It would have been hard to envision Colgate playing for the league championship before the season began, or even midway through the season, but the Raiders have turned things around in a major way.

Colgate is playing at a high level right now and peaking at the right time, so it would no longer be a shock to see the Raiders win the Patriot League and earn an NCAA Tournament berth.

The defense has been there all season, as it was last season. The difference between that team, which generally lost, and the team that's currently on a five-game winning streak has been the ability to put the ball in the basket.

Guard Kyle Roemer has put the team on his back offensively, averaging 28.5 points per game in two league tournament wins, including a career-high 32 points in a first-round win over Lafayette.

American coach Jeff Jones will do everything he can to try and contain Roemer, but Colgate has done a good job of getting him the ball in position to score.

If Roemer has another big day offensively, it's hard to picture the Raiders losing. They play such good defense that it shouldn't take much more than a good performance from Roemer to produce enough points to win.

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