BASKETBALL GAME CENTRAL

THIS WEEK
Sat., Nov. 13 - vs. Binghamton 7 p.m. EST (Colgate All-Access)

The Colgate University men's basketball team will open its 2010-11 season at home for the first time in three years when it welcomes Binghamton to Cotterell Court on Saturday, Nov. 13. The last time Colgate opened at home was against Monmouth in 2007-08. The Raiders won the game 63-60.

BASKETBALL GAME CENTRAL
Raider fans can follow every Colgate game this season through Basketball Game Central located on the Colgate Athletic Website. Basketball Game Central keeps fans one click away from following live stats, listening to the radio or watching the game live. Basketball Game Central also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.

THE SERIES WITH BINGHAMTON
This will be the eighth meeting between Colgate and Binghamton with the Raiders leading the all-time series 6-1. Colgate won the last meeting 73-55 at Binghamton during the 2007-08 season.

SCOUTING COLGATE (0-0)
The Raiders return 10 players, including four starters, from last year's team that finished 10-19 overall and 6-8 in Patriot League play. With the graduation of last season's leading scorer, Kyle Roemer, the Raiders now look forward to the return of junior guard Mike Venezia (Westfield, N.J.). Venezia, the 2008-09 leading scorer, missed the entire 2009-10 season due to injury.

Alongside Venezia, junior Yaw Gyawu (Lilburn, Ga.) will be returning from another great season. Gyawu started in every game last season and finished second on the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game, as well as leading the Raiders in field goal percentage.

Starting point guard Mitch Rolls (Coffeyville, Kan.) will be running the show once again for the Raiders. Rolls played exceptionally well last season and was named to the Patriot League all-Rookie team. Also back for his last go round, is senior Joe Hoban (West Chester, Pa.), the lone senior on this year's squad. Hoban earned last season's Jack Bruen Award, given to the most improved player.

The Raiders will be one of the biggest teams in the Patriot League. Juniors Nick Pascale (Dewitt, N.Y.), who led the team in blocks last season and Sterling Melville (Plano, Texas) should be a force inside for the Raiders, while sophomores John Brandenburg (St. Louis, Mo.), a 6-11 transfer from the University of Virginia looks to have a strong first season and Brandon James (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) is as good as it gets when it comes to grabbing rebounds.

SEASON-OPENER HISTORY
Colgate is 60-50 (.545) in season openers over its 110 years of basketball. The Raiders are 5-7 under head coach Emmett Davis, but have won three of their last four dating back to the 2006-07 season, and are 2-1 at home.

SCOUTING BINGHAMTON (0-0)
The Bearcats posted a 13-18 overall record last season and finished fifth in America East with an 8-8 record. Binghamton returns seven players from last year's squad including its top three scorers Greer Wright (15.0 ppg), Moussa Camara (10.7 ppg) and Chretien Lukusa (7.1 ppg). Wright was named to the 2010 America East first team.

RAIDERS ANNOUNCE 2010-11 TEAM CAPTAINS
Head coach Emmett Davis has announced that senior Joe Hoban along with juniors Mike Venezia and Yaw Gyawu have been selected as team captains for the 2010-11 season. The captain's selection was the result of a team vote. Venezia is serving as a captain for the second straight season.

THE DAVIS FILE
Head coach Emmett Davis (St. Lawrence, 1984) is in his 13th year in charge at Colgate, owning the most wins in school history with 158.

During coach Davis' decade long tenure, the Colgate program has been a model of consistency. In nine of his 12 seasons, Davis has led the Raiders to either the upper division of the Patriot League standings or advanced the team to the semifinals or finals of the conference tournament. From 2001-2004 the Raiders finished with three consecutive regular season winning records (2001-02…17-10, 2002-03…14-13, and 2003-04…14-13) and in 2007-08 the Raiders tied the school record for wins in a season with 18.

Davis reached another career milestone in November 2005, as Colgate defeated Matt Doherty's Florida Atlantic team 78-74 earning coach Davis his 100th career victory making him just the fifth coach in school history to win 100 games.