MONCTON, New Brunswick – Trailing 50-48 with 2:11 left in regulation,
Ryan Moffatt's three-ball sparked a 7-0 Raider run and that was the difference in Colgate's gritty 59-52 win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday inside the Avenir Centre.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Moffatt's fourth trey of the night was the sixth and final lead change of a back-and-forth game. Braeden Smith scored the next four points for Colgate, including a tough pull-up jumper that made it a two-possession game, 57-52, after Gardner-Webb cut it to three with 11 ticks left.
Smith, who scored a career-high 25 points, fittingly sealed the win from the free throw line. The Seattle sophomore also led the team with nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals. His 25 points came from 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line.
Moffatt's four treys put him in double-figures (12) on a night Keegan Records was held to two points – both from the free throw line – while going 0-for-4 from the field. Nicolas Louis-Jacques and Parker Jones were Colgate's next leading scorers with five points each.
"After the last two games, this was a pivotal bounce-back opportunity for us," head coach Matt Langel said. "Gardner-Webb had a great win last night against a really good Weber State team that beat Yale tonight, so clearly some good teams that are going to test you in different ways."
Colgate came out guns blazing with a 5-for-6 start from the field. Moffatt canned a pair of treys to help the Raiders race out to a 12-0 lead. Gardner-Webb scored the next 13 points after a jumper from Caleb Robinson gave the visitors a one-point lead with 11:22 left in the first half.
After the quick start, Colgate scored just eight points over the next 14 minutes – six of which came from Smith. His two free throws gave the Raiders an 18-15 lead with 7:40 left, and then neither team scored again until his jumper in the lane at the 3:24 mark.
"Gardner-Webb plays really fast so we knew there were going to be some momentum swings," Langel said. "It was really important to get off to a good start tonight. We were locked in and made some good shots early on. They made a wholesale substitution and that second group knocked us on our heels a little bit. It was back and forth the whole time really from there."
Smith had 13 of Colgate's 26 points at halftime. Colgate's defense held Gardner-Webb to just 30 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, and Chandler Baker's 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave the Raiders a 26-20 edge at halftime.
Gardner-Webb scored the first six points of the second half to draw even 26-26. Back-to-back treys from Jones and Moffatt ignited a 13-3 Raider burst. Jalen Cox and Sam Thomson also contributed to the run that gave Colgate its largest lead, 38-29, with 12:26 showing.
Both teams faced scoring droughts in the second half but Colgate's lead eventually dwindled to 41-39 when Louis-Jacques cashed a 3-pointer. Gardner-Webb scored the next five points to erase the deficit and tie the game at 44-44 with 4:29 left in the game.
The two teams traded shots and the lead down the stretch. Two free throws from Robinson gave Gardner-Webb a brief 50-48 lead with 2:11 left before Records' two free throws tied it back at 50-50. After a stop on defense, Moffatt's trey gave Colgate the lead for good.
UP NEXT
Colgate (2-2) wraps up the Atlantic Slam tournament with a 1 p.m. ET tip-off against Weber State on Sunday.
"Weber State is going to be a totally different game tomorrow," Langel added. "They beat Yale tonight and knocked off St. Mary's on the road, so they've proven that they're a talented group. We're going to have to be really sharp and play our best tomorrow afternoon."
