MONCTON, New Brunswick – Two late 3-pointers from
Ryan Moffatt helped Colgate use a 9-0 run to take the lead and then hold on for a 57-55 win over Weber State in a wild finale of the Atlantic Slam tournament Sunday afternoon inside the Avenir Centre.
Colgate held a nine-point lead after a Moffatt 3-pointer made it 38-29 with 13:15 left in regulation. Weber State followed that up with a 17-0 run to build a 46-38 lead at the 8:35 mark. Braeden Smith's layup with 7:23 on the clock ended Colgate's six-minute drought.
"Weber State changed their lineup a little bit and then made a couple big shots during that run," said head coach Matt Langel. "I didn't do a good enough job as a coach adjusting quickly enough but our guys responded well. The guys made some shots and our defense was really good to get us back in it."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Moffatt's first of back-to-back 3-pointers late in the game cut the deficit to 48-47, and his trey from the corner on the next possession tied the game at 50-50 and started a 9-0 run. Smith capped the surge with two free throws to give the Raiders a 56-50 lead with 38 seconds left.
Weber State, which was coming off a win over Yale and recently knocked off then-ranked No. 23 St. Mary's, scored five unanswered points, including a three-point play from Dyson Koehler to cut the margin to 56-55 with six seconds left on the clock.
Smith was fouled with five seconds left and made 1-of-2 from the line to make it 57-55. After Weber State crossed halfcourt and called timeout, Smith stole the ensuing inbound pass and threw the ball into the air as the horn went off with the Raiders holding on, 57-55.
"I was proud of the group," Langel said after the win. "We had an emotional game last Tuesday at Syracuse and then had a quick turnaround to get up here and face a tough team in Yale on Friday. We stayed positive within ourselves to come back and win two straight. To our guys' credit, each of the last two days we battled and stuck together. We got better as a team this weekend."
Moffatt led the team with 15 points on five made 3-pointers. Smith finished with 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Keegan Records, Nicolas Louis-Jacques, and Sam Thomson each scored eight points. Records added 11 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
There were three ties and five lead changes in the first half. After the game was tied at 16-16, three straight triples from Chandler Baker, Smith, and Moffatt gave the Raiders their largest lead of the game 25-16 with 2:33 left in the opening stanza.
Weber State cut it to 25-20 before Louis-Jacques connected on a trey to give the Raiders a 29-20 advantage at halftime. Colgate maintained its nine-point lead, 46-38, when Weber State made its big 17-0 run to set the stage for the Raiders' comeback.
Colgate finishes the Atlantic Slam tournament 2-1 with back-to-back wins after falling to Yale 68-50 in the Friday opener. Smith was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists, including a career-high 25 in the win over Gardner-Webb.
UP NEXT
Colgate (3-2) returns home to host Harvard on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
