(Complete Release In PDF Format)

HAMILTON, N.Y. - The uphill battle continues for the Colgate men’s basketball team (9-6, PL 1-2) when the Raiders play host to the United States Naval Academy (7-11, PL 2-1) in a Patriot League game on Saturday at Cotterell Court.  Tip-off is 3:15 p.m.

             Saturday’s game is “Take A Kid To The Game Day.”  Any child 12 and under accompanied by an adult will receive free admission and a door prize, while supplies last.

            Colgate got back into the league race with a 46-42 upset victory over Holy Cross on Wednesday, after dropping its first two league games against American and Lehigh.  There is a four-way tie for first place with Lafayette, American, Navy and Bucknell at 2-1 with the Raiders one game back.

            Navy opened its Patriot League campaign losing on the road against Holy Cross (70-57), before taking home decisions against Bucknell (64-49) and Lehigh (92-85) in double overtime.

            Colgate’s victory over Holy Cross snapped a three-game losing streak.  Senior Pat Campolieta led the way with his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Howard Blue added eight points and five rebounds, and freshman Keith Williams scored a career-high eight points off the bench.

            This is the 29th meeting between Colgate and Navy with the Midshipmen leading the overall series, 18-10.  Navy has won 10 straight against the Raiders including a sweep of last year’s home-and-home series.  The Mids won 81-70 at Annapolis before taking an 83-80 overtime victory at Cotterell Court.  Colgate’s last victory was a 64-60 decision at Cotterell Court during the 1996-97 season.

            Campolieta leads the Raiders in scoring with 15.3 points per game and rebounding with 6.9 caroms per outing.  Campolieta ranks third in scoring and fourth in rebounding in the Patriot League.

            He needs 16 rebounds to become only the fourth player in school history to be ranked among the Top 10 all-time leaders in scoring and rebounding.  He has scored 1,433 points and grabbed 600 rebounds in 100 games for the Raiders.

            Blue is second in scoring with 12.2 points per game, while Mark Linebaugh is third with 11.3 points per game.  Tim Sullivan is averaging 8.9 ppg and Dave Hardy 8.7 ppg.

            Navy is led by senior guard Jehiel Lewis, who is averaging 13.7 points per game, followed by guard Jason Jeanpierre (10.8 ppg) and forward Francis Ebong (10.2 ppg).  Ebong is the Mids’ top rebounder with 6.9 caroms.