HAMILTON – Five Raiders scored in double figures and Colgate cruised past Wells, 93-60, Sunday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
Prior to the home opener, Head Coach Matt Langel joined Vice President and Director of Athletics Nicki Moore in raising the banners from last year's championship season.
Tucker Richardson paced the Raiders with 15 points on 6-of-10 from the field. Ryan Moffatt scored 11 points, while Braeden Smith, Chandler Baker, and Nicolas Louis-Jacques each added 10. Malcolm Bailey led the Raiders on the glass with nine rebounds in 11 minutes.
Colgate had the perimeter working in the early stages of the game. Richardson, Smith, and Moffatt all swished 3-pointers in succession and the Raiders built an early 11-5 lead at the first media timeout. Open shots from outside turned to open shots inside for Keegan Records and Sam Thomson, who stretched Colgate's lead to 24-13 with 8:18 showing.
Following a quick scoring drought that saw Wells trim the deficit to 27-20 after a three-point play by Billy McRae, Colgate turned the jets on with an 11-0 run. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Moffatt and Richardson ignited the run before a Bailey dunk pushed the Raiders in front 38-20 with just over two minutes left in the half.
Terrance Clayton-Murphy, who led the visitors with eight points at the half, ended the Express drought with a jumper in the lane. Sam Thomson scored on Colgate's next possession and the Raiders carried a 20-point lead, 42-22, at the intermission.
Colgate extended its lead to as many as 35 points in the second half. Strong minutes from Louis-Jacques (10 points), Baker (10 points), and Brady Cummins (9 points) helped the Raiders cruise to the finish line.
The Raiders finished the night with 26 assists on 30 made field goals. Colgate shot 50 percent overall (30-of-60) and 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from behind the arc.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
"It's always nice to celebrate our program's success. Any chance you get to reflect on last year's season and the accomplishments of the program is a great opportunity.
But we're really focused on the group moving forward. Collectively, we're working hard in practice but we're not playing the way we need to be playing based on our internal expectations. We have some new guys and some different pieces filling different roles. It's certainly a work in progress that is going to have to improve on both sides of the ball to accomplish what we want to.
"We just need to find ways to get better and collectively be a better group that is functioning at the level that we've come accustomed to. We're not doing either of those things early in the season. With one day of preparation before our next game, we'll study the opposition and be ready to play better at Syracuse on Tuesday night."
UP NEXT
Colgate meets Syracuse on Tuesday in the JMA Wireless Dome. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with the game airing on multiple channels throughout the region and on ACC Network Extra.
