HAMILTON – Jordan Burns and Will Rayman combined for 40 points in the second half to lead the Colgate men's basketball team to an 82-66 victory over Marist Saturday afternoon in non-league action at Cotterell Court.
 
Burns paced the Raiders with 24 points and six assists, while Rayman finished with 21 points and seven boards. Rapolas Ivanauskas came one point shy of his seventh double-double with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and Dana Batt posted 10 points and six boards to lead Colgate offensively. 
 
Marist got off to a strong start to open an early 6-2 lead on a layup by Brian Parker nearly three minutes in. A three-pointer from Ivanauskas quickly sparked a 10-0 scoring run to give the Raiders a 12-6 advantage midway through the opening frame.
 
Colgate never played from behind again. The Red Foxes cut the margin to one at 13-12 on a three-pointer from Isaiah Lamb with just over nine minutes, but Jack Ferguson set up Ivanauskas for an easy dunk to open an 8-0 scoring run that gave the Raiders a nine-point lead over 12 minutes into the frame.
 
Back-to-back three-point plays from Ryan Funk and Luke Nedrow closed the gap to one again at 21-20, but the Raiders jumped back up by five on a jumper from Rayman with just over three minutes left. The two teams traded buckets down the stretch as Colgate went into the locker room leading Marist 32-27 at the half.
 
Burns and Rayman took over from there, scoring 40 of the Raiders' 50 second-half points to put the game away. After Marist closed within four points at 39-35 four minutes in, the Raiders pulled away with a 14-2 run, led by seven points apiece from Rayman and Burns. 
 
Colgate maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way. A traditional three-point play from Burns gave the Raiders their largest lead of the game 56-39 past the midway point of the final stanza.
 
Dozic brought Marist within 12 points at 76-64 with just over two minutes left, but the Raiders closed the game out on a 6-2 run to secure the 82-66 victory. 
 
BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 82, Marist 66
 
FOR THE RECORD
• Colgate improved to 8-4 overall and capped off the first semester with a 4-0 record at home. 
• Marist saw its three-game winning streak come to an end and fell to 4-5 after the loss.

FROM THE SOURCE
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: 
 
"The last week of classes is difficult as we are going into exams and our guy's attention and energy are in different places. We got a lot of first-half looks but we just didn't make the shots so we weren't able to open the game the way we wanted to.
 
"We were much better in the second half. Obviously, Rayman and Burns were really efficient in the second half. Marist made an adjustment to stop open three-pointers, so that opened up a lot underneath the basket. Our guys took what the defense gave them and created a lot of scoring opportunities. We shot the ball great from the free-throw line, which is crucial when we are trying to put a game away with a big lead at home. 
 
"We are going to have a competitive scrimmage next Friday but that will be our only real competition for the next two weeks. It is nice to go into break coming off this win and we have a little rhythm heading towards Patriot League play, which starts in just a few weeks."

KEY RAIDER NOTES
• With the win, the Raiders sweep the MAAC with victories over Monmouth, Siena, and Marist.
• Colgate will go its entire non-league slate without losing back-to-back games with one game left at Pitt.
• The Raiders are the first Patriot League team to reach eight wins this season.
• Burns and Rayman combined to shoot 12-for-15 from the field with 21 and 19 points, respectively, in the second half.
• With a three-pointer at the end of the first half, Ferguson has now drained a trey in nine consecutive games. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate shot 50 percent (26-for-52) from the floor, 28.6 percent (6-for-21) from three-point range, and 80 percent (24-for-30) from the free throw line.
• Marist finished 38.3 percent (23-for-60) from the field, 25 percent (7-for-28) from beyond the arc, and just 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the charity stripe.
• The Raiders dominated the boards with a 46-28 advantage on the glass.
• Fast-break points finished 12-2 in favor of the Raiders. 
• Colgate held a 36-28 advantage in points in the paint.

UP NEXT
• Colgate will be off for two weeks over winter break before wrapping up non-league play Dec. 29 at Pitt.
• Tip-off from Pittsburgh, Pa., is set for 4 p.m.