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HAMILTON – Balanced scoring and a terrific defensive effort landed Colgate its first win of the season here Thursday night.
 
That it came against Central New York rival Cornell only sweetened the feeling.
 
The Raiders rolled to a 72-61 victory that wasn't as close as the final score indicated. Colgate led by as many as 19 points in the second half and by 17 with four minutes remaining before coasting to the finish.
 
How balanced were the Raiders in the scoring column?
 
At the 7:53 media timeout of the second half, Colgate was on top 54-40 and had exactly zero double-figure scorers. Jordan Swopshire, Jordan Burns and Jack Ferguson all had nine points apiece.
 
The first-year Burns led the final tally with 14 points, followed by 12 apiece from Swopshire and Ferguson. Sean O'Brien added 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
 
Colgate was 11-of-25 from 3-point distance, good for 44 percent on the nose. The Raiders shot just 35.1 percent from 2-point range, but that was enough to even the season record at 1-1.
 
Cornell, after scoring 94 points Monday night in a 10-point home win over Binghamton, was held to 35.9 percent shooting and just 5-of-27 from the 3-point arc. Matt Morgan led all scorers with 23.
 
Bottom Line
Colgate 72, Cornell 61
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 1-1.
• Cornell is now 1-2.
 
Game Recap
• There were two ties and six lead changes, but all of those came in the opening 14 minutes.
• O'Brien's layup with 16:07 showing gave Colgate an 8-3 lead.
• Wil Bathurst dropped in a layup at the 8:49 mark and Cornell had its largest lead at 17-14.
• Ferguson's layup with 5:50 left before halftime put the Raiders in front for keeps at 19-17 and was part of a 12-3 run that made it 26-20.
• Morgan's 3-ball in the final minute settled the halftime score at 32-25, Colgate.
• The game teetered for the first eight minutes of the second half as the Raider lead fluctuated between 10 and four points.
• But a pair of Burns buckets and Ferguson's swishing 3-pointer capped a 9-0 Colgate run that put the Raiders in front 52-38 with 10:46 showing.
• The lead ballooned to 61-42 on Swopshire's 3-pointer with 6:50 remaining and Colgate was on its way.
 
Facts & Figures
• Swopshire finished 4-of-8 and Ferguson 3-of-5 from downtown. Swop's total was one shy of his career best.
• O'Brien's eight rebounds led both teams and his three steals just missed tying a personal best.
• In the second half, the Raiders were 6-of-11 from long distance against Cornell's 2-of-11.
• Malcolm Regisford and Jordan Robertson both made their season debuts after missing the opener at Connecticut because of injuries.
• Regisford contributed seven rebounds to Colgate's 45-43 edge on the boards.
• Colgate knocked off Cornell for the second straight year.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (On the balanced scoring) "That's what we're most excited about our team this year. We don't have to rely on Will Rayman to get 20 points to be in a game or Sean O'Brien to score double figures. We have a lot of different guys – with Jordan Burns and Jack Ferguson – who can be weapons.
 
Listen to the rest of Coach Langel's comments here.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 661.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is home Sunday against UMBC.
• The Retrievers improved to 1-2 Thursday night with a 93-60 home victory against Central Penn College.
• Tipoff is 2 p.m., with livestream available through the Patriot League Network and the radio play-by-play call over 94 WKXZ-FM.