By Kat Castner
(Washington DC – Feb. 9, 2013) The Colgate men’s basketball saw 16 lead changes throughout their game against American but eventually fell to the Eagles 70-44 Saturday afternoon.
“Winning on the road in any league at this time of the year is difficult,” head coach Matt Langel said. “We competed well and played hard, but there is very little consolation in that. Ultimately American capitalized on a few defensive mistakes we made and we need to credit them for that. Schoof made some big shots and we were not able to make similar shots when the game was in hand.”
Colgate (9-16, 3-5 PL) shot 34.4 percent from the floor and hit six 3-pointers in the loss. Senior Brandon James led the way with 18 points, 12 of which were from downtown. Murphy Burnatowski also added to the Raiders scoring with 11 points. Sophomore Luke Roh pulled down seven rebounds to lead the team.
The Raiders hit 21 of their 61 shots throughout the game but only grabbed 6 of their 20 from behind the arc. Colgate outscored the Eagles 22-20 in the paint and added seven points off American turnovers.
American (9-14, 4-4 PL) moves to .500 in League play and saw John Schoof grab 24 points in the contest including 17 in the second half alone. He knocked down five of his eight from deep earning him a shooting percentage of 62.5 from behind the arc. Four other Eagles players reached double figures in Daniel Munoz (13 points), Tony Wroblicky (11-points), Stephen Lumpkins (10-points) and Jesse Reed (10 points). Lumpkins earned himself a double-double grabbing 10 boards in the game to lead all players.
The Eagles shot 46.7 percent overall and 41.2 percentage from downtown. American also made 21 of their 26 shots from the charity stripe, 10 of which came late in the game.
In the beginning 20 minutes there were eight lead changes and five ties. American started the game by hitting one of its seven 3-pointers. Senior captain Mitch Rolls answered on the other end with a long-range jumper to pull the Raiders to within one, 3-2.
After Roh drove to the back he kicked it out to Damon Sherman-Newsome, who knocked it in from behind the arc to earn the games first lead change at 5-3 in favor of the Raiders. Colgate extended their lead to as much as six before the Eagles went on a 6-2 run to tie the game at 11 all midway through the half
James would hit one of his four 3-pointers at the 7:31 mark to give the Raiders back their lead at 14-13. And back and forth we went as the Eagles answered hitting a 3-pointer on the other end of the court to tie the game at 16-16.
Late in the half Burnatowski drained one from deep to put the Raiders up by one with 1:03 left. But two made free throws by Munoz would send the Eagles into the locker room with the one-point advantage, 24-23.
The Raiders came out in the second half on a 7-2 run, re-taking the lead by four at 31-27. Roh grabbed three of those points during the run. American responded with a 9-6 run of their own to tie the game at 36 all. A good jumper by Wroblicky started another Eagles run outscoring the Raiders 16-2, creating a 14-point deficit between the two teams. Schoof knocked down two 3-pointers during that stretch.
The Raiders tried to rally after a timeout scoring three straight baskets to cut the American lead to eight at 52-44, but makes at the charity stripe for the Eagles ultimately secured the win.
“We will take Sunday off and start preparing for Bucknell,” Langel added. “I’m sure our guys will be excited to play a championship caliber team like Bucknell, but we will again have our hands full on Wednesday night in Lewisburg.”
Colgate travels to Bucknell for a midweek game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Bison earned a 73-59 win over the Raiders earlier in the season.
American 70, Colgate 55
Colgate (9-16, 3-5 PL): Murphy Burnatowski 11, John Brandenburg 4, Mitch Rolls 6, Luke Roh 7, Damon Sherman-Newsome 3, Brandon James 18, Chad Johnson 4, Clayton Graham 2. Totals: 21-6-55.
American (9-14, 4-4 PL): Stephen Lumpkins 10, Tony Wrokclicky 11, Daniel Munoz 13, Blake Jolivette 2, John Schoof 24, Jesse Reed 10 Totals: 21-7-70.
3-Point Field Goals: Colgate 6 (Burnatowski, Sherman-Newsome, James-4); American 7 (Schoof-5, Reed-2).
Halftime: American 25-24.