Ryan Willen scored 18 points and Lafayette used a big edge in free throws to beat Colgate 82-76 Wednesday night in the Patriot League.
The Leopards, trailing 42-40 at halftime, outscored Colgate (6-14, 1-5) by eight points thereafter. Sterling Melville, who led the Raiders with 19 points, scored the last nine Colgate points of the half.
While Melville received support from Brandon James (15 points) and Nick Pascale (12), Lafayette (9-12, 4-2) got 13 points apiece from Dan Trist and Joey Ptasinski, and 10 points and seven assists from Tony Johnson.
While Colgate made just 7 of 14 free throws, Lafayette was 18 for 22 at the foul line, including 11 of 13 in the second half. Colgate actually tied it 57-all with 9:45 left, but Lafayette reopened a 72-63 lead on Ptasinski's trey.
Jim Mower and Rob Delaney were both 4 for 4 at the line for Lafayette.
