Nov. 23, 2002

Colgate and Fordham both won Saturday, the Raiders holding on in dramatic style in the final seconds of the game, to clinch a share of the 2002 Patriot League football championship. The Rams, by virtue of a 40-31 victory over the Raiders on Sept. 14, gained the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Saturday, November 30.

Fordham, which wins its first PL title since joining the League in 1989, ran away from Bucknell early to post a 34-7 victory over the Bison. Under fourth-year head coach Dave Clawson, the Rams improved from a winless team in 1999 to League champions in 2002. Other details on the game will be available on the PL web site later tonight.

Colgate, a 25-20 winner over Holy Cross, captured the League championship trophy for the third time under seventh-year head coach Dick Biddle. It is the first PL title in any sport for the Raiders since the 1999 footballs season, when CU shared the crown with Lehigh.

However, the win didn't come easy for the Raiders. Holy Cross drove to the CU four-yard line with nine seconds left in the game, but a fourth-and-goal pass was intercepted in the end zone by senior DB T.J. Smith to seal the victory.

In other action Saturday, Lafayette successfully defended Fisher Field in the 138th meeting against Lehigh, 14-7. The win snapped a seven-year Lehigh win streak in the series, the longest in college football. It also gave third-year head coach Frank Tavani and the Leopards their first winning season since 1993.

Georgetown rounded out the day with a 24-16 season-ending victory at Towson. It was the second PL win of the season for the Hoyas, who went 0-7 last year as first-year members of the PL.