SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Colgate set a Dome record with 19 made 3-pointers and nearly led from start to finish in its second straight victory over Syracuse, an 80-68 triumph Tuesday night inside the JMA Wireless Dome.
The 174th meeting between the two programs provided something that had never been done. Colgate knocked down 19 3-pointers, the most by any team inside the Dome, and carried the hot hand to their second consecutive win over Syracuse.
Tucker Richardson led the Raiders with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-15 from the field and 8-of-12 from behind the arc.
Ryan Moffatt scored 15 points with four made 3-pointers, and
Oliver Lynch-Daniels finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
Jeff Woodward took advantage of Syracuse's zone defense with a career-high seven assists.
Colgate made 18 3-pointers in last year's 100-85 win over Syracuse. This year's total tied the program record and was the second most in Patriot League history. Five different players made at least one triple as Colgate shot 47.5 percent overall (28-of-59) and 50 percent (19-of-38) from behind the arc in the win.
The three-point barrage started right from the opening tip-off. Lynch-Daniels and Richardson connected on back-to-back triples to give the Raiders the lead for good, 8-5.
Lynch-Daniels swished three 3-pointers in the opening half and helped Colgate stretch its lead to as many as 17. Richardson could not miss down the stretch, swishing four in a row from the perimeter and the Raiders pushed a 20-14 run into halftime with a 44-30 cushion.
Richardson scored 22 points on 6-of-8 from behind the arc in the first half alone.
Each Syracuse attempt to fight back in the second half was answered with a big 3-pointer or critical play on the offensive end. After the Orange cut it to 59-48 on a 3-pointer from Judah Mintz with 11:14 showing, Moffatt drained a 3-pointer on the other end, which ended the Syracuse run.
Moffatt's 3-pointer turned into another scoring run when Lynch-Daniels and
Braeden Smith splashed a pair from downtown to stretch the lead back to 74-56 with 6:19 left in the game.
Syracuse used the full-court press to cut the margin to 11 points once more on a dunk by Jesse Edwards with 2:11 left in the game. But Richardson's eighth 3-pointer came at a crucial time, silencing the run and all but putting a bow on the victory.
Moffatt drained another 3-ball in the final minute for good measure and Colgate captured its second consecutive win over Syracuse, 80-68.
This is the first time Colgate has won back-to-back games over Syracuse since the Raiders beat the Orange four straight over a two-year span from 1960-62.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
"Our team has deserved confidence. They've won a lot of games and the experience pays off. It comes with a lot of responsibility – to prepare well and concentrate on the details of the game – but they're built to take what the defense gives them and that's what we did tonight.
"
Jeff Woodward is a cerebral player. He knows the game. For a guy his size, he's a good decision-maker. He finds the shooters and deserves a ton of credit. It wasn't just three-point shots for us tonight but we got enough open ones to make them pay.
"
Tucker Richardson is as special of a player as you'll ever get to coach. He always finds ways to help his team win and now is his time. He has deserved every bit of the success, so to lead his team the way he did tonight was certainly rewarding."
UP NEXT
Colgate (3-1) takes a three-game winning streak into Friday's matchup against Duquesne. The neutral-site matchup, set for 6 p.m., will take place at LeBron James Arena in Akron, Ohio.
