HAMILTON, N.Y. (AP) _ Ryan Vena probably hoped for a more memorable farewell in his final game for Colgate at Andy Kerr Stadium. As it turned out, though, he wasn't complaining.

Vena scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter Saturday to break open a close game as the Red Raiders trimmed Towson 38-14 in a key Patriot League game.

Colgate (9-1, 4-1 Patriot League) survived the potent passing attack of the Tigers' Joe Lee to win its eighth straight game and gain a tie with Lehigh atop the conference standings. The defeat knocked Towson (7-4, 4-2) out of first place.

With a victory next week at Holy Cross, Colgate can capture its second league championship in three seasons and earn its third straight berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

``It wasn't pretty until we finally started playing in the fourth quarter,'' said Vena, who became the league's all-time leader in offense with 9,133 yards. ``We knew we could move the ball, but offensively we were just frustrated, with penalties and fumbles killing us.''

Ah, those penalties. The Red Raiders won despite eight penalties for 147 yards that cost them two touchdowns.

``The penalties slowed the game down,'' said Randall Joseph, who rushed for 169 yards and scored twice. ``We were anxious to get out there and just pound the ball. The penalties sustained their drives when we were stopping them. It was definitely frustrating from that point.''

``You have to come back from that stuff,'' added Vena, who hit Tim Lavoie with a 5-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. ``It's going to happen. We just try to keep it in rhythm.''

Lee guided Towson's pass-happy offense expertly in the first half. He completed 22-of-36 for 236 yards, and his 6-yard TD pass to Jamal White had the Tigers within 18-14 late in the second.

But Vena led Colgate on a 13-play, 80-yard drive, and when Joseph scored on a 1-yard run with 23 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Red Raiders led 24-14 at halftime.

Then the Colgate defense, which held the Tigers to minus-38 yards rushing in the game, a Colgate record, exerted itself. The Red Raiders harassed Lee in the second half and held Towson scoreless.

``We knew they were going to be pressuring us,'' said Lee, who was 12-of-29 for only 114 yards in the second half. ``We just weren't as fluid, I guess. The past couple of games it seemed like we had hundreds of plays. We just weren't connecting and getting the first downs.''

Still, the Tigers were in the game until the fourth quarter because neither team scored in the third.

But nearly every time Lee threw a pass in the game's waning moments, he was hit hard as he was throwing or a split second later, and that pressure eventually wore him down.

``Teams like that, if you let them get hot they can kill you,'' Colgate coach Dick Biddle said. ``And they're going to be hot usually in the first part of the game. You've got to make it a 60-minute game, and in the fourth quarter when the game's on the line you've got to wear them out.''

In the fourth, safety Tom McCarroll sacked Lee and forced a fumble that was recovered by Colgate's John Costantino. And Phil Bowman intercepted Lee at the Colgate 30 to thwart another Tiger drive with 9:50 left.

``From scouting and watching film, we noticed that the teams they had played hadn't really put much pressure on them. They wanted to sit back in zones and see if they could cover the receivers,'' McCarroll said. ``But we just have a lot of team speed on defense. We wanted to see if we could just get after him, knock him down a lot and get him out of his rhythm.''