HAMILTON – Fifth-year center Jeff Woodward logged a double-double with career highs in points (20) and rebounds (12) to push Colgate past Lehigh, 67-62, inside Cotterell Court on Wednesday night. 

Woodward scored 12 of his 20 in a dominant second half performance that saw big shot after big shot down the stretch. He finished 9-of-18 from the field with five of his 12 boards on the offensive end. Parker Jones added his first collegiate double-double as well with 11 points and 12 rebounds. 

Junior guard Brady Cummins contributed 13 points in his first start since Dec. 22, while Jalen Cox finished with nine points and four assists – including a pair of late free throws to seal the deal. 

The Raiders, who trailed by as many as nine in the second half, ended the final eight minutes on a 19-5 run powered by 10 points from Woodward and clutch free throws from Cox. Colgate was 7-of-13 from the field during the run, while limiting Lehigh to a 1-of-14 finish including 0-for-6 from behind the arc. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• An early 9-0 spurt off the jump sparked the Raiders to a quick lead, but the home side would play from behind for the majority of the first thanks to a 12-0 Lehigh run spanning just over six minutes. Colgate opened 0-for-10 from long range, but Jones brought the Raiders within three at the break courtesy of a pair of baskets from beyond the arc.
• Colgate opened the second half hot, starting 3-for-3 from the field including a deep three from Cox that put the Raiders ahead, 38-37.
• Both teams traded blows from there with four lead changes and two ties, but Lehigh would eventually assert a 55-48 advantage with 10 minutes remaining.
• Two minutes later, sophomore forward Sam Wright connected on a three-ball from the top of the key to ignite seven-straight Colgate points, and a smooth reverse-layup from Woodward forced a Mountain Hawk timeout clinging to a 59-57 lead with 5:20 remaining. 
• Woodward's six-consecutive points over the next three minutes put Colgate ahead 61-60 with two minutes to play, and Cox stole an extra possession for the Raiders when he hit the floor to recover a loose ball and was fouled. 
• Lehigh brought the game within one after hitting a pair from the charity stripe, but Woodward responded by draining both of his free throws on the other end to assert a 65-62 lead with 30 ticks left on the clock. 
• A Mountain Hawks miss led to two more Colgate free throws, this time from Cox, that iced Colgate's second Patriot League win of the season.  

GAME NOTES

• The Raiders earned their first win of the season when trailing at halftime. 
• With the victory, Colgate has now eight-consecutive games against Lehigh and is now 11-1 versus the Mountain Hawks since the start of the 2018-19 season. 
• Jeff Woodward is now averaging 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in Patriot League games, helping Colgate to a 2-1 record. His first 20-point game eclipsed his previous career-best 17-point game which was matched for the second time this season in the league-opening win over Army.
• Parker Jones' 12 rebounds were a career high en route to his first collegiate double-double.
• Colgate had two players record double-doubles in the same game for the first time since Jan. 10 last season vs Lafayette. (Ryan Moffatt, Keegan Records).

UP NEXT
Colgate (5-11, 2-1 Patriot) returns to action on Saturday when the Raiders host Boston University (8-8, 2-1 Patriot) at 2 p.m.