GREEN BAY, Wis. – In a historic performance,
Jordan Burns poured in 40 points and knocked down eight 3-pointers and Colgate shook Green Bay 99-81 on Tuesday night at the Kress Center.
Burns' 40 points were the most ever in a Legends Classic Tournament, and the most by a Raider since Tucker Neale scored 41 in a 104-71 victory over Lafayette on Feb. 25, 1995. Burns finished 14-of-23 from the field, 8-of-14 from beyond the arc, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
The performance earned him Legends Classic Subregional MVP honors. He also turned in three assists, hauled in four rebounds, and drew six fouls.
Tucker Richardson added season highs in points (18) and assists (7) to earn All-Tournament honors.
Will Rayman posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while
Rapolas Ivanauskas and
Nelly Cummings both finished with nine apiece.
Colgate's 99 points were its most since racking up 101 against The Citadel in 2016. The Raiders shot 58 percent as a team, including 54 percent (19-for-35) from beyond the arc -- Both marks season highs.
All of this in the Kress Center, where Green Bay had won seven in a row over the past two seasons, including three straight during their run to the 2019 CIT national championship.
Ivanauskas set the tone early with two nice post moves and converted an and-one to give Colgate an early 5-0 advantage. Richardson connected on a 3-pointer from the wing after Burns worked inside for two and the Raiders were out front 10-6 at the first media timeout.
Colgate (4-3) got off to a hot start from beyond the arc, with a pair of triples from Burns sparking a 10-0 run. Rayman and Richardson both buried 3s before Burns hit another and Colgate started 6-of-13 from beyond the arc en route to a 31-13 lead midway through the opening half.
Another 3-pointer from Cummings countered a short 7-2 spurt for Green Bay and pushed the lead back to 16 with just under seven minutes showing on the clock.
Burns stole the show from there and closed the half smoking hot with 13 of Colgate's final 19 points. He hit his last four attempts and had 26 points to lead the Raiders to a 59-37 advantage at the intermission.
Burns continued his torrid run with a nice dish to Richardson in the paint before another triple from the corner stretched the lead to 66-41. But a trey from Green Bay's Kameron Hankerson started a 7-2 counter to trim the deficit to 68-49.
Green Bay (2-4) cut the deficit to 17 on two occasions and eventually closed within 15, but
Keegan Records scored four straight points in the paint before
Jack Ferguson netted his first trey to extend the lead to 81-59.
A 3-pointer from JaQuan McCloud started a late 8-0 run for the Phoenix, who once more cut the margin to 17 points at 94-77, but Rayman splashed another trey to halt the momentum and the Raiders keptt heir distance down the stretch to secure to 99-81 victory.
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 99, Green Bay 81
QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Langel
On the win and tournament performance:
"We played well on both ends of the floor tonight. We were ready to go from the beginning and sustained well throughout the game. We played with and for one another and it is great to leave Green Bay with two wins having improved as a team."
On winning the Legends Classic Subregional:
"We talked the last two days about the opportunity to win the Roman Legends Classic Subregional. Although it was not a main goal for our group this season, teams get to compete for a championship very few times in a season. I am very proud of how our guys executed a game plan and got the results that we did."
On the shooting performance:
"We shot very well and we shared the ball. We were able to collapse the Green Bay defense with post-ups and penetration and made good passes to open shooters who stepped up and made their shots. Green Bay leads the nation in shortest length of possessions so we knew there were going to be more opportunities for both teams to score. We obviously found a good rhythm and took advantage."
GAME NOTES
- Burns' 40 points set the record in the Legends Classic, which has been around since 2007 and annually features the nation's top programs.
- His 14 field goals were a career high and eight 3-pointers tied his personal best from last year's NCAA Tournament game against Tennessee.
- Colgate set a program record with 19 3-pointers in the win.
- The previous record for most 3s in a game was 18 set against Union in 2016.
- The Raiders finished with a season-high 13 treys in the first half (13-for-23).
- Rayman's double-double was his second of the season.
- Richardson in his first game without the mask from his broken nose scored a season-high 18 points, dished out seven assists, and finished 7-of-9 from the field.
- Colgate for the second time this season finished perfect (6-for-6) from the free throw line. The Raiders rank 12th in the country in free throw percentage (81.8%).
UP NEXT
Colgate returns home to take on Siena on Saturday. Tip-off from Cotterell Court is 2 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
