WASHINGTON, D.C. Andres Rodriguez scored a game-high 17 points, including hitting on 9-of-10 free throws in the closing minutes, to lead American to a 65-62 Patriot League win over Colgate at Bender Arena.
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Colgate (12-13, PL 4-8) had one final attempt to tie the contest by Mark Linebaughs 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.  American (14-12, PL 8-4) sweeps its home-and-home series against the Raiders.
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Junior Andrew Zidar led Colgate with 16 points followed by Linebaugh with 11 points.  Zidar was Colgates leading rebounder for the 12
th time this season with nine caroms.
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American came out strong in the second half, outscoring the Raiders 8-2 for a 34-26 lead.  Later in the second half, the Eagles increased their advantage twice to 12 points, before Colgate started to chip away at the lead.
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The Raiders managed to narrow the advantage to two points, 56-54, on a layup by Alvin Reed with 2:16 remaining.  However, three straight free throws by Rodriguez put the Eagles back in front by five points with 1:22 left.  Colgate cut the margin to two points again, 62-64, before Raimondas Petrauskas nailed a free throw with six seconds left.
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Kendall Chones, Linebaugh, Reed and Howard Blue had six rebounds apiece for the Raiders, who outrebounded the Eagles, 44-34.  What really hurt the Raiders was a shooting percentage of .344, including only .579 from the charity stripe.
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