HAMILTON - Jordan Burns hit the go-ahead jumper in the final minute of regulation to lead the Colgate men's basketball team to its first Patriot League victory of the season on Sunday with a 73-69 triumph over American at Cotterell Court.
In a game that saw six lead changes in the second half alone, American led by as many as eight points after a Sa'eed Nelson jumper made it 57-49 with 8:15 left in regulation. Colgate went to work from there, with a three-pointer from
Jack Ferguson sparking a 9-0 run for the Raiders, who claimed a brief 58-57 lead.
Five minutes ran off the clock before the next Eagles field goal, a layup from Nelson that knotted the score at 61-61 with 3:15 showing. A layup from
Will Rayman pulled the Raiders ahead 67-63 with just under two minutes left, but the next 60 seconds went the Eagles' way, and the visitors reclaimed a 68-67 lead.
Burns led all players with 15 points in the second half, but none were bigger than his two on a step-back jumper that pulled the Raiders ahead for good, 69-68, with just 46 ticks left on the clock.
American missed its next two shots and Burns and
Tucker Richardson sank all four free throws down the stretch to seal the Raider victory, 73-69.
The Raiders led by as many as five points in the first half after a second-chance layup from
Malcolm Regisford gave Colgate a 16-11 lead just past the midway point of the first half. American answered with an 8-0 run to take a 19-16 lead and the Eagles did not trail again in the first half en route to a 35-29 lead at the break.
Colgate used another fast start in the second half and a fast-break layup from Burns gave Colgate its first lead since 8:38 of the first half 41-39 nearly four minutes into the final stanza. The two teams went back-and-forth from there, with the Raiders prevailing down the stretch for the victory.
BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 73, American 69
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate improved to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in Patriot League action with the win.
• American dropped to 7-6 on the season and 1-1 in league play after the loss.
FROM THE SOURCE
• Colgate head coach
Matt Langel:
On the win: "Patriot League games are tough. There has to be a "next play" mentality regardless of the last one. I was proud of our resolve to keep playing even when thing were not going well. We did not play or best and AU certainly had something to do with that, but our guys did make the requisite plays late at both ends of the floor.
On the defense in the second half: "We were a little more attentive to or details in the second half and we did a better job of not letting Iorio find open 3s other than one time and we were fortunate that he missed it."
On the team effort to get the win: "It was certainly a team effort. We give an ace of spade award in all our wins postgame and today's was to the TEAM. Because really, every guy had their hand in the win at some point in the game."
Looking ahead to Bucknell and Lehigh: "There are 18 PL games. They are all equally important. History shows that the best teams win at home and find a way to steal games on the road. This week is certainly a challenging week, I know our guys are anxious to put their best foot forward."
KEY RAIDER NOTES
• Colgate has now won four straight games over American.
• The Raiders are off to a 5-0 start at home and have won nine consecutive games at Cotterell Court dating back to last season.
• Colgate outscored American 44-34 in the second half.
• American's Sam Iorio led all players with 13 points at the half. Colgate held him scoreless in the second half.
• Four Raiders finished in double figures, led by Burns with 18.
• Burns also dished out a career-high 10 assists for his first collegiate double-double.
• Rayman, Richardson, and Ferguson each finished with 11 points.
• Ferguson knocked down three shots from beyond the arc, extending his streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 12 straight.
• Rayman, who leads the league in offensive rebounds per game (2.4), registered five more offensive boards in the win.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate shot 60.71 percent (17-of-28) from the floor in the second half and finished with a 46.6 field goal percentage (27-of-58) for the game.
• After going 3-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first half, Colgate went 4-of-7 from distance in the second half to finish 7-of-19 (36.8 percent).
• The Raiders finished 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) from the free throw line.
• American finished 25-of-50 (50 percent) from the field, 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from three-point range, and 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) from the free-throw line.
• Colgate won the battle on the boards, 34-29.
UP NEXT
• Colgate heads to Lewisburg, Pa., on Wednesday for a showdown at Bucknell in a rematch of the 2018 Patriot League Championship.
• The Bison enter the matchup .500 on the season at 7-7 and 1-1 in league play following an 87-80 loss to Boston University on Saturday.
• Tip-off from Sojka Pavilion is slated for 7 p.m.
