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HAMILTON, N.Y. (11/28/09) – Ricky Cadell hit a long jumper with no time remaining as St. Francis (N.Y.) overcame a 16-point deficit to defeat Colgate 66-65 at Cotterell Court for its first win of the year.

Despite a 22-point effort from sophomore forward Yaw Gyawu (Lilburn, Ga.), Colgate lost its fifth consecutive game to start the season. Senior guard Kyle Roemer (Martinez, Calif.) scored 18 points in the loss.
   
The Raiders jumped out to a 13-3 lead to open the game thanks to Roemer, who scored seven consecutive points in less than a minute during that span. Colgate would eventually take a 33-17 lead, with Gyawu scoring 13 of those points off five field goals and three free throws. St. Francis went on a 10-3 run to end the half, but Colgate led 36-27 going into halftime.
   
Colgate stretched its lead to 53-40 after a layup from sophomore forward Sterling Melville (Plano, Texas) with 12:01 left. St. Francis began cutting into the lead by slicing into the lane for layups and knocking down some jumpers from outside, leading to a 21-6 run that gave the Terriers a 61-59 lead with 3:33 left.

One minute later, Roemer hit a three that swung the lead in Colgate's favor. On St. Francis' next possession, Stefan Perunicic hit a three-pointer to give the Terriers the lead again with 2:02 left. Neither team scored until Gyawu rebounded a missed three-pointer from freshman point guard Mitch Rolls (Coffeyville, Kan.) and put in a layup as the shot clock expired, tying the game 64-64 with under one minute remaining. The Terriers' next possession came up empty, as Rolls got fouled as he was going for a loose ball after a rebound. Rolls hit one of two free throws, leading to the last possession of the game.

Having only four team fouls, Colgate smartly fouled twice to prevent St. Francis from going to the hoop. The Terriers then inbounded the ball from the baseline with 3.2 seconds left. On a designed play, Cadell passed it in to Perunicic, who then fired a chest pass back to Cadell in the corner. Colgate had the play defended well and double-teamed Cardell, but his long corner two-pointer fell through the net as time expired.
   
Kayode Ayeni scored 22 points to lead St. Francis. Cadell scored 15, and Perunicic pitched in 12. Junior point guard Joe Hoban (West Chester, Pa.) matched a career-high with seven points. Colgate out-rebounded St. Francis 37-25 but also committed 19 turnovers.
   
The Raiders will now travel up the New York State Thruway to face the undefeated No. 9 Syracuse Orange on Monday, Nov. 30, at the Carrier Dome. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and will be aired on ESPN360.