FAIRFAX, Va. – Head men's basketball coach Matt Langel had his Colgate team in top form as it recorded a 66-53 win at George Mason in the teams' season opener.
 
Ironically, the Raiders margin of victory – 13 – was the perfect ending as Colgate's opener fell on Colgate Day (Friday the 13th).
 
Leading all scorers was Tom Rivard, who posted a career and game-high 23 points in his first contest in the Maroon and White. The sophomore went 6-for-10 from the floor, 3-for-5 from long and 8-for-9 from the free throw line, while also adding four boards to his already impressive night.
 
Jordan Robertson and Jordan Swopshire chipped in double-figures as well with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Senior Alex Ramon pulled down a team-best six rebounds, while six other Raider players tallied four each.
 
Colgate finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor (22-for-44), 35.7 percent from downtown (5-for-14) and 65.4 percent from the charity stripe (17-for-26).
 
The Raiders' Atlantic 10 foe shot 32.7 percent from the floor, 16.7 percent from behind the arc and 51.4 percent from the line. The Patriots were led by Marquise Moore's 13 points and Shevon Thompson's game-high 14 boards.
 
Colgate held George Mason scoreless for the first four minutes as it jumped out to the quick 4-0 edge.
 
Rookie Malcolm Regisford handed the Raiders their largest lead of the half at 11-5 with 13 minutes remaining in the first after teammate Austin Tillotson found him inside for a layup.
 
The Patriots would rally though outscoring the Raiders 13-7 over the course of the next eight minutes, to knot the score at 18-all.
 
The teams exchanged baskets before a jumper from George Mason's Otis Livingston sent the hosts into the break up 22-20.
 
George Mason extended its lead to six, three times in the opening four minutes of the second half but Colgate would not go away.
 
The Raiders sparked a rally of their own, keeping the Patriots scoreless for more than four minutes. During that time Colgate compiled 11 points, seven of which came from the hands of Robertson, to take a 35-30 advantage with 12 minutes remaining.
 
George Mason would pull to within 41-40 at the eight-minute mark, but that would be as close as they came, as the Raiders outscored their hosts 25-13 throughout the remainder of the contest. Of those 25 points, 13 came from the charity stripe, including going 9-for-10 in the last 47 seconds of play.
 
Colgate recorded its first season-opening victory since 2011-12, in which it defeated Binghamton 78-74.
 
The Raiders have a quick turnaround as they play host to nearby rival Cornell on Monday for their home opener. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. on Cotterell Court. Live stats and video will be available at the start.

Bottom Line
• Colgate 66, George Mason 53
• The Raiders outscored the Patriots 46-31 in the second half alone.
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improves to 1-0 on the early season.
• George Mason dips to 0-1.     
 
Facts & Figures
• Rivard led the Raiders with a game-high 23 points off of 6-of-10 shooting from the floor.
• He also went 3-for-5 from long and 8-for-9 from the line for his first career double-figure scoring game.
• Also recording double-digit scoring was Robertson with 14 points and Swopshire with 13.
• Robertson went 6-for-7 from the floor, 1-for-1 from behind the arc and 1-for-4 from the charity stripe, while Swopshire finished 3-for-4, 1-for-1 and 6-for-8, respectively.
• On the boards was Ramon, who pulled down a team-best six rebounds.
• The senior added three helpers and four points in his 35 minutes of action.  
• Tillotson handed out a game-high seven assists, while compiling six points of his own.
• The York, Pennsylvania, native is now just 50 helpers shy of breaking into Colgate's top-5 in career assists.
• He also played a game-high 37 minutes.   
• Colgate shot 50 percent from the floor and hit 5-of-14 from behind the arc. The Raiders also shot 65.4 percent from the free throw line.  
• The Raiders slightly outrebounded the Patriots 37-36.
• Colgate notched 28 points from inside the paint to George Mason's 22, and held the 13-10 edge on point off of turnovers.
• The Raiders finished with 27 bench points to the Patriots' 12.
• George Mason held its largest lead at six, on three occasions, with its last time coming with 18:59 remaining in the game. Colgate finished the game with its largest least at 13.  
 
George Mason's Numbers
• Moore was the Patriots' top scorer with 13 points. He went 4-for-14 from the floor and 5-for-8 from the free throw line.     
• Jaire Grayer and Livingston were close behind with eight points each, while Thompson pulled down a game-high 14 boards.
• The Patriots shot 32.7 percent from the floor and hit only 3-of-18 from long range. They also finished shooting 51.4 percent from the charity stripe.

Turning Point
• Down 30-24 with 16:02 remaining on the clock, Colgate outscored its hosts 11-0 during a four-minute span to pull in front 35-30.
• Seven of those 11 points came from sophomore Robertson, who finished the game with a career-high 14 points.
• The Patriots made it a 41-40 ballgame with 8:11 to play, but Colgate answered with a 10-4 run over the course of the next three minutes to extend its edge back to seven points.
 
Game Notes
• Colgate registered 46 points in the second half to surge past its hosts in the teams' season opener.
 
Career-Highs
• Three Raiders had notable career-highs in the game with Rivard's 23 points leading the way.
• Joining him was Robertson with 14 points and Swopshire with 13.
 
First Career Game
• Friday's tilt marked the first collegiate game for five Colgate players.
• First-years Regisford, Dana Batt, Dave Krmpotich, Francisco Amiel and David Favorite all saw action in the Raiders win.
• Regisford added a career-best two blocks in the contest to lead all players.
 
Senior Success
• Tillotson handed out a game-high seven helpers on Friday, pulling him just 50 assists shy of breaking into Colgate's top-5 in career assists.
• The senior is also 244 points away from reaching 1,000 in his three-year Colgate career.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at George Mason's EagleBank Arena was 5,124.

Straight From The Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his overall thoughts from the game) "Winning in college basketball is difficult. To do it on the road, against an Atlantic 10 program, makes for a fantastic start to our season. It was a great experience for our inexperienced team. Now we will work hard to learn from it, get better and get ready for a quick turnaround Monday night against Cornell."
 
Next Up
• Colgate welcomes nearby rival Cornell on Monday for its home opener.
• The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip in Cotterell Court
• Cornell dropped a high-scoring 116-81 decision to Georgia Tech on Friday.
• Live stats and video are available at the start.