VESTAL, N.Y. – Will Rayman scored five of his 10 points in the final two minutes and Colgate held off Binghamton 82-74 for its fifth consecutive win on Wednesday evening.
Colgate led by as many as 11 in the second half, but Binghamton used a 23-12 run to tie the game at 71-71 with just over four minutes left in regulation. Coming out of a timeout, head coach
Matt Langel had the Raiders fire back with an 11-3 run to close the game out.
Rayman had five of those points, including a turnaround post move and layup that put the Raiders up 77-74 and quieted the Binghamton crowd after a 3-pointer from Brenton Mills brought the home team within one.
He was fouled on another driving basket and sank a free throw to stretch the Raider lead to two possessions at 80-74.
Nelly Cummings capped the scoring with a pair from the foul line and Colgate held off the Bearcats, 82-74.
Cummings finished with a career-high 21 points to lead five Raiders in double figures.
Rapolas Ivanauskas and
Jordan Burns both had 13, while
Tucker Richardson added 12 and Rayman 10. Richardson and Rayman were both one rebound shy of a double-double.
Both teams got off to a hot start and were 3-of-6 from downtown at the first media timeout. Ivanauskas swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Cummings connected on a pair to bring the game to 9-9 four minutes in.
A driving layup for Burns gave the Raiders their first lead before his triple from the wing ignited a 10-2 run.
Jack Ferguson finished a nice dish from Ivanauskas under the basket and Colgate jumped out front 23-13 midway through the opening stanza.
Colgate (6-3) hit on five of its first 11 shots from beyond the 3-point line. Cummings blistered two of them and hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers on a pair of pick-and-pops to push the lead to 37-27 with four minutes showing in the half.
David Maynard drained a 3-pointer from the corner to give Colgate its largest lead of the half 40-27 before Binghamton scored the final four points. A layup from Sam Sessoms brought the score to 40-31 at the intermission.
Binghamton (4-5) connected on three of its first four from beyond the arc to start the second half. A 5-0 spurt for the home team trimmed the deficit to 48-44 four minutes into the frame. Ferguson battled for a second-chance bucket to halt the momentum before a 3-pointer from Cummings in transition stretched the lead back to 59-50 at the midway point.
The Bearcats used an 11-5 run over the next three minutes to close the gap again and eventually fought all the way back to knot the score at 71-71 on a 3-pointer from Brenton Mills, who finished with 21 points and went 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
The last trey from Mills forced a Colgate timeout and gave the home team the momentum. But Cummings drove in the lane and got the go-ahead bucket to fall on the next possession and the Raiders never looked back en route to the 82-74 final.
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 82, Binghamton 74
QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Langel
On the win:
"Winning on the road is hard to do. Binghamton has a really good mix of young guys and veterans. We had a couple chances to open the game and we just did not do what we needed to do and they made some tough shots. When you're on the road and they start to feel good, momentum is in their favor. They rallied to tie the game at 71-71, but then we played as good of a four-minute stretch as we have all season to close the game out."
On battling against foul trouble down the stretch:
"
David Maynard gave us some good minutes and
Ryan Moffatt stepped in once
Will Rayman got his fourth foul.
Tucker Richardson just played a brilliant floor game. We had to play a smaller game than we are used to but these things happen, especially on the road, and we've got to be able to sustain it."
On Nelly Cummings' career-high 21 points:
"This is Nelly's ninth game. Coming off the Green Bay trip and the Siena game, he just wasn't quite himself. He was reading his teammates a little bit too much, but he is an attack guy and needs to be ready to attack. That is who he is as a player. The assistant coaches worked with him on that in these last few practices and it showed tonight."
GAME NOTES
- Burns became the 35th Raider in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points. He entered the game four points away and reached the mark early in the first half.
- Rayman now has 1,505 career points and is one of just four Raiders to reach 1,500 career points and 600 career rebounds.
- Colgate's win over Binghamton is its first in Vestal, N.Y., since Dec. 1, 2013.
- The win extended Colgate's winning streak against non-Power 5 opponents to 17.
- Five Raiders finished in double figures, led by a career-high 21 from Cummings.
- He was 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from downtown in the performance.
- Richardson was an impressive 6-of-7 from the field.
- Colgate finished with a season-high 41 rebounds.
- The Raiders bench outscored Binghamton's reserves 13-4.
- Binghamton entered the game unbeaten (3-0) at home.
- The Bearcats had two players post double-doubles. Pierre Sarr led the way with 24 points and 11 rebounds. George Tinsley finished with 13 and 13.
UP NEXT
Colgate hits the road to face Niagara on Sunday at 1 p.m.
