HAMILTON – Rapolas Ivanauskas scored 18 points and four Raiders finished in double figures to lead Colgate past Cortland 89-50 on Thursday night at Cotterell Court.
Ivanauskas' 18 points came on 8-of-9 shooting from the field.
Nelly Cummings matched his career high with 16 points and four 3-pointers.
Will Rayman added 12 and
Jack Ferguson tallied 11 to lead 11 Raiders in the scoring column.
Jordan Burns dished out a season-high eight assists and
Keegan Records pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
Colgate (2-3) never trailed after the first three minutes en route to its 11th consecutive non-conference victory at Cotterell Court. Cummings pushed the Raiders in front for good 11-8 with his first of four triples at the 16-minute mark.
Cortland (1-1) kept it close early with a 3-pointer from Jake Disanto cutting the deficit to 16-13. Ferguson knocked down a trey on Colgate's next possession to start a modest 6-0 spurt after an inside layup from Records pushed the lead to 22-13.
Ryan Moffatt got involved on a nice give-and-go with Ivanauskas to spark an 8-0 run and extend Colgate's lead to 34-19 late in the half. A layup from Ivanauskas gave the Raiders a 17-point lead 41-24, and that would be the margin at the half after Burns splashed a pull-up jumper as time expired to go into the locker room with a 43-26 advantage.
The Raiders put the game away with a 21-4 run early in the second half. Cortland was held without a field goal for over eight minutes, while Burns, Rayman, Cummings, and Ferguson all connected from beyond the arc in a 14-0 spark midway through the half.
Ivanauskas brought the crowd to their feet after taking a pass from Burns and driving inside for a two-handed slam to give the Raiders a 69-30 lead.
Milan Williams tallied four points in the final minutes and Colgate coasted to the 89-50 victory.
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 89, Cortland 50
QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Langel
On being back home and honoring the late Jack Bruen:
"It was good to be back home. The crowd for us being away and being a non-Division I game was great. I am appreciative of that. It was nice to honor Jack Bruen and I was very happy to talk about the impact he had on so many of his players, coaches, and the community."
On the game:
"Our field goal percentage was good. It was nice to challenge our guys on the defensive end. For us to have the growth, we have to play defense – we lost
Dana Batt and
Francisco Amiel – those guys were defensive-minded players. We have not been able to fill those roles so we've got to continue to work hard on the defensive end and make it hard on opponents."
On the strong start to the second half:
"I challenged the group at halftime to limit Cortland in the second half more than we did in the first half. We got it done for the most part. Our first group gave us a significant separation early in the second half because we were more focused on the defensive end."
On spreading the ball around (23 assists on 35 field goals):
"We were committed to sharing the ball and spreading it out. We have played some challenging opponents, Auburn specifically, who took us out of what we do. We've learned that we need one another and we have to work within the structure of our offense to help each other get good shots. We did that for the most part tonight. We had a number of guys with assists. Jordan's eight were huge. We need to continue to see that through."
GAME NOTES
· Colgate has won nine straight games at Cotterell Court dating back to last season.
· With the win, the Raiders extended their winning streak to 11 against non-conference opponents at home in a stretch that goes back to 2016.
· Colgate has scored at least 80 points in five straight home games.
· Ivanauskas started a perfect 7-of-7 from the field on his way to finishing 8-of-9.
· Records hauled in a season-high 10 rebounds to lead Colgate on the glass.
· Ferguson's 11 points and three 3-pointers were both season bests.
· Cummings matched his career high with 16 points.
·
Milan Williams was 2-for-2 from the field for a career-high four points.
· Colgate shot a season-best 53 percent (35-of-66) from the field.
UP NEXT
Colgate heads to Green Bay, Wisconsin, for the subregional rounds of the 2019 Roman Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper. The Raiders take on Cal State Northridge on Sunday at 4 p.m. Central and Green Bay Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT.
