(Boxscore)

NEW BRITAIN, CT (11/17/08) – Sophomore guard Mike Venezia (Westfield, NJ) scored at the buzzer to lift the Colgate men’s basketball team to a come-from-behind 58-57 win over Central Connecticut (0-2) in the season opener for the Raiders.

 

Venezia finished with 10 points, while Willie Morse (State College, PA) led Colgate with 12 and Alex Woodhouse (Alexandria, VA) added eight points and 10 rebounds.  Ken Horton was the Blue Devils leading scorer with a game-high 18 points, while Shemik Thompson tallied 12.

 

After leading by five points at halftime 33-28, Colgate quickly fell behind in the second half, when Central Connecticut opened the final 20 minutes with a 14-4 run.  Horton led the run with nine points.

 

Central Connecticut had a four-point lead with 1:02 left, 57-53, as Colgate missed several opportunities to move ahead of the Blue Devils.  The Raiders’ started the comeback with a 17-foot jumper by Venezia, and then Ben Jonson (Dallas, TX) made the first of a one-and-one situation with 15.1 seconds left.  Venezia immediately fouled Aaron Hall, who missed the first of his one-and-one, and Woodhouse grabbed the rebound.  Venezia worked the ball inside where he tallied the game-winner.

 

Colgate was in control the entire first half jumping out to a 10-2 lead.  The Raiders were able to extend their lead to nine points, 24-15, with 5:48 left.  After the Blue Devils cut the advantage to five points, Morse stopped the run with the second of his three first half 3-pointers.

 

Colgate shot 39.7 percent from the field, while Central Connecticut managed 40.4 percent.  The Blue Devils had the edge on the boards, 40-33, led by Marcus Palmer with 11 and Horton with 10.

 

Colgate was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe, while CCSU made 12-of-22.

 

The Raiders are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Dartmouth for a 7 p.m. game.