BOSTON – Colgate used another late charge, this time outscoring Boston University 30-14 over the final 11 minutes to pull away for a 79-63 victory Monday night at Case Gymnasium.
Colgate (20-6, 11-2 Patriot) with the win has its second consecutive 20-win season -- and its only two in program history.
Jordan Burns and
Rapolas Ivanauskas paced four Raiders in double figures with 15 points apiece.
Tucker Richardson added 14 and
Nelly Cummings 11. Richardson led Colgate on the glass with nine rebounds, while Burns filled the stat sheet with six assists, six rebounds, and a career-high five steals.
With the game knotted at 49-49 midway through the second half, Rayman sank three free throws to ignite a 9-2 Raider run and show signs of things to come. Eight straight Colgate points were then scored in the paint, with two layups from Ivanauskas and a bucket from Richardson and
Keegan Records pulling the Raiders in front, 62-53.
After the hard work in the paint, Rayman, Burns, and Richardson cashed in from downtown on three straight possessions to knock the wind out of the Terriers' sails down the stretch. Richardson and Cummings combined to go 6-of-6 from the free throw line inside the final 1:03 and Colgate issued its statement with a 16-point victory.
The win snaps Boston University's league-best five-game winning streak and Colgate takes the reins of first place with a two-game lead in the Patriot League standings.
The game for most of the night was as even as it could be. Both teams shared leads in the first half, with Boston University starting out with an early 9-2 lead on a 3-pointer from Walter Whyte.
Jack Ferguson drained a trey of his own to give Colgate the lead 12-11 and then Burns went on an 8-0 run himself with two 3-pointers carrying Colgate out front 20-15 midway through the first half.
Boston University (15-11, 9-4 Patriot) battled back to reclaim the lead 32-29 after another 3-pointer from Whyte. Max Mahoney slammed a tip-in dunk to extend the home team's advantage to 36-31, but a corner trey from Cummings capped five straight Colgate points to send the game to the intermission deadlocked at 36-36.
The Raiders stormed out of the gates in the second half with a quick 7-0 run to force an early Terriers' timeout. Ivanauskas worked inside for two buckets and then Richardson burned a triple to give the Raiders a 43-36 edge. Boston University worked its way back to tie the game at 49s nine minutes into the frame, but from there Colgate's late charge took over.
Rayman was fouled on a 3-pointer and sank all three of his free throws for the eighth and final lead change of the night. An immediate 11-4 run put the Raiders in the driver's seat the rest of the way and they never looked back en route to the 79-63 victory.
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 79, Boston University 63
QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Langel
On closing out the game:
"I was really proud of the second half. We were committed on the defensive end, we took away their strengths, and then we did a really good job of sharing the ball on the offensive end. Their physicality and toughness affected us in the first half. we strayed from being our best, which is when the ball is moving and we take what the defense gives us. In the second half, we did a better job of that. We got a number of good shots close to the basket and made some big 3-point shots."
On Burns' night filling the stat sheet:
Jordan Burns is probably the best example of how we improved in the second half. Boston University was getting after him in the first half. He is not backing down from anybody, but that just means he took what the defense gave us and found his teammates with cuts to the baskets in addition to continuing to attack. He a super competitive guy. We needed rebounds and he was in there scrapping with everyone else to come up with some loose ones."
On winning on the road:
Boston University is a good team and they have positioned themselves really well for this to be a significant game at this point in the season. We knew it was going to be a really competitive game on the road. It takes a tough group of guys to overcome that and our guys were that group tonight."
Senior Rapolas Ivanauskas
On his second half:
"Credit my point guard,
Jordan Burns,
Nelly Cummings and
Tucker Richardson for finding me on the mismatches. Even a couple of passes Jordan threw I didn't know he was going to throw -- that's how good of a passer he is."
On the road win:
"It feels great. This was a really big game because it was the next one but also because BU is a really great team. They are coached really well and Mahoney is a beast down low."
GAME NOTES
• Colgate has the program's first-ever 20-win seasons in back-to-back years.
• The win secures Colgate's first sweep of Boston University since 2014-15.
• Colgate is now 14-0 when holding its opponent under 70 points.
• Burns extended his double-figures streak to 14 games dating back to Dec. 22.
• Ivanauskas' 15 points came in 20 minutes of action.
• Richardson finished one rebound shy of his second career double-double.
• 12 of his 14 points and eight of his nine rebounds came in the second half.
• Colgate shot 50% (9-of-18) and held Boston University to 19% (4-of-21) from the perimeter.
• The Raiders followed their worst free throw performance of the season with their best on Monday, finishing a stellar 93.3% (14-of-15) from the line.
UP NEXT
Colgate returns to action on Sunday at Loyola, wrapping up a tough stretch of four of the last five games on the road. Tipoff from Reitz Arena is 2 p.m., with Patriot League Network carrying the live stream. The Raiders after Sunday close out the regular season with three of their last four games at Cotterell Court.
