COLGATE MEETS LAFAYETTE IN QUARTERFINAL ROUND OF THE PATRIOT LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The third-seeded Colgate University men’s basketball team (14-13 overall, 9-5 Patriot League) opens quarterfinal round action in the 2003 Patriot League Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 8 against sixth-seeded Lafayette (12-15, 6-8) at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.  Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

The Raiders finished the Patriot League regular season in a tie for second place with American University.  American earned the second seed through the tie-breaker procedures.

In other quarterfinal action, top-seeded Holy Cross (23-4, 13-1) plays eighth-seeded Army (5-21, 0-14) at noon; #2 American (14-13, 9-5) meets #7 Navy (8-19, 4-10) at 5 p.m.; and #4 Lehigh (16-11, 8-6) tangles with #5 Bucknell (13-14, 7-7) at 2:30 p.m.

The Colgate-Lafayette winner plays the American-Navy winner in a semifinal round game on Sunday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m., while the Holy Cross-Army winner meets the Lehigh-Bucknell winner in the other semifinal contest at 5 p.m.

The championship will be played at the home site of the highest remaining team on Friday, March 14 at 4:30.  The game will be televised line on ESPN.

Colgate enters the Patriot League Tournament with a five-game winning streak, and its nine victories in conference play are the most by the Raiders since the 1995-96 season when they captured the Patriot League title.

The quarterfinal matchup will be the 69th meeting between Colgate and Lafayette with the Raiders leading the overall series, 37-31.  They split this year’s season series with Colgate winning 66-64 in Hamilton, and Lafayette taking a 60-56 decision in Easton.

Actually these two teams are no strangers in Patriot League Tournament play.  They have met five times in the past with the Leopards victorious in the last three games, including a 74-71 upset win over the Raiders in last year’s quarterfinal round.