HAMILTON – Cornell shot nearly 60 percent from the field to defeat the Raiders 91-80 in the non-conference finale Thursday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
The Big Red, who came in leading the nation averaging north of 12 3-pointers per game, finished 12-of-25 from behind the arc. Colgate, which ranked 12th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (40.4), shot 38 percent (8-of-21) from the perimeter.
Cornell (9-3) carried an early 10-2 run to a double-digit lead for most of the first half. The visitors connected on nine 3-pointers in the opening stanza and scored the final five points, including a step-back buzzer beater, to build their largest lead of the game at the intermission 48-31.
Colgate (6-7) found its footing early in the second half.
Tucker Richardson and
Oliver Lynch-Daniels each made a pair of 3-pointers in an 11-2 spurt before
Nicolas Louis-Jacques added a trey to cut the margin to 62-55 with 11:29 left in the contest.
Unfortunately the Raiders couldn't get any closer. Two old-fashioned three-point plays on the other end helped Cornell put the game away with a 10-2 countering run. Cornell equaled its largest lead of the game twice in the final frame before closing it out 91-80.
Greg Dolan led Cornell with 25 points on 9-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Guy Ragland Jr. had 16 points in 23 minutes off the bench and finished 3-of-3 from downtown.
Braeden Smith scored a career-high 23 points to go with three assists and three steals. Richardson finished with 15 points, six assists, and four steals.
Cornell became the first visiting team to score 90-plus in regulation at Cotterell Court since February 2010.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
"There's no doubt about it. Cornell was the better team and the better-coached team today. They were way more prepared on one day of rest than we were on several days of rest and preparation. They're as good of a team as we've played all season.
"Another long layoff coming up with a bad taste in our mouth. It's hard to win college basketball games, especially league games on the road. That's how we start our league season so we'll have to be ready at the end of the month."
UP NEXT
Colgate gears up for its Patriot League title defense, which starts next Friday, Dec. 30, when the Raiders visit Loyola for a 7 p.m. tip-off inside Reitz Arena.
