Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Colgate men's basketball team had another tough opponent Tuesday night when they faced Big East member, Providence, in the Dunkin' Donuts Center, falling 79-45 to the Friars.

“Providence does a really good job at running good sets,” head coach Matt Langel said. “They got a lot of good shots and the ones they didn't, they made offensive rebounds. With 17 turnovers and 19 offensive rebounds given up, it's going to be hard to win a game like that with those two statistics.

“We missed a lot of open shots. We didn't make their defense pay for the mistakes that they made and the score showed it.”

Colgate (3-8) saw Murphy Burnatowski and Damon Sherman-Newsome both reach double digits with 11 points each to lead the team. Brandon James and Pat Moore added to the Raiders scoring with five points a piece. Matt McMullen came off the beach and grabbed six rebounds, tying his season high.

The Raiders had a tough shooting night, finishing the game only hitting 32 percent from the floor. Colgate finished 6-of-23 from behind the arc, with four of those baskets coming in the first half.

“This was definitely a gut check for us,” Langel added. “We've played some really good teams early in the season and have faired okay. I'm not sure if we competed and were committed to helping each other as much as we need to be tonight. Moving forward hopefully we will get things right before we head into Patriot League play.”

Providence (8-2) had four players in double digits. Bryce Cotton was 5-of-11 on the night, earning himself 21 points. Josh Fortune (17 points), LaDontae Henton (14 points) and Kadeem Batts (10 points) all helped the Friars earn their eighth win of the season. Henton utilized his size and pulled down 10 boards, to lead both teams in rebounding.

The Raiders started out hitting the first two baskets of the game, taking the early lead, 6-0. Colgate would keep the pressure on the Friars forcing them to call a timeout early in the game. Out of the break Providence would answer with the next two buckets to pull within one, but a quick pass from Moore to Luke Roh would once again widen the Colgate lead.

A 10-0 run midway through the half caused the Friars to take their first lead of the game at 19-14. From that point on Providence seemed to be hitting everything creating a 14-point deficit with a little under five minutes left in the half.

The Raiders would not go away however, slowly chipping away at the score. Colgate would go on their own run hitting three straight baskets to pull within eight. The Friars headed into the locker room leading 39-28.

Providence hit three 3-pointers to start the second half, increasing their lead to 20. James finally broke the Friars scoring by faking the shot and taking it to the basket for the easy layup.

Midway through the second the Friars would yet again go on a short run hitting five baskets in a row. Burnatowski ended the Raiders drought with a make at the charity stripe. Providence continued to make their shots, shooting 52 percent from the floor late in the game.

While the Raiders tried to rally back from the deficit, the difference proved to be too much and the Friars took the win.

Colgate will be back on the hardwood Saturday when they travel to St. Francis (N.Y.) to face the Terriers at 2 p.m.