HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/8/06) – Andrei Capusan tallied 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Lafayette to a 63-55 come-from-behind victory over Colgate Wednesday night in a Patriot League game at Cotterell Court.
Lafayette (10-12, PL 4-5) snapped a five-game losing streak on Colgate’s home floor, while the Raiders (8-15, PL 2-7) lost their second straight game in league play.
Other Lafayette players in double figures were Everest Schmidt with 12 points and Pat Betley with 11.
Colgate was led by senior center Marc Daniels, who had his first career double-double, with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jon Simon added 10 points, three assists and three steals.
Colgate jumped out to an early 11-2 lead behind two baskets by Daniels, and Kyle Roemer’s 3-pointer. Lafayette scored the next seven points to trail 11-9 with 14:28 remaining. Capusan scored 12 of the Leopard’s first 15 points.
Colgate continued to lead throughout the remainder of the first half leading at halftime, 34-28. Daniels had 14 of his 16 points, and eight of his 10 rebounds in the first half.
Lafayette scored the first nine points of the second half for a three-point advantage, 37-34. Schmidt had the first six points of the run as Lafayette lead for the first time in the game.
Colgate rallied with a 14-2 run to take a 48-39 lead with 7:29 remaining, but the Raiders didn’t score another field goal until 42 seconds were left in the game. The Leopards, meanwhile, scored 13 straight points for a 52-48 lead with 3:19 remaining. The Raiders came to within two points, 52-50, with three minutes left but would be the closest they would get.
Colgate shot 41 percent from the field, but managed only one-of-16 from behind the arc. Lafayette hit on 39.6 percent of its field goal attempts, but was 19-of-23 from the charity stripe.
Colgate had the edge in rebounding 37-34. Daniels led Colgate with 10, while Todd Checovich had eight caroms and Roemer five.
The Raiders are back in action on Sunday when they travel to American University.
