MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Another special Colgate men's basketball season came to an end in the first round of the NCAA tournament, where the 14th-seeded Raiders fell to No. 3 seed Baylor 92-67 on Friday inside FedExForum. 

Colgate's season ends with 25 wins, tied for the second most in program history. The Raiders captured their fourth consecutive Patriot League championship and appeared in their fifth NCAA tournament in the last five years under five-time PL Coach of the Year Matt Langel in his 13th season. 

COACH LANGEL'S COMMENTS

"Hard game, obviously. Baylor is a talented team. Jon Rothstein from CBS asked me at our shootaround yesterday how we were going to stop them. And then he put me on air before the game, asking me how we're going to stop them. Clearly we had no way of stopping them the way they shot the ball this afternoon. They were terrific, not just in making shots but their spacing, their execution put us in a number of dilemmas.

"Tip your cap to Baylor for their efforts getting the lead and then managing the game the rest of the way. I don't want to take anything away from them, but, again, when your season and the journey that we've been on over the course of the last eight or nine months abruptly comes to an end, you start to think about your guys. 

"We had another incredible season, but it was really unique, the number of guys we played over the course of the season, the number of guys that stepped up led by these two guys, Keegan Records and Ryan Moffatt. Five years is a long time. Everything that they've poured into our program, never asking for anything in return. It puts me in a situation that I'll be forever grateful for, for all that they've done and all that they mean to me personally, to my family, to our basketball program. An incredible experience being here. Part of March Madness, obviously not the way that we wanted it to go in any way, shape or form."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Baylor, boasting one of the top five statistical offenses in the country, rode hot shooting from all over the floor. The Bears shot 58% from the field for the game including 16-of-30 (53%) from long range.

Baylor scored first off the opening tip of the game, which Keegan Records answered with a layup on the Raiders' first possession. The Bears scored the next eight points before Records dropped in a second layup. Records' third layup of the game narrowed the gap to four but Baylor responded with a trifecta for a 13-6 lead at the first media timeout.

A Baylor three out of the timeout pushed the lead to double figures. Again, Records answered, scoring his eighth straight point. A 3-pointer and a dunk off a steal moved the lead to 21-8 causing a Raider timeout. Sam Thomson and Nicolas Louis-Jacques sandwiching a pair of layups around a Baylor hoop made the score 23-12 eight minutes into the contest.

Ja'Kobe Walter, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, was fouled taking a three and dropped in all three free throws for a 26-12 lead. Colgate's Parker Jones nailed a three from the left wing which was answered on the next possession by Baylor. Layups by Jeff Woodward and Thomson shrunk the deficit to 10. The teams traded scoring possessions going into the eight-minute media timeout.

The three-point barrage from Baylor continued out of the timeout with a shot from the right corner. Walter was fouled taking a three and made two out of three free throws pushing the lead to 15 points. A layup by the Bears triggered a 9-0 run before Ryan Moffatt made a layup off a missed shot. A long three and an alley oop dunk drove the Baylor lead to 45-25 entering the final media time out of the half.

Out of the break, two Moffatt free throws were answered by a Baylor hook shot. Walter drilled two free throws giving him 15 points for the half and the Bears' largest lead. Jalen Cox hit a runner in the lane for the Raiders and Braeden Smith nailed an NBA three to drop the lead to 17. A Baylor free throw and layup again pushed the lead to 20. Cox responded with a jumper in the lane to make the score 52-34. A Baylor follow-up dunk at the buzzer pushed the advantage back to 20 at the half, 54-34. 

Colgate's defense turned it up a notch in the second half, limiting Baylor to nine points through the first nine minutes. Smith started the second half with a baseline jumper and then made a block and had a steal on the first possession for the Bears. Records started the second half like he did the first by making a shot in the lane. A Records tip-in off a Cummins miss and a scoop shot layup by Cox cut the deficit to 15 on the heels of an 8-3 Raider run and caused a Baylor time out.

Woodward hit a free throw after a Baylor make. A Bears dunk extended the lead to 61-43. A steal and breakaway dunk helped the Bears regain control headed into the 12-minute media time out. After the timeout, Jones dropped a pair of free throws and Thomson made a layup reducing the lead to 16. 

Again, Baylor answered with a pair of 3-pointers stifling the Raider comeback. Chandler Baker hit a three of his own and once again Baylor matched it. A Moffatt trey preceded yet another made trifecta by Baylor matching the largest lead of the game at 77-55 with just over seven minutes remaining.
 
Records made a pair of free throws, but the Bears hit yet another three giving Baylor the largest lead of the game. Smith nailed a corner three and hit two free throws shrinking the lead to 18. Walter hit one of two foul shots bringing the score to 81-62. Moffatt dropped in a layup, and once more Baylor answered with a three. A Baylor layup was matched by Cummins at the other end. Both teams substituted liberally over the game's final two minutes leading to the 25-point final margin.

Records led Colgate scoring with 14 points, Thomson added 11 and Smith scored 10. For Baylor Jalen Bridges had 23 including shooting 5-8 from beyond the arc. Walter added 19. The Raiders were a respectable 45.6% from the floor but were only 5-of-18 (28%) from three-point range. 

Colgate's bench outscored Baylor's reserves 26-16 and the rebounding was 33-24 in favor of the Bears despite nine offensive rebounds for the Raiders. Colgate turned it over just eight times to Baylor's 12, and the Raiders finished with 10 steals led by two each from Records, Jones, and Smith.