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Colgate University Athletics

Will Rayman
Patrick Shanahan
59
Colgate COLGATE 1-3
72
Winner Penn State PSU 3-3
Colgate COLGATE
1-3
59
Final
72
Penn State PSU
3-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Colgate COLGATE 23 36 59
Penn State PSU 30 42 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chelsea Vielhauer

Penn State Pulls Away for 72-59 Win Over Colgate

First-year Will Rayman Scores Career-High 28 Points

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Colgate men's basketball first-year Will Rayman scored a game-high 28 points, but it wasn't enough as Penn State pulled away for a 72-59 win Wednesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
 
The Raiders were within five points of the Nittany Lions with just over five minutes remaining in the game, but Penn State closed the contest on a 16-8 run to earn the victory.
 
Rayman's monster effort came on a 10-for-16 showing from the field and 5-for-8 clip from downtown. The New York, N.Y. native is the first Raider to score 25 or more points since Austin Tillotson netted 26 on Feb. 27, 2016 at Lafayette.
 
The Nittany Lions got out to an early 6-0 lead behind a pair of three-pointers before a three-pointer from Jordan Swopshire and a jumper from Jordan Robertson put the score at 6-5 four minutes into the game. Penn State surged ahead 9-5, but Rayman answered with eight-straight points while the Raider defense held PSU scoreless for nearly five minutes to give Colgate a 13-9 lead with 11:08 on the clock.  
 
Three-pointers from Swopshire and junior Tom Rivard, along with a pair of free throws from sophomore Francisco Amiel, helped Colgate stretch its lead to six at 21-15 as the clock wound all the way down to 5:31.
 
The Nittany Lions then embarked on a 15-2 run over the final five minutes of the half before a last-second Robertson jumper put the score at 30-23 heading into halftime.
 
Rayman scored Colgate's first seven points of the second half before a three-pointer from junior Sean O'Brien helped Colgate cut Penn State's lead to 36-33 with 15:23 to play. The Nittany Lions answered with a 6-0 run over the next minute to stretch their lead to 11 at 44-33, but Rayman stepped up once again with Colgate's next eight points to pull the Raiders within four at 45-41 with 12:20 on the clock.
 
Colgate hung within four points of the Nittany Lions for the next few minutes, but Penn State answered the next three Raiders buckets with three-pointers to put the score at 56-48 with under seven minutes to play. A Rayman free throw and O'Brien jumper cut the Nittany Lion lead to five at 56-51 with 5:23 on the clock, but it would be as close as Colgate would get the rest of the way as Penn State used a 7-0 streak to take a 63-51 advantage.
 
The Raiders were within single-digits on three occasions down the stretch following baskets from Rayman, but weren't able to come all the way back as Penn State scored eight points from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to claim a 72-59 win.
 
 
BOTTOM LINE
  • Penn State 72, Colgate 59
 
WON-LOST RECORDS
  • Colgate falls to 1-3 overall.
  • The Nittany Lions improve to 3-3 on the season.
 
KEY RAIDER INFO
  • Rayman's 28-point effort was followed by O'Brien's nine points, all of which came in the second half. Swopshire followed with eight points.
  • Sophomore Malcolm Regisford pulled down a season-best nine rebounds.
  • O'Brien dished a team-high four assists.
 
FACTS & FIGURES
  • Colgate finished the game shooting 41.2 percent (21-for-51) from the field and held the Nittany Lions to a season-low 33.8 (22-for-65) shooting percentage.
  • The Raiders made a season-high 10 three-pointers and finished the game with a 47.6 percent (10-for-21) clip from downtown.
  • The Nittany Lions finished 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from three-point range.
  • PSU won the battle of the boards, 43-31, and scored 13 second-chance points with the help of 16 offensive rebounds.
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
  • "I thought we had a chance there where if we had a little bit more urgency and made smarter plays, we could have pulled it out. We take a lot of pride in assisting more than we turn the ball over, but we weren't able to do that tonight. There were some loose balls that we weren't able to pick up that inevitably hurt us."
  • "I proud of Will Rayman. He's a tireless worker and he's going to be a special player for us."
  • "I have to give Penn State credit. Their guys stepped up and made the big shots when they needed to."
 
UP NEXT
  • The Raiders wrap up their five-game, season-opening road trip with a Saturday matinee at Columbia.
  • Tipoff from New York City is set for 2 p.m.
  • All information on how to follow can be found at Game Central.
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