After two tough losses, Colgate re­bounded for a victory, but came up short on Senior Day.

The Raiders (7-20, 4-8) split their games this past week against Lehigh (14-12, 5-6) and new league champion Bucknell (20-8, 11-1), dropping them into seventh place in the Patriot League. While ‘Gate played competitive basketball throughout their games against two of the league’s top teams, they were only able to prevail on the road, beating the Mountain Hawks 94–90 in overtime on Wednes­day. Unfortunately, the Raiders fell to the Bison, 77–69.

In the first game, junior guard Mike Venezia dropped in a career-high 27 points (11 in overtime) to lead the Raid­ers to victory. Venezia hit five of Col­gate’s season-high 12 three-pointers as the Raiders finished at 57 percent from downtown.

The rest of the Colgate attack was led by junior forward Yaw Gyawu, who tal­lied 20 points, and sophomore guard Mitch Rolls, who added 18 points and nine assists.

Lehigh opened the game on a 15–9 run, but Colgate answered right back with a 12–3 run of their own over the next three minutes. After a close back-and-forth battle for the rest of the first half, ‘Gate went on another run to push the lead to 10 at 43–33. Gyawu had 14 at that point to lead all scorers.

Lehigh, however, came storming back, starting the second half on a 14–3 run to grab a 47–46 lead. The Raiders respond­ed again, retaking the lead until the fi­nal two minutes as the Mountain Hawks ended regulation on a 13–5 run, knot­ting the game at 74. Rolls had a chance to win it as time expired, but his three-point attempt did not find the bottom of the net.

Colgate took control immediately in overtime, jumping out to an 86–75 lead. Though they gave up 15 points in the final minute, The Raiders hit eight free throws down the stretch to clinch the hard-fought game.

The Raiders shot a very solid 55 per­cent from the field (32 of 58) in this game, holding Lehigh to just 42 percent (28 of 66).

Next, the Raiders returned home on Sunday with hopes of an upset against the dominating Bison of Bucknell University. While the Raiders played with a great deal of intensity, the power of Bucknell was just a bit too much to overcome.

Junior Nick Pascale posted his second double-double of the season, putting up 18 points and 15 rebounds, but it was not enough as Bucknell bested Colgate 77–69 at Cotterell Court. Darryl Shazier and G.W. Boone had double-doubles as well to lead the Bison. Senior captain Joe Ho­ban added 16 points and seven boards for the Raiders, while Gyawu put up 13.

In this game, the Raiders’ lead looked concrete as they took an early 28-18 advantage. With solid shooting, ‘Gate maintained a five-point lead at the half.

Unlike many previous contests, Col­gate came out firing in the second half, pushing the lead back to 10. But the Raid­ers regressed, allowing the Bison to go on a 7–0 run and finally retake the lead at 55–51 with 11 minutes left. The Raiders kept it close and cut the lead down to just one point with over eight minutes left be­fore Bucknell took control and pushed it up to nine.

Colgate pushed back once again, going on a 7–2 run to make it 71–69 with less than a minute left. Unfortunately for the Raiders, Bucknell forced a turnover and hit their free throws down the stretch to seal their victory and the League title.

The fact that the Raiders were able to keep the game close was incredible, con­sidering they shot just 42 percent from the field (25 of 59), 26 percent from three (5 of 19) and 61 percent from the free throw line (14 of 23).

Colgate will face off against the Knights of Holy Cross (6-20, 5-7) on Wednesday for their final home game before a Saturday clash on the road against the Midshipmen of Navy (10-18, 5-7). With victories in their final two games, Colgate could possibly secure a fourth or fifth-place finish.