ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Colgate's early-game troubles continued and the Raiders dropped a 67-55 decision to Navy here Sunday afternoon.
The Raiders fell behind 13-0 just one game after opening in a 17-0 hole against Holy Cross.
But just as they did Thursday against the Crusaders, Colgate made a game of it. The Raiders trailed 29-17 early in the second half when
Sean O'Brien got loose for eight straight points on a layup and back-to-back 3-pointers.
The Raiders were within 29-25 with 17:18 remaining.
That's when Navy then responded with a 21-4 run over the next 8:40, capped by a personal 9-0 run from Midshipmen forward George Kiernan that made it 50-29.
The Raiders rallied again late but never could pull closer than nine points on three occasions.
Tom Rivard led all scorers with a season-high 21 points, and he matched his season best with eight rebounds.
Will Rayman added 12 points and O'Brien 11. Navy got 14 points apiece from Tom Lacey, Hasan Abdullah and Shawn Anderson.
Bottom Line
• Navy 67, Colgate 55
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is 3-14 overall and 1-3 in the Patriot League.
• Navy improved to 6-10 and 1-3.
Quick Rundown
• Colgate for the second straight game began in a considerable hole.
• Navy took advantage of nine Colgate turnovers to grab a 13-0 lead.
•
Francisco Amiel scored the first Raider basket with exactly 11 minutes left on the first-half clock.
• Rivard kept Colgate within striking distance with eight points before intermission.
• Navy led 27-16 at the break. It was Colgate's lowest halftime point total of the season (20 at Notre Dame).
• After an early exchange of points, O'Brien scored eight straight points – his first eight of game – to pull Colgate within 29-25 at 17:10.
• Navy responded with a 12-4 run over the next 6:10 to lead 41-29 with 11 minutes showing.
• Kiernan added nine more points to the Navy total with a free throw, a three, a field goal and another three during a two-minute stretch.
• The scoreboard read 50-29 Midshipmen and Navy had tallied 21 of the last 25 points.
• Colgate whittled the lead from 21 points to nine at 56-47, 60-51 and 62-53, but could get no closer.
Key Raider Info
• Colgate's 55 points matched the season-low set on opening night at Syracuse (83-55).
• The Raiders shot a better percentage from the field than Navy, 44.4 to 41.3, but Navy finished 23-of-29 at the line to Colgate's 11-of-18.
• The Midshipmen claimed a 36-22 rebounding edge.
• This was the first home-team win in this series since 2014. The road teams won all four games over the last two years.
• Rivard came into Sunday's game shooting just 61.5 percent from the free throw line. He finished 5-of-5 to go with 8-of-12 from the field.
• Three of his field goal misses were from 3-point distance (0-of-3).
• The junior forward also notched a career-high three steals.
• Rayman scored in double figures for the sixth straight game and the team-leading 13th time this season.
From the Source
• Head coach
Matt Langel (On the game) "In the first half, we might have played the best half-court defensive half of basketball that we've played the whole season. We gave them at least eight points on run-outs off our turnovers and a couple more of them were on offensive rebound stick-backs. If you look at how we played defense in the first half, we were really attentive to our detail really did our jobs for the most part.
"The problem was that you have to play both ends of the court. For whatever reason – we prepared for their pressure and their aggressive matchup – we just weren't able to connect with one another and get in the gaps and even get enough shots, let alone convert them. That puts you in a hole."
Listen to the rest of Coach Langel's comments
HERE.
Up Next
• The Raiders continue their academy road trip with a Wednesday visit to Army West Point.
• The Black Knights are 7-9 overall and 1-3 in conference after their 66-57 home win over Loyola.
• Army claimed a 2-1 series edge over Colgate last season, capped by a 79-72 home triumph in the Patriot League tournament quarterfinals.
• Tipoff from Christl Arena is 7 p.m.
