HAMILTON – Colgate staged a late second-half run and then clamped down defensively in a gritty 65-58 victory Tuesday night at Cotterell Court.
 
Nelly Cummings scored a career-high 25 points on 5-of-6 from behind the arc. 17 of those points came in the second half to help Colgate turn a halftime deficit into a seven-point victory. The preseason All-League selection was perfect (3-for-3) from downtown in the second half.
 
Tucker Richardson reached double figures with 12 points, while Ryan Moffatt added nine. Richardson and Moffatt paced the team with seven rebounds apiece. Jeff Woodward dished out four assists.
 
In a battle between two teams receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25, neither side led by more than three points in the first half. The Raiders trailed by two at halftime 25-23 but scored the first five points of the second half and only saw a brief deficit the rest of the game.
 
Cummings drained a trey on Colgate's first second-half possession and Richardson banked a floater off the glass to give the Raiders a 28-25 lead. The two teams were tied once more at 33-33 before a forced turnover led to a driving layup for Moffatt and Colgate raced in front for good.
 
After the Moffatt layup, six straight points from reserves Oliver Lynch-Daniels and Sam Thomson sparked a 9-2 run to push Colgate's lead to double digits 47-37. The Raiders led by as many as 14 after Cummings connected on his third triple of the night with just over five minutes left.
 
Northeastern gave Colgate fits with a full-court press down the stretch to cut the margin to five 56-51. Two straight turnovers on inbound plays gave the Huskies late possession down by five, but Colgate's defense tightened down and Cummings sank his final four free throws to secure the 65-58 victory.
 
Colgate shot 39.3% from the field and 34.8% from behind the arc. The Raiders' defense was the story, outscoring Northeastern 15-4 in points off turnovers. Colgate, which led the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense last season, held Northeastern to three 3-pointers on 14 attempts. 
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
 
"It's always good to win a college basketball game. We will never take that for granted. Our next few games are on the road and to get off to a good start to the season with a win at home – and we don't have many games at home – is really important. We were playing against a team that we believe is going to compete for a championship. They are very well-coached. All in all for us, even when we didn't shoot our best, this was a really good win."

UP NEXT
Colgate heads to Raleigh, N.C., to take on NC State on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will air nationally on ACC Network Extra.