HAMILTON, N.Y. (11/27/06) – Senior guard Jon Simon (Phoenix, AZ) tallied a season-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Colgate to a 78-70 win over Binghamton (3-2) in a non-conference game Monday night at Cotterell Court.

 

The Raiders (2-2) snapped a three-game losing streak on their home court dating back to last season, while staying a perfect 4-0 against the Bearcats in Hamilton.

 

Kendall Chones (Cleveland, OH) was in double figures for Colgate with 12 points, while Tim Pounds (Dudley, NC) and Todd Checovich (North Hampton, NH) added eight apiece.

 

Binghamton was led by Richard Forbes with 19 points, followed by Duane James with 18 and Mike Gordon with 13.

 

Colgate held the lead for the majority of the first half trailing only once when Binghamton led 5-4.  The Raiders put together a 10-2 run to open a seven-point advantage 14-7 with 10:33 remaining in the half.  Colgate increased its lead to eight points twice before halftime, before Binghamton was able to rally to tie the contest 31-31 at the buzzer on James’ 3-pointer.

 

In the second half, Binghamton jumped out to an early 41-37 lead behind Forbes’ five points, before Simon took over for the Raiders.  Simon scored nine straight points to give his team a five-point lead 46-41 with 14:28 remaining.  First, he hit a 3-pointer from the corner, and then scored a four-point play when he was fouled on a made 3-pointer and drilled a free throw, before driving the length of the court for a layup.

 

Binghamton cut Colgate’s lead back to one point, but Simon responded again with a 3-pointer, followed by Marc Daniels’ (Aurora, IL) free throw and Pounds’ layup for a seven-point lead.

 

Colgate later led by 13 points twice with the last time coming with 2:24 remaining.  The closest Binghamton would come was seven points with 23 seconds left.

 

Colgate out-rebounded the Bearcats 39-31 with Simon and Daniel Waddy (Tucson, AZ) leading the way with six apiece.  Lazar Trifunovic was Binghamton’s top rebounder with seven.

 

GAME NOTES – Colgate’s 78 points was its best offensive output of the season … Simon moved into fifth place in career 3-pointers made with 122 … Willie Morse (State College, PA) had seven points and a team-high four assists … Waddy had a personal best three blocked shots … Colgate shot a season-high 54 percent from the field (27-of-50).