ALBANY – Jack Ferguson drained a late go-ahead three-pointer and forced a turnover in the final minute of regulation to propel the Colgate men's basketball team to an 84-79 comeback victory over Siena Saturday afternoon at the Times Union Center.
Jordan Burns led Colgate with 25 points and four assists, while Ferguson posted a career-high 22 points and
Rapolas Ivanauskas racked up his fifth double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Will Rayman netted 10 points to finish in double-figures for the seventh straight game.
The two teams traded blows throughout the second half and Colgate saw its six-point halftime lead evaporate early on. Siena's fast second-half start lifted the Saints to a 59-53 advantage with just over 11 minutes to play. Colgate kept clawing back and closed the gap to 60-57 before
Tucker Richardson sank a three-pointer to tie the game with 9:28 showing.
Siena withstood the first Colgate rally and held onto a 71-70 lead until Ferguson pulled the Raiders ahead for good at the 3:44 mark. Ivanauskas stretched the court with a pass to Ferguson, who took advantage of the Saints' loose coverage and drained the go-ahead trey from the left wing to give Colgate the lead back, 73-71.
Rayman won a battle underneath the basket to push Colgate's lead to 75-71 and Ferguson sealed the Raider victory with a steal with 1:11 left in regulation. Ivanauskas and Ferguson made seven of the last eight free throws inside the final minute to secure the win.
Colgate once again came out strong in the first half, knocking down seven three-pointers and shooting 50 percent from the floor. The Raiders trailed 11-8 early until Burns anchored an 11-0 run with three consecutive three-pointers to pull Colgate ahead 19-11 midway through the first half.
Siena did not go away and closed the gap to two at 35-33 on a pair of free throws by Evan Fisher with just over three minutes left in the half. A steal and score from Burns right before halftime pushed Colgate's lead to a game-high eight points and the Raiders went into intermission with the 43-37 lead.
The Saints came out strong and took a 49-47 lead less than four minutes into the second half. That narrow lead stretched to as many as six points, but Colgate struck the final rally and prevailed with the 84-79 victory.
BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 84, Siena 79
FOR THE RECORD
• Colgate improved to 5-2 on the season and 2-2 on the road.
• Siena suffered its third straight loss to a Patriot League opponent and fell to 2-4 overall.
FROM THE SOURCE
• Colgate head coach
Matt Langel:
"Siena is a very invested team. They have some new guys with a new coach and they are excited to be on the court. With that being said, I am really proud of our guys. We fought hard in the first half to get up by eight. Then, we gave up all of that and then some in the second half. They got the lead back and were up by six but we clamped down and made some timely shots.
"Siena was hard to stop today. We didn't do a great job on the defensive end and we have to be better in the future but we got the few stops that we needed there late to secure the win. We shot the ball really well from three-point range and were exceptional from the free throw line. That's what we've got to do if we want to be successful."
KEY RAIDER NOTES
• Ferguson's 22 points eclipsed his previous career high of 20 points set Dec. 9, 2017, against Syracuse.
• He finished 5-of-7 from the field and perfect from beyond the arc (3-for-3).
• Burns went 9-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-9 from three-point range to lead Colgate with 30 points.
• Ivanauskas notched his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points an 11 boards.
• Rayman posted double figures (10) in scoring for the seventh straight game.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate shot a season-high 54.7 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from beyond the arc.
• Siena was right behind from the floor at 53.3 percent but shot just 21.7 percent from three-point range.
• Colgate finished 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the charity stripe.
• Siena shot just 45 percent (5-of-11) from the free throw line in the second half and finished 55.6 percent (10-of-18) for the game.
• The Raiders doubled up Siena in bench points, 24-12.
UP NEXT
• Colgate continues its road trip with a two-game swing in Florida next weekend.
• The Raiders take on South Florida Friday at 8:30 p.m. and Florida Gulf Coast Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
