Junior Murphy Burnatowski tallied 35 points as Colgate rallied for a 93-90 overtime win over Army Wednesday night. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
By John Painter
(Hamilton, NY – Jan. 24, 2013) J
unior Murphy Burnatowski drained one from downtown with 12 seconds remaining to lift the Colgate men’s basketball team in overtime 93-90 over the Black Knights of Army Wednesday night.
“We fought hard,” head coach Matt Langel said. “We tightened up our defense late in the game. We got our hands on basketballs that got us out in transition and gave us some easy baskets. Murphy caught fire there for a little bit, made some big shots. Mitch (Rolls) hit a couple threes late that we needed him to make. We got a little help from them missing foul shots but we paid attention to detail when we need too late in the game. We needed a win desperately so to get it at home when we really needed it is obviously a good thing.”
Colgate (7-13, 1-3 PL) was led by Burnatowski, who went five of nine from behind the arc. After only scoring four points in the first 20 minutes, Burnatowski added 31 points in the final 25 minutes to lead all scorers. He posted his 18th double-digit game and grabbed a career-high 35 points in the contest. Seniors Mitch Rolls and Brandon James also added to the Raiders scoring grabbing 15 points each. Rolls went five of nine from the floor to give him a season-high 15-points. He also knocked in the game tying three-pointer with 5.6 seconds left in regulation. James had another strong performance on the boards pulling down nine rebounds to lead all players.
“Murphy’s been working hard,” Langel added. “What we’ve asked him to do is really concentrate on things other than scoring to help his team. I was most proud of his defense on Ella Ellis. Even though Murphy didn’t have a great first half scoring, he was discipline in his defense that set the tone for us on how he and we as a team were going to guard an all-league player. He found his rhythm and scored down the stretch for us, which definitely helped us win the game.”
The Raiders started out shooting 31 percent from the floor, hitting only nine of their 29 shots. They turned it around in the second half outshooting the Black Knights 67.7-60.7 percent in the second. Throughout the game, Colgate made 12 from downtown, including hitting both of their three-pointers in overtime. The Raiders outrebounded the Black Knights 36-33.
Army (8-11, 1-3 PL) led by as much as 14 in the game and saw four freshmen score in double digits. Rookie Kyle Wilson scored a team-high 23 points in the contest. He went 10-for-15 from the floor. Kyle Toth added 14 points, including a team-high four three-pointers and six boards. Dylan Cox and Kevin Ferguson both grabbed 11 points in the loss.
As the teams came out of the locker room for the second half, the Black Knights held a 12-point advantage, 39-27. They extended their lead to 14 points after Toth hit a three-pointer to make the score 52-38.
Over the next five minutes Colgate rallied, utilizing a 20-6 run to tie the game at 58-58 with less than 10 minutes to play. During the run the Raiders were lead by Burnatowski, who grabbed five baskets, two of which were from behind the arc.
Clayton Graham finished off a three-point player with 8:23 left to tie the game back up at 61-61 after Cox had re-taken the lead for Army on a three-pointer. The Black Knights then used a 14-6 run to widen their lead back up to eight points, 77-69, with only 4:09 left in the game.
The Raiders once again led by Burnatowski hit the next three buckets to pull within two, 77-75, with 1:57 to go. A layup by Andrew Stire and a jumper by Cox put the Black Knights back on top by six with 51 seconds remaining in the game.
Army missed two front ends of a one-and-one in the last minute of play to give the Raiders some hope. Rolls hit two of his three three-pointers in the last 30 seconds to pull within three and then eventually tie the game at 81 all. His tying three-pointer came with nine seconds remaining in the game. Colgate was able to hold off Army’s final attempt sending the game into overtime.
OVERTIME
Army held a five-point advantage with 3:17 to go in overtime, 88-83. But back-to-back layups by the Raiders pulled them to within one. The Black Knights missed a three pointer and Colgate rebounded by draining one of their own. It was James’ basket from downtown that gave the Raiders their first lead since the score was 2-0.
Following two made free throws by Ella Ellis the game was tied yet again for the fifth time. Burnatowski’s game winning three-pointer from the top of the key lifted the Raiders to their first Patriot League and overtime win this season. The Black Knight’s had an opportunity to tie the game but were unable to put one in the bottom of the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
The Raiders scored a season-high 93 points in the game. Colgate hasn’t reached 90 plus on the scoreboard since Feb. 2, 2011 when the defeated Longwood 97-86. Eight out of the 10 Colgate players that saw action got in the scorebook.
Colgate heads down to Annapolis, Md. to face the Mids in another Patriot League matchup on Saturday. The game is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off and can be watched live on Patriot League All-Access.
Colgate 93, Army 90
Colgate (7-13): Murphy Burnatowski 35, Mitch Rolls 15, Pat Moore 9, Damon Sherman-Newsome 7, Brandon James 15, Luke Roh 6, Clayton Graham 3, Matt McMullen 3. Totals:35-12-93.
Army (8-11): Kyle Wilson 23, Kyle Toth 14, Dylan Cox 11, Kevin Ferguson 11, Ella Ellis 5, Larry Toomey 2, Jordan Springer 4, Maxwell Lenox 3, Cartavious Kincade 5, Matt Gramling 6, Andrew Stire 6. Totals: 35-8-90.
3-Point Field Goals: Colgate 12 (Rolls -3, Burnatowski-5, Moore, James-2, McMullen); Army 8 (Toth-4, Cox 2, Kincade, Wilson)
Halftime: Army 39-27