HAMILTON – Jordan Burns scored 25 points to lead four in double figures and Colgate pulled away for its fourth straight victory with a 72-62 triumph over Siena on Saturday at Cotterell Court.
Burns' 25 points came on a 10-of-21 showing from the field and gives him 65 points for the week after pouring in 40 Tuesday at Green Bay.
Will Rayman posted 13 and finished one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards, including four on the offensive end.
Tucker Richardson registered 11 points for his third consecutive game in double figures and led the team with three assists.
Keegan Records provided a spark off the bench with a career-high 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor.
Siena led by as many as seven early with a 3-pointer from Jordan King lifting the visitors to a 13-6 advantage eight minutes into the game. Richardson forced back-to-back steals on Siena's next two possessions and a two-handed slam in transition by Records ignited an 11-4 run to knot the game at 17-17.
David Maynard splashed a trey from the wing during the run and another dunk inside by Records gave the Raiders the lead for good with 7:03 showing on the clock. Burns scored the next six points to push Colgate to its largest lead of the half, 25-19.
A layup by Siena's Manny Camper trimmed the deficit to 27-26, before Colgate answered with the final four points to go into the locker room with a 31-26 advantage.
Richardson connected on a corner trey to extend the lead to 34-26 and Colgate held Siena off the scoreboard for over six minutes to start the second half. The Raiders forced four turnovers and contained the Saints to 0-of-4 from the field in the process.
Jack Ferguson drained his first trey of the game during a 10-2 spurt and the Raiders led by as many as 14 in the second half after a pair of free throws from Records stretched the lead to 48-34 with just over nine minutes left.
Siena (2-4) chipped away and used one last gasp down the stretch to cut the margin to 58-54 with 2:17 showing, but Burns put an end to the Saints' comeback bid with a step-back triple from the top of the key to push the lead back to seven.
Colgate (5-3) closed the game out on a 14-6 run over the final two minutes, with Rayman converting on an and-one in the waning seconds to secure the 72-62 victory.
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 72, Siena 62
QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Langel
On the game:
"It's always good to win. We didn't get off to a great start – obviously, the travel was tough to Green Bay. We've now had a couple of days here. But we game-planned for (MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Jalen) Pickett to play and he wasn't in the game, and we didn't adjust to the type of game it was going to be quick enough. We didn't really ever find a rhythm to the game like we needed to. But again, it's good to win. The leadership of
Will Rayman really showed up as he breathed some life into the group and got our fire lit to get us where we were going."
On Burns with 25 today after scoring 40 at Green Bay:
"They were two totally different games. Against Green Bay, he really got it going and got into the rhythm of our offense and started feeling it. This afternoon, Siena switched its center onto to him, which led to Jordan trying to be the volume playmaker and that isn't necessarily our style. But if they are going to put their 5 man on him, we have to try to take advantage of that matchup. It turned into Jordan having a lot of scoring plays and a lot of assisting plays. To be honest, if he had shot today like he did the other night, he would have had even more points in this game than he did in Green Bay."
On holding off Siena rallies:
"The group has won enough and is experienced enough that they are familiar with those situations and they just stuck with it. We got a couple of blocked shots and a couple of big rebounds that led to a couple of runouts. A couple of times, to be honest, the ball just bounced our way. There were some loose balls that got knocked around and led to layups for us at the other end. I credit the guys for stemming the tide when the big lead goes away and they are closing in."
GAME NOTES
- Colgate has now won 16 consecutive games against non-Power Five opponents dating back to last season.
- The Raiders extended their winning streak to 12 against non-conference opponents at Cotterell Court, a streak that goes all the way back to 2016.
- Burns paced the Raiders in scoring for the fourth time this season and is four points away from 1,000 for his career. He shot nearly 50 percent (10-of-21) from the field.
- Colgate matched its season high with 10 steals and forced 21 turnovers.
- Points off turnovers finished 24-6 in favor of the Raiders.
- Burns and Richardson both tied their career bests with three steals apiece.
- The Raiders' five blocked shots were a season high.
- Camper led Siena with a double-double on 17 points and 10 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Colgate carries its four-game winning streak into Binghamton for a matchup against the Bearcats on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
