Junior tri-captain Jon Simon hit a 16-footer with less than a second left to play in the second overtime at Cotterell Court on Tuesday night, to give Colgate a 65-64 victory over visiting Dartmouth. The jumper capped off an improbable comeback by the Raiders, who trailed by four points, 61-57, with only 48 seconds left to play.

In a sloppy game that saw the two teams miss a combined 78-of-124 field goals, the final minute of the second overtime period featured three lead changes as the two teams found some offensive rhythm and traded baskets.

Dartmouth’s Leon Pattman, the game’s high scorer with 20 points, opened the scoring in the second overtime with a deep jumper from the right wing, giving the Big Green a 56-54 lead with 3:55 to play. Guard Mike Lang hit a three-pointer with 2:28 remaining, putting Dartmouth solidly in control, up by a score of 59-54. Colgate, though, answered back, cutting the deficit to two as it clamped down on the defensive end and added a free throw from sophomore forward Kyle Chones and a short jumper in the lane by Simon.

After another Pattman jumper and a couple of Simon free throws, the Raiders still trailed by two with 39 seconds to play. A quick foul by sophomore guard Kyle Roemer, though, was only converted into one free throw by Dartmouth’s Michael Giovacchini. Simon was fouled in the open court by Dartmouth center Paul throws to trim the deficit to a single point, 62-61.

Junior Simon Knight immediately sent Bode to the line as Dartmouth inbounded, and his subsequent miss of the front end of the one-and-one gave Colgate the opportunity to take the lead with 34 seconds remaining. Unable to get out in transition, the Raiders nearly turned it over in their halfcourt set, but Roemer recovered and converted a driving lay-up with 18 seconds to go, giving Colgate a 63-62 lead.

But Dartmouth answered quickly, as Pattman put back a Giovacchini miss with seven seconds to go to retake the lead. The Big Green never got a body on Simon, though, as he pushed the ball upcourt, setting the stage for his heroics.

“I was kind of expecting a double-team,” Simon said, “but I saw my opportunity and took the shot.”

Simon led the Raiders with 16 points, while senior tri-captain Alvin Reed, Chones and Roemer each added 11. Chones led Colgate with nine boards. The Raiders improved to 3-3 on the season, snapping a two-game losing skid.

In the Raiders’ first game of the week, Ioannis Karalis scored 13 points to lead three New Hampshire players in double figures. The Wildcats defeated Colgate, 60-52, on Saturday, Nov. 26at Cotterell Court. This was UNH’s first victory of the young season, as the team improved to 1-3.

Forwards Blagoj Janev and Mike Christensen each scored 12 points for the Wildcats, whose balanced attack saw six players register seven points or more. For the second straight game, Colgate’s leading scorer was Roemer, who paced the Raiders with 17 points.Reed scored nine for Colgate, while Chones led the way on the glass with seven rebounds.

Colgate came out hot, scoring the first two baskets of the game and seizing a quick 4-0 lead.After a UNH timeout, though, the Wildcats went on a 17-5 run, with Janev and forward Brandon Odom both hitting deep jumpers.The Wildcats maintained control for much of the first half, eventually pushing the lead to double-digits.They went into the locker room with a 31-21 lead.

The second half began with more of the same, as the Wildcat lead grew to 16, at 47-31, with 10:17 to play. Colgate fought its wayback into the gamewith increased defensive intensity and improved shooting.Reed scored all nine of his points in the second half, while Roemer added 11 and Simon added nine of his own.Colgate closed the gap to six points, 58-52, with 32.3 seconds to play, but could not manage another basket.The final score was 60-52.

Colgate returns to the court to take on the Princeton Tigers tomorrow Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at Cotterell Court.