Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Colgate men's basketball had a strong first half against the No. 6 team in the nation, but eventually fell to the Orange, 87-51, Sunday afternoon in a rivalry that dates back to 1901.

“Syracuse took advantage of their size, strength and ability to get to the basket in the second half,” head coach Matt Langel said. “They didn't settle for as many jump shots as they shot in the first half and they got to the foul line a boat load more times in the second half, so that helped their cause.

“We made some jump shots to keep it a game in the first half and some of those same shots didn't fall in the second half, which really hurt us.”

Colgate (3-4) saw three players hit eight points in Murphy Burnatowski, Pat Moore and John Brandenburg. Luke Roh led the team on the boards pulling down nine rebounds in the game.

“Luke's got a good nose for the ball so to speak," said Langel. "He's got good size, strength, athleticism for a guy who plays his position and we need him to get those if we're going to be as good as we want. He's going to be a set-up man and has to do a good job with his assists and focus on doing a great job on the offensive and defensive glass.”

The Raiders were held to 34-percent shooting (19-of-56) and 32-percent  (6-of-25) from behind the arc. Colgate was forced to turn the ball over 16 times.

Syracuse (4-0) was led by James Southerland, who poured in 18 points. The Orange also saw three other players in double figures in Brandon Triche (15), DaJuan Coleman (12) and Rakeem Christmas (10). Leading on the boards for SU was Christmas, who recovered nine rebounds.

In the 165th meeting between these two programs, the Raiders held their own against Syracuse for most of the first half. SU took the early lead just seven seconds into the game off a jumper by DaJuan Coleman. However, the Raiders answered down on the other end with two 3-pointers, giving Colgate the 6-2 lead. One 3-poiner came from Burnatowski and the other from senior Mitch Rolls.

With the help of Southerland, the Orange headed into halftime with the 14-point advantage. Throughout the first 20 minutes Southerland led all scorers with 16 points and shot 6-of-11 from the floor. Burnatowski followed with eight points, shooting 2-of-5 from outside. One of those 3-pointers came after Rolls found him in the corner on a fast break. He fired one up tying the score at 11 all just five minutes into the game.

SU showcased why they are No. 6 in the nation, outscoring the Raiders by 22 throughout the second half. Colgate got within 18 at the 14:42 mark but could not seem to rally enough to close the deficit.

The loss gives the Raiders their fourth of the year as they continue on in non-league play. Colgate gets five days off before they are back on the hardwood again and will face the Big Red of Cornell. They travel to Ithaca, N.Y. for the meeting on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“We have no mid-week game, so it's a chance to catch up on schoolwork and be home for a little bit, which it seems like we haven't had that chance,” Langel added. “And it's good week for us to get better, we've got a lot to work on and hopefully we can clean up some of those things on the offensive end as well as the defensive.”