HAMILTON – Colgate used an 18-2 run midway through the second half to pull away for a 67-60 victory over Navy on Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth affair at Cotterell Court.
Nelly Cummings paced four Raiders in double figures with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
Jordan Burns finished with 14 points and drained three 3-pointers,
Rapolas Ivanauskas scored 12 points, and
Tucker Richardson 11 with six assists.
Will Rayman led Colgate on the glass with 12 rebounds.
In a game full of momentum swings, Colgate's late jolt was the 18th and final lead change. Navy's John Carter Jr. scored five straight points to give the visitors a 45-41 lead with nine minutes gone in the second half. Head Coach
Matt Langel opted to use a 30-second timeout and the Raiders kicked it into high gear with a draining 18-2 run over the next 8:23.
Burns swished a 3-pointer to give Colgate the lead for good 46-45 and then back-to-back Ivanauskas layups preceded a triple from
Jack Ferguson to push the Raiders in front 53-45. Another trey from Burns capped the run and extended the lead to double digits 59-47 with 4:15 showing on the clock.
Navy (12-11, 6-6 Patriot) did not go down without a fight and countered with a 9-1 spurt to cut the gap to four. A pair of missed 3-pointers on Colgate's offensive end led to two straight layups from Greg Summers, before Cam Davis swished a mid-range jumper to make it 60-56 with just over a minute left.
Colgate (19-6, 10-2 Patriot) struggled from the free throw line down the stretch, but Rayman stole a pass inside the arc to put the Midshipmen back into foul mode. Rayman later finished a fast-break layup with Navy pressing and sank his last two chances from the line to secure the 67-60 victory.
A two-handed slam from Ivanauskas set the tone early as Colgate jumped out to a fast 9-2 lead. But the Midshipmen scored the next 10 points, with 3-pointers from Tyler Nelson and Dave Kasanganay giving them a 12-9 advantage six minutes into the opening stanza.
Navy opened its lead to 17-13 three minutes later, but from there neither team led by more than two points in the half with three ties at 21s, 24s, and 28s. Cummings scored the last nine points for the Raiders – all nine of his first-half points – in the final 4:35 to give Colgate a 30-28 lead at the break.
Burns buried a triple on Colgate's first possession of the second half and the Raiders once again got off to a hot start with six unanswered points to open a 36-28 advantage. The Midshipmen reclaimed the lead 38-37 and opened it up to 45-41 before Colgate turned the tides with its late 18-2 run to pull away for good en route to the 67-60 victory.
BOTTOM LINE
Colgate 67, Navy 60
QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Langel
On the ebbs and flows of the game (18 lead changes):
"It is a long game and we knew what we were going to get. It took us a lot longer than I would have liked for us to adjust to that style of game. We got away from what we try to do with screens and actions to get the defense behind. We were trying to do it individually because they were putting a lot of pressure on the ball. Once we settled in, we got them behind a little bit and the flow came easier."
On the 18-2 run to pull ahead for good:
"Our defense was really locked in for long stretches in the second half and forced them to shoot some tough shots. When we were able to get a rebound or two, because Navy got a lot of offensive rebounds, we got out in transition and that always helps us. I was not worried about our offense coming out of that timeout, but we were losing concentration. We had missed a couple defensive assignments so I wanted to get that message back across to our guys at the timeout. We did a good job of limiting Navy during that stretch."
Looking ahead:
"First and foremost Boston University is in the position they are in for a reason. We had a super close game with them here and they were without arguably two of their top players. Monday will be two good teams who have positioned themselves pretty well at this point in the season. For us, we just need to concentrate on that game. We are not playing for a championship on Monday night – we have had a great run and we just need to keep moving forward. Every game is really important."
GAME NOTES
• Cummings is the fourth different leading scorer in the last four games for the Raiders.
• Burns kept his double-figures streak alive, now with at least 10 points in 13 straight games.
• Burns with his three assists moved into third in program history with 368 for his career.
• He was 3-of-4 from downtown and led Colgate with 10 points in the final 20:00.
• Colgate held Navy to 22% (6-of-27) from behind the arc and 38% (24-of-64) from the field.
• The Raiders are 13-0 when shooting better than their opponents from the field.
• Richardson's six assists were his most since he registered seven at Green Bay on Nov. 26.
• Rayman paced Colgate on the glass for the seventh time in the last eight games.
UP NEXT
Colgate heads to Boston University on Monday for a first-place Patriot League showdown against the Terriers. Tipoff from Case Gymnasium is 7 p.m., with the game airing nationally on CBS Sports Network.
