WEST POINT, N.Y. – Colgate's second half rally not enough as Army outlasted the Raiders in the final seconds, 65-63.
Matt McMullen converted on an and-1 with 25 seconds left to give Colgate the one-point lead. But as the clock was winding down, Army's Tanner Plomb hit a deep 3-pointer to put the Black Knights back on top 63-61.
Colgate then called a timeout with 12 seconds left to draw up a play. Unfortunately, the Raiders were called for a foul out of the break, which killed off any Colgate chances of pulling even.
After two made free throws from the Black Knights at the other end of the court, Colgate put up a desperation shot from downtown with two seconds remaining that bounced in and out. The Raiders grabbed the offensive board and McMullen threw up a fade away jumper that sailed in. Sadly, the two points Colgate got was not enough to close the four-point deficit as the Raiders ultimately fell on the contest.
Colgate shifts to 5-2 in the Patriot League and are in a first-place tie with Bucknell. The Raiders falls to 8-12 overall.
Damon Sherman-Newsome posted a game-high 19 points, while Ethan Jacobs chipped in 11 to the Raiders' final total.
McMullen pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, and had three steals to lead all players.
Luke Roh handed out five helpers to go along with his nine points, while Austin Tillotson added nine points, three assists and two steals to close out the Raider top performers.
Colgate shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from long. Army went 45.1 percent and 34.8 percent, respectively.
The Raiders are back on Cotterell Court Saturday when they welcome Loyola at 2 p.m.
Bottom Line
• Army 65, Colgate 63
Won-Lost Records
• Army pulls to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in the Patriot League
• Colgate shifts to 8-12 and 5-2, respectively.
• The Raiders are now tied with Bucknell for first place in the conference standings
Facts & Figures
• Sherman-Newsome went for a game-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He added 3-of-6 makes from long, three assists and two steals during his 33 minutes.
• 13 of the senior's final scoring total came in the second 20 minutes of action.
• He has now hit double-figures in 18 of the Raiders' 20 games this year.
• Jacobs posted double-digits as well with 11 points in the game. He continued his double-figure scoring streak, shifting the number to eight-straight games. He also matched his season-high three assists in the contest, while making it three-straight games with two blocks.
• Leading all players on the boards was McMullen, who registered a career and game-best 13 rebounds. Eight of those 13 boards came on the offensive glass, which was also a game-high. He chipped in three assists to go with his career-best three steals.
• Roh handed out a team-high five helpers, while pulling down six boards of his own.
• Colgate finished the night shooting 50.9 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from 3-point range. The Raiders, however, shot a mere 28.6 percent from the free throw line for their second-worst shooting night from the charity stripe.
• Colgate tallied 32 points from inside the paint compared to Army's 28 but the Black Knights recorded 19 points off of turnovers to the Raiders' 17.
• The Raiders held the slight edge on rebounds at 31-28 and handed out 18 assists.
• Both teams committed 13 turnovers but Colgate had the edge on second chance opportunities at 16-6.
• Colgate's largest lead of the game occurred when Alex Ramon drained a trey in the corner midway through the second half. The score stood at 54-46 following that bucket. Army had its largest edge in the game just four minutes into the second half when the Black Knights pushed their lead to 11.
• The Raiders had the advantage for 10:07, while Army had the lead for 26:00. The game was tied for 3:47.
Army's Numbers
• Plomb finished the night going 7-for-15 from the floor and 4-for-9 from long range for his team-high 18 points.
• Two other Black Knight players found double-digits in Kyle Wilson (15 points) and Dylan Cox (12 points).
• Plomb added a team-best seven rebounds, a block and a steal to his already impressive night.
Interesting Notes
• With the outcome Colgate has now dropped 10 of its 12 losses by seven or fewer points.
• Sherman-Newsome recorded double-figures in the game for his seventh consecutive game. He has also hit double-digits in 18 of the Raiders 20 games so far this season.
• The only two contests Sherman-Newsome missed that mark were contests in which he got injured during the game.
• Jacobs is riding a double-digit scoring streak as well sitting with his mark at eight straight.
Game Breakdown
• In a back-and-forth opening 14 minutes neither team held more than a five-point lead until Army converted on consecutive treys to push its edge to nine, at 28-19.
• Colgate rallied to cut into the Black Knights advantage with a 10-4 run but two more 3-pointers from Army, including one as the buzzer sounded, sent the hosts into the locker room up nine.
• Army extended its lead to the largest of the game just three minutes into the second half, but a 19-2 Raider run erased any Black Knights advantage they had built. That rally put Colgate ahead by eight, its largest lead in the game, with 10 minutes left to play.
• The Black Knights countered over the next seven minutes, however, with a 12-0 run of their own, to take back the advantage at 58-54.
• The two teams exchanged buckets until an and-1 from McMullen gave Colgate the one-point edge with 25 seconds remaining.
• Army again answered on the other end of the court with Plomb's final trey of the game to lift the Black Knights to the 63-61 edge.
• Colgate had a chance to tie the game on its next possession but a foul forced the Raiders to turn the ball over, ultimately sealing the win for the Black Knights.
Record's Watch
• Moore, who is still within reach of breaking the 1,000-point barrier for his career, currently sits with 881 points.
• Tillotson already has 94 season assists this year. He recorded 133 helpers a year ago during his first season with the Maroon and White, which placed him third all-time.
• With Roh's five assists in Wednesday's game he now has 307 career helpers. He is 16 assists shy of matching Alvin Reed '06 for fourth place all-time.
Straight From The Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his overall thoughts from the game) "It's a league game. They're all going to be close. We didn't play great in the first half. We let some of their best players get the shots they like to get and they stepped up and made them. We gave them a little resistance to get it back to three but then they extended it again."
"In the second half we changed defenses a couple times and it looked to bother Army a little bit. We had the momentum and we were in a great situation but when we had to play without Austin (Tillotson), who got in a little foul trouble, it's not something that we like to do."
"I credit Army, they really stepped up. They made almost all of their free throws, which we did not, and on the road you have to do that. Then (Tanner) Plomb made a huge bucket at the end of the game that just gave them the necessary separation."
(On his team's missed free throws throughout the game that really hindered them) "Again, to win on the road you've got to really step up and take care of the little details. We had a couple needless turnovers. We had a couple missed assignments. We had a couple loose balls that we didn't get that gave them extra possessions and then when you get to the line, and we aren't a team that gets to the line very often, but when you do, you've got to step up and make them. We practice them. We've got good free throw shooters but Austin missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Damon (Sherman-Newsome) missed two free throws at critical points. We needed to use every point we could get tonight."
Up Next
• Colgate now shifts its attention to Loyola, who comes to Cotterell Court on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• The Greyhounds dropped its most recent contest to Bucknell 75-61.
• Loyola currently sits with an overall record of 7-11 with a 3-4 conference mark.
• These two programs split their two games just a season ago with each team taking a win on their home court. Loyola defeated the Raiders 67-60 on Jan. 25, 2014 before Colgate took a 84-60 victory on Feb. 22, 2014.
