By John Painter
(Annapolis, Md. – Jan. 26, 2013) The Raiders grabbed their second straight Patriot League win Saturday night once again behind the hot-shooting hand of junior Murphy Burnatowski, defeat Navy 70-56.
“We got off to a great start,” head coach Matt Langel said. “We started really well on the defensive end and it helped that we made shots at the other end. We got ourselves a little bit of a cushion and kept it going throughout the rest of the game. I was proud of the guys that our collective effort and preparation was really good.”
Colgate (8-13, 2-3 PL) shot 50 percent overall and saw Burnatowski reach double digits for his 19th game. He earned 29 points in the win shooting 11-of-17 from the floor and three of seven from downtown. Mitch Rolls and Pat Moore added nine points each in the game. Matt McMullen had a good performance on the boards pulling down 10 rebounds to lead all players. The Raiders also hit seven 3-pointers throughout the game.
Navy (7-14, 1-4 PL) saw two players in double figures with Worth Smith leading the Mids with 13 points. He went six of seven from the floor and was perfect from long range. Brandon Venturini hit three 3-pointers, which added to his 11 points making him the other Navy player in double figures. Smith also led Navy in rebounds with eight.
The Mids shot only 31.5 percent from the floor and knocked down five baskets from behind the arc.
The Raiders dominated much of the first half shooting 47.8 percent from the floor. Colgate also hit six of their three points in the first 20 minutes. Burnatowski grabbed three of those six to add to the 19 points he earned in the first half.
Throughout the first five minutes Burnatowski notched 10 of their Raiders 14 points to lead the Raiders to an early 14-2 lead. Colgate then continued their strong play on the defensive end only conceding 11 points in the first ten minutes.
The Mids scored five straight easy baskets from the charity stripe within a two-minute time span to pull the score to within 11, 21-32. The Raiders had taken a 16-point lead after Damon Sherman-Newsome hit one from long range.
As the Raiders came out of the locker room for the second half they held a 12-point lead over the Mids, 37-25. Smith hit a trey to start the half to pull the Mids to within nine, 28-37. That was the closest Navy had come since the score was 9-2 Colgate.
To end the Navy rally Burnatowski dunked one home to silence the crowd. From that point on the Raiders defense stepped in never letting the Mids get closer than 11.
The Raiders extended their lead to as much as 25 throughout the remaining 13 minutes. Rolls looked to continue the Raiders scoring by driving to the basket. He found Sherman-Newsome down low for the easy bucket. A few minutes later McMullen pulled down the rebound and made a quick outlet pass to Burnatowski, who put it home for another two points. McMullen created that 25-point deficit for Colgate when Moore threw him a lob pass on the block, 63-38.
Even in spite of a small Navy rally in the last four minutes of play the Raiders were able to secure the win. Colgate outrebounded the Mids 37-35 and outscored Navy 26-16 in the paint.
The Raiders are back on the road Wednesday when they travel to Lafayette for another road PL matchup. The game with the Leopards is set for 7 p.m.
Colgate 70, Navy 56
Colgate (8-13): Murphy Burnatowski 29, Mitch Rolls 9, Pat Moore 9, John Brandenburg 5, Damon Sherman-Newsome 7, Luke Roh 4, Matt McMullen 7. Totals: 26-7-70.
Navy (7-14): Worth Smith 13, Tilman Dunbar 8, Brandon Venturini 11, Will Kelly 2, Brennan Wyatt 7, James Loupos 1, Kevin Alter 8, Donya Jackson 5, Jerome Alexander 1.Totals: 17-5-56.
3-Point Field Goals: Colgate 7 (Rolls, Burnatowski-3, Moore, McMullen, Sherman-Newsome); Navy 5 (Smith, Venturini-3, Alter)
Halftime: Colgate 37-25