WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior forward Gerrale Gates totaled 15 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high seven assists, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Colgate 77-71 at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. Gates scored the 1,000th point of his Holy Cross career on a put-back with 15:53 remaining in the first half, to become the 53rd 1,000-point scorer in program history. The Crusaders fall to 6-14 overall and 3-4 in the Patriot League, while the Raiders improve to 13-7 on the year and 7-0 in the conference.

Freshman guard Will Batchelder finished the night with a game-high 20 points and three rebounds. Junior guard Bo Montgomery added 14 points and two boards, while junior guard Joe Octave tallied 13 points and four rebounds. Colgate was led by Keegan Records with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Holy Cross opened the game with an early 5-3 lead, before the Raiders used a 14-4 spurt to take a 17-9 advantage with 12:58 left in the first half. Colgate was later up 21-15, when the Crusaders went on an 11-2 run to pull back in front (26-23). Neither team would lead by more than three points for the remainder of the half, and the Raiders took a 37-36 edge into the locker room.

Colgate scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half to extend its lead to nine (47-38), and was later up by eight (63-55) with 9:12 left to play. Holy Cross then used a 7-0 run, including five points from Batchelder, to make it a one-point game (63-62) with 7:27 left on the clock. But the Raiders responded by scoring the next five points and would lead by at least four the rest of the way as they pulled out the win.

The Crusaders made 41.7 percent of their field goal attempts, 39.1 percent of their three-pointers and 80.0 percent of their free throws on the night. Colgate was able to connect on 51.8 percent of its shots from the floor, but only made 28.6 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc.

Holy Cross returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 21, when it travels to Bucknell for a 2:00 p.m. game.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 
Be sure to follow the Holy Cross men's basketball team — and all things Crusader Athletics — on social media!
Twitter - @HCrossMBB | @goholycross
Instagram - @hcrossmbb | @goholycross
Facebook - Holy Cross Men's Basketball | Holy Cross Athletics
YouTube - GoHolyCross