ITHACA, N.Y. – Colgate fell behind 19-0 and never fully recovered in its 77-64 loss to Cornell in the non-league finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena.
With the loss, the Raiders dropped their third straight game and finished non-league play 6-7 for the second consecutive season. Colgate went on to win its first 11 games of the 2022-23 Patriot League slate and will hope to turn to that form again in 2023-24.
COACH LANGEL'S COMMENTS
"Concerning and disappointing obviously. Three straight games we've gotten off to really bad starts. Ultimately this is my responsibility. We haven't been able to practice in a manner to be prepared to play a team of Cornell's caliber. It took us way too long to learn how hard we have to play in these types of games and again that's my responsibility.
"We responded, but when you get down that much, you need things to go perfectly. We didn't shoot well from the free throw line and made poor choices because we had to play harder than we understand. We'll work on this as we get into league play but there's a lot of work to do to help this team realize the consistency needed to reach our potential."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colgate's slow start offensively led to points in transition for the Big Red, who established a 19-0 lead after connecting on eight of their first nine shots. Ryan Moffatt's 3-pointer at 15:05 provided Colgate's first points of the contest.
Jalen Cox was a spark off the bench, scoring seven points in the first half and snagging a pair of steals. He helped the Raiders flip the momentum as Colgate began to find its rhythm.
Braeden Smith scored five straight points in a 15-5 run, capped off by a three-point play from Brady Cummins, who brought the Raiders back to within 38-31 with 2:18 to go. That was the halftime margin 40-33 after both teams traded layups in the final minutes.
Back-to-back layups from Jeff Woodward and Keegan Records trimmed the deficit to 40-37 and it was a one-possession game in the early stages of the second half after trailing by as many as 20 points.
Just as the Raiders found life, the home team responded with runs of 9-2 and 11-0 to put the game out of reach. Woodward and Records scored all nine points in a late 9-1 Raider run that pulled Colgate within 73-63 in the final minute, but that was as close as the Raiders would get.
STAT COMPARISON
Colgate shot a season-low 35.7 percent from the field (25-70), 27.3 percent from behind the arc (9-33), and 31.3 percent from the free throw line (5-16). Cornell finished with a 53.6 percent clip from the field (30-56), 30 percent from three-point range (6-20), and 68.8 percent from the foul line (11-16).
UP NEXT
Colgate (6-7) opens its Patriot League title defense on Wednesday when the Raiders return to Cotterell Court for the first time in 28 days, hosting Loyola at 7 p.m.
