Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy shot 56 percent from the floor and 7-of-9 from downtown in the first half, and the Colgate men's basketball team was never able to recover as it dropped a 71-61 decision on Saturday night.

The Mids had built an 11-point lead with 54 seconds to play in the opening 20 minutes but sophomore Austin Tillotson answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to send the Raiders into halftime only down five. Colgate came out of the break and continued its run with another basket to pull within three, but the Mids answered with an 8-0 run and never looked back.

The Raiders would get the deficit down to four at the 12:49 mark and six at the 6:21 mark but unfortunately that would be the closest they would come, as Navy came up with the answer each time to create a comfortable margin between the teams.

Colgate (9-16, 3-11) was led by Tillotson, who posted a game-high 24 points, one point shy of his career-high. The York, Pa., native went 4-of-7 from long and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe, while also pulling down four boards and handing out four assists. His four makes from behind the arc tied his career-high, which he achieved earlier this season against Binghamton, where he went 4-of-4 from 3-point range.

Murphy Burnatowski tallied his 18th double-figure game of the season and 10th out of the Raiders last 11, with his 13 points. He went 3-of-6 from downtown to earn his ninth game with three or more makes from long and second in a row.

Leading the Raiders on the boards was Matt McMullen, who collected a season and team-high eight rebounds. Luke Roh matched Tillotson's team-high four assists while also pulling down six boards.

Colgate shot 40.4 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from long for its third worst shooting night of the season. The Raiders did outrebound the Mids 34-28 but Navy held the advantage on points in the paint, 32-18.

Navy (9-16, 4-10) received a team-high performance from Brandon Venturini, who went 5-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-4 from downtown for his 19 points. He also handed out a game-high eight assists. Worth Smith added 16 points, 14 of those coming in the second half. Kendall Knorr led all players on the boards with a game-high nine rebounds to close out Navy's top performers.

The Mids shot a season-best 54.3 percent from the floor and converted 32 points from in the paint. Navy didn't shoot any free throws in the opening half but knocked down seven of its nine from long to shoot 77.8 percent from three during those 20 minutes. Colgate, however, held the Mids to 0-for-6 from downtown in the second half, forcing them to shoot 46.7 percent overall from behind the arc.

Navy also recorded 20 points off of Raider turnovers compared to Colgate's five.

The Mids started the game on a 10-4 run, sparked by two 3-pointers, to take a 10-4 lead at the 15 minute mark. Navy continued with its impressive shooting from long, registering four more treys over the next six minutes.

In total the Mids earned six makes from behind the arc in their opening 10 baskets to create a nine-point margin between the teams midway through the first half.

Colgate would see Navy push its advantage to 11 with 54 seconds remaining but back-to-back 3-pointers from Tillotson, including one as the buzzer sounded for halftime, sent the Raiders into the break only down five, at 35-30.

A Chad Johnson layup cut the lead down to three early in the second half, but the Mids answered with an 8-0 run to quickly extend their advantage to double-figures.

The Raiders would pull within four at the 12:49 mark following a good jumper from Clayton Graham, but again Navy had a response, going on a 6-0 run to make it a 10-point game.

Colgate got the deficit to six with six and a half minutes to play after Burnatowski drained one from long, but unfortunately that would be the closest the Raiders would come as the Mids finished the game hitting nine of their 10 free throws in the last minute and a half to secure the win.

Tillotson finished the last three minutes scoring nine of the Raiders final 12 points.

Colgate is back in action Wednesday when it faces Army at West Point, N.Y. for a 7 p.m. tipoff.