By: Paul Kasabian '10

The Colgate Raiders have opened 2010 in undoubtedly impressive fashion, defeating Longwood, Central Connecticut State, and North Carolina Central at home by an average of 18.3 points per game. The team owes much of its success to senior co-captain and guard Kyle Roemer (Martinez, Calif.), but Colgate has also been the beneficiary of some quality bench play that will be key to the Raiders' success in Patriot League play.

Roemer has found his shooting touch, accruing 25 points per game in his last three contests. Roemer scored 38 points against Longwood, 23 versus Central Connecticut State, and 14 against North Carolina Central in just 20 minutes of play. Roemer's performance against Longwood was outstanding, as he shot 14-for-21 from the field and drilled a quintet of three-pointers in a 95-80 victory. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Two nights later, Roemer accrued 23 points and nine rebounds in a 64-45 defensive slugfest over Central Connecticut State. Most impressively, however, Roemer was actually outscoring the Blue Devils 8-7 with under four minutes left in the first half. The De La Salle product continued his deft shooting touch by going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the first half against North Carolina Central, putting up 12 points in that stretch. He took a seat on the bench with the Raiders up 28 points in the middle of the second half in a 75-54 blowout.
   
Off the bench, junior guard “Smokin” Joe Hoban (West Chester, Pa.) and a host of others have been assisting the Raiders' winning ways.  Hoban has posted numbers in many different box score columns, averaging 4.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.6 apg ,and 2.6 steals during the three-game streak. Hoban had five steals against Longwood, following up a five-steal performance against New Hampshire three nights before. He grabbed seven rebounds against Central Connecticut State before dishing out nine assists versus NCCU. Hoban is not the only bench player that has found recent success though.  The bench combined for 34 points in the win over NCCU, led by a career-high 10 points and three steals from sophomore forward Sterling Melville (Plano, Texas).  Melville also had six points in 16 minutes against Central Connecticut State. Sophomore forward Brett Marfurt (Guilderland, N.Y.) also had a career-high eight points versus Longwood, and classmate and center Nick Pascale (DeWitt, N.Y) scored seven points to go along with five boards.
   
Other impressive performances in this trio of games include 14.7 points per game for senior forward Ben Jonson (Dallas, Texas) and 14.3 points per game from sophomore forward Yaw Gyawu (Lilburn, Ga.). Jonson had 23 points and eight boards in the Longwood win, and Gyawu scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half against Central Connecticut State. Sophomore point guard Anthony Hill (Plano, Texas) also impressed fans with a 10-point, six-rebound, four-assist effort against Longwood, and freshman point guard Mitch Rolls (Coffeyville, Kan.) has been a steady floor general for the Raiders on offense.
   
The team statistics are just as impressive as the individual ones, however. Colgate has out-rebounded its opponents by an average of 12 boards per game, including a 51-31 advantage over North Carolina Central in that category. The Raiders have also shot 50.6 percent from the field, posting some impressive shooting halves along the way. Colgate made 19-of-25 shots in the second half against North Carolina Central and 19-of-32 shots in a 51-point first half against Longwood. On the defensive end, Colgate has managed 19 steals in three games and held all of their opponents to under 50 percent shooting from the field.
   
Colgate will now begin Patriot League play with a home game against Army on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Black Knights hold the Patriot League's best non-conference record at 10-4. The Raiders, though, have won 9 of their last 10 games against Army.