SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse looked every bit of its Final Four self from a year ago in defeating Colgate 83-55 here Friday night.
 
In the opener for both teams, a crowd of 23,844 watched the hometown Orange outscore the Raiders 16-3 after the final media timeout of the first half to take a 49-25 lead into the locker room.
 
The opening minutes of the second half saw more of the same, as Syracuse stretched the advantage to 61-28 with 16:40 left. That combined run was 31-6 over a 7:12 span.
 
Malcolm Regisford reached double figures with 10 points to lead a balanced Colgate offense. Sean O'Brien scored 9, Jordan Robertson 8, Tom Rivard 7 and Will Rayman added 6 off the bench.
 
Syracuse, ranked 17th and 19th in the opening major polls, placed four in double figures. Tyler Roberson led the way with 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
 
Bottom Line
• Syracuse 83, Colgate 55

Won-Lost Records
• Colgate opens its season 0-1.
• Syracuse is 1-0.

Quick Rundown
• Robertson opened the Colgate scoring with a long 3-pointer that was sandwiched around a pair of Roberson dunks for the Orange.
• The Raiders led 11-9 when O'Brien popped in a 3-ball with 14:45 showing. The junior guard swished again from long range at the 12:12 mark to pull Colgate within 16-14.
• Colgate at that point was 4-of-9 from downtown.
• But a 5:21 scoring drought by the Raiders – finally halted by a Robertson trey – allowed Syracuse to go in front 30-15 and set the stage for their big explosion.
• After trailing 69-34 with 12:43 to play, Colgate was able to shave 10 points off that margin before settling for the final score.
 
Key Raider Info
• Fourteen different Raiders saw action and nine found the scoresheet.
• Dana Batt was the Colgate rebound leader with a career-high 7, tying for game honors.
• Syracuse shot 54.8 percent from the floor to Colgate's 28.1 percent.
• Rebounds were close at 46-40 in favor of the Orange.
• Ten Syracuse steals were the main reason for Colgate's 14 turnovers.
 
From the Source
• Head coach Matt Langel (On the game) "We showed signs at times of being able to do some good things. Our offense against the zone produced a lot of good looks. We had some good chances to stay in the game for a little bit longer. If you can keep it in single digits, you're in the game.
 
"And then they went on a run. Our transition defense struggled at times. You have to credit their athletes and their size for part of that. But we battled tough in the second half and made some decent adjustments. It absolutely is a difficult game to play but it's one our guys were excited to play, as they should be."
  
Listen to the rest of Coach Langel's comments HERE.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is at Cornell this Wednesday at 7 p.m.
• The Big Red opened Friday night with a 68-62 loss at Binghamton. Cornell plays Sunday at Siena.
• Cornell has won the last two meetings – 58-52 two years ago in Ithaca and 101-98 in double-overtime last year in Hamilton.