Moore Leads the Way with 17; Tillotson Nets 14 in Debut
By Kat Castner
(Winston-Salem, NC – Nov. 8, 2013) The Colgate men’s basketball team tipped off its 2013-14 campaign at Wake Forest on Friday night and sank 14 shots from distance, but the Demon Deacons came away with the 89-78 win.
Colgate (0-1) got 17 points from Pat Moore, including 15 points from beyond the arc as he was 5-for-6 from three. Austin Tillotson poured in 14 points with game-high nine assists in his first game as a Raider. Murphy Burnatowski added 13 points, while Ethan Jacobs and Luke Roh recorded 11 points.
Wake Forest (1-0) saw Devin Thomas led the way with a game-high 23 points, while Codi Miller-McIntyre scored 21 and had a run of 14 straight points for the Demon Deacons in the second half.
“I was proud of our guys for the most part on what we did tonight,” head coach Matt Langel said. “We got some older guys without a ton of experience, but they have worked really hard to improve as a team and individuals. I think we should some signs of what we are capable of this season.”
The story of the first half for the Raiders was their range from beyond the arc. Colgate was impressive from long distance, shooting 47 percent with nine drained on 19 chances.
The Raiders were going toe-to-toe with the Demon Deacons right from the start and earned a 10-6 lead after seven-straight points from Tillotson, who provided a lift right from the start with his aggressiveness.
Damon Sherman-Newsome then got on the scoresheet with the first of his two trays in the opening half to give the Raiders their largest lead at 13-8. Wake Forest tried to cut into the lead, but every time the Demon Deacons tried, Colgate had an answer. Twice Wake Forest got to within two points and Moore answered by draining a 3-pointer to keep the Raiders ahead.
Colgate did lose the lead late in the half and Demon Deacons lead by as much as four at the 6:45 mark after Miller-McIntyre converted on fast break. The Raiders hung tough though and regained the lead at 26-25 with a 3-pointer from Jacobs after a layup from Tillotson. The Raiders earned their largest advantage at seven points with a nice move through traffic for Roh and he put it off the glass for two points.
The Raiders took a two-point lead into the locker room at 40-38 after shooting 47 percent from beyond the arc.
In the second half, the Raiders got up by as many as eight points after a three-point play from Tillotson to make it 51-43 with 16:46 on the clock. Travis McKie then fired back with a layup and a three to cut the lead to three at 51-48.
Miller-McIntyre took over from there with 14-straight points for the Demon Deacons and gave his team a seven-point lead at 62-55 with 11:54 remaining.
The Raiders were able to keep it around a five-point deficit with Jacobs dropping another three and added a pair of free throws. However, Wake Forest pulled away at the end for the 89-78 win.
“It was a great experience for us to come down here and play in an ACC environment,” Langel said. “This is what our guys live for. They are basketball junkies and these trips become a focal point of our season.”