tip-in of a missed three attempt. Colgate finished with a 42-16 edge in points in the paint.
Boston University and Navy both won on Saturday afternoon to get to 9-5 in the Patriot League and pull within one game of Bucknell. Lehigh will have a chance to do the same on Monday when it hosts Holy Cross.
Bucknell will play its next two games at home, starting Wednesday against Loyola Maryland at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
