SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Colgate built an early second-half lead but Syracuse battled back and pulled away late for a 77-56 victory Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome.
 
Colgate opened the game shooting lights out from the field. 24 of Colgate's 32 first-half points came on three-pointers, led by three each from Will Rayman and Tucker Richardson.
 
Rayman scored 13 of Colgate's first 16 points and the Raiders led 16-12 with 11:18 left in the half. Malcolm Regisford battled his way under the basket for a layup to give the Raiders their largest lead of the contest, 21-16, with just over eight minutes left.
 
Jack Ferguson drained a three-pointer to stretch Colgate's lead to 29-25 with 3:36 left, but the Orange closed out the half on a 10-3 run to take a 35-32 lead into the locker room.
 
Colgate trailed by three at the half but came out shooting for the upset with the first six points in the second half on back-to-back triples by Burns and Rapolas Ivanauskas to give the Raiders a 38-35 lead.
 
The two teams went back-and-forth over the next three-plus minutes until Burns once again drained a deep three-pointer to pull the Raiders in front 43-41 with 15:56 showing on the clock.
 
Tyus Battle tied the game at 43-43 with a layup and Elijah Hughes ensued with a three-pointer to spark the Orange, who took control with a 28-3 run over the next eight minutes to take a 69-46 lead.
 
The Raiders drew the deficit to 21 on a pair of free throws from Burns with 7:05 left, but they could not get any closer as the Orange pulled away for the 77-56 victory.
 
BOTTOM LINE
• Syracuse 77, Colgate 56
 
FOR THE RECORD
• Colgate is now 4-2 on the young season.
• Syracuse snapped a two-game losing streak, improving to 3-2 overall.

FROM THE SOURCE
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel:
 
"We played really well in the first half tonight but we made a few mistakes that gave them some points we could not afford. Syracuse made better adjustments in the second half and took away some of the things we were able to do early on. 
 
"The game has two ends and defense leads to offense. We went quite a few possessions there without a field goal and they capitalized on offense down the stretch. That was the difference tonight.

"The first half is more indicative of what we are capable of doing. Syracuse is obviously a great team and this was a great atmosphere for our guys to play in and there were a lot of things to build on from tonight."
 
KEY RAIDER NOTES
• Colgate led tonight's contest for 14:57, while Syracuse was in front for 19:13.
• The game was tied for 5:24 and featured 11 ties and 11 lead changes.
• Rayman and Burns led the Raiders with 13 points apiece.
• Rayman pulled in a season-high eight rebounds.
• Richardson netted a career-high three treys.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate shot 35.3 percent from the field and finished 30 percent from beyond the arc.
• The Raiders finished 80 percent (8-for-10) from the charity stripe.
• Syracuse finished with a 43.3 percent clip from the floor and 35 percent from three-point range.
• The Orange shot just 60 percent (18-of-30) from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
• Colgate remains on the road to take on Siena on Saturday.
• The Saints dropped an 80-69 decision to Lehigh on Wednesday.
• Tip-off from Loudonville, N.Y., is set for 2 p.m.