Box Score

HAMILTON – Colgate's Murphy Burnatowski owned the hot hand for 35 minutes Sunday before giving way to Luke Roh in the closing seconds. Turned out to be the perfect recipe for victory.

Burnatowski netted a career-high 31 points Sunday at Cotterell Court, but it was Roh's rebound-basket that was the difference as the Raiders slipped past New Hampshire 65-63.

After the Wildcats had missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw, Roh took an inbounds pass with eight seconds left and raced the length of the floor. He missed on a rushed leaner in the lane, but the carom fell straight back to him and the sophomore guard laid it in.

“The play was to get me the ball on the run and see if I could get in the lane and create for everybody else,” Roh said. “They were covered and I just threw it up. Luckily, it hit the backboard and I was able to get a second jump and get a bucket to win the game.”

One Last Chance
The score was tied at 63 because New Hampshire's Chandler Rhoads, who scored 13 points and dished out nine assists, missed the 1-and-1 chance with nine seconds to play. Rhoads finished 2-of-7 at the line for his only blemish on a fine afternoon.

Colgate's Pat Moore grabbed the important rebound and the Raiders had time for one more play. If they made it quick.

“Getting the rebound was critical on the missed foul shot,” Colgate head coach Matt Langel said. “Then we weren't going to have a chance to make a lot of passes with just eight seconds left, so we got it to Luke Roh because he has good size and speed and length.

“He has a smaller guy on him, so you just try to give him some space and put our other guys in position where if somebody helps off on Luke he could find them.”

That didn't happen, so Roh was left to make the play on his own.

“To his credit, the first one wasn't a great shot,” Langel said. “But he stuck with it and got something good on the rim after that.”

Ahead from the Start
Colgate scored the game's first seven points and led by as many as 12 in the first half at 16-4. But New Hampshire battled back and closed to within 35-29 by halftime. After intermission, the Wildcats steadily chopped away at the home-side lead.

It was 49-47 with 10:19 left, then 51-50 and 54-53. Burnatowski nailed the last of his four 3-pointers with 6:02 remaining to push the lead to 57-53, but still the Wildcats threatened. Finally, an 8-0 UNH run capped by Myrick's driving hoop and the foul made it 63-61 New Hampshire with 2:10 to play.

All the Colgate effort seemed to be for naught.

“To be honest, we haven't had leads for whole games very often,” Langel said. “But that is a concern to a coach of a group that hasn't won a whole lot.

“You've played pretty well, you've got a lead, and all of a sudden late in the game you lose the lead. What's going to happen? We talk about being tough mentally, physically and then being together. Our guys did that – they stayed together. They didn't try individual plays, they shared the ball – they worked together to find a way to get the lead back.”

Colgate's Mitch Rolls tied the score 30 seconds later with a baseline jumper to set the stage for the closing theatrics. Both teams had possessions but couldn't convert until Roh's drive to the basket. New Hampshire's final heave from half court wasn't close, and the Raiders had their third win in four home tries.

“We need to be here as much as possible, that's for sure,” Langel said of the Cotterell confines. “It's kind of cliché, but you always play better at home. It was nice for us this weekend to get two before we go on the road for two before the league starts.”

More than Scoring
Burnatowski was doing the damage early and often for the Raiders en route to his career afternoon. The versatile forward was 11-of-22 from the field, 4-of-10 from long range and made all five of his free throws.

“I got a few easy ones at the beginning and we were moving the ball like we have been doing the last couple of games,” Burnatowski said. “When we move the ball, everyone gets open shots.

“I got going early and kept it going. I ended up having a pretty good night.”

Burnatowski was the only Raiders scorer in double figures. Langel appreciated the points but was equally impressed with his junior's all-around performance.

“He's been a good scorer for us from Day 1, but what he's really added that I was most proud of today was his total game,” the coach said. “He had a couple of assists (four), and his defensive effort – he had blocked shots, rebounds and steals that were really critical for us winning the game.”

Six Blocked Shots
John Brandenburg also contributed to the Colgate block-party, with six swats to go with a season-high nine rebounds and seven points. Roh and Brandon James added five points apiece.

New Hampshire (4-8) was led by Myrick's 23 points. In addition to Rhoads' 13, Chris Pelcher reached double figures with a dozen points and added nine boards.

Colgate won its second straight to improve to 5-7 overall. The Raiders play at Columbia on Wednesday and at Dartmouth on Saturday to close out the preconference schedule.  Both of those games start at 7 p.m.

“You'd like to play well at Columbia and at Dartmouth before you have a week to prepare for the beginning of Patriot League play,” Langel said. “It's always nice to build on winning, and now that we've won two it's a winning streak.”