Ethan Jacobs tallied 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and blocked two shots for Colgate against Ursinus Sunday afternoon. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
By Kat Castner
(Hamilton, NY – Dec. 22, 2013) Led by 12 different players who recorded at least two points on Sunday afternoon, the Colgate men’s basketball team moved to 6-4 on the season following a 78-52 victory over Ursinus.
“It was good to get everybody out there and get them some opportunities, especially some of the younger guys who were able to get in the game atmosphere,” Colgate head coach Matt Langel said. “Balance scoring amongst our main guys is significant to what we are trying to do. The fact that we can move the ball and spread it around only helps. We are trying to take what the defense gives us. On some days that will be Murphy Burnatowski, others it could be Ethan Jacobs, Austin Tillotson, or Damon Sherman-Newsome. Pat Moore has been a little banged up, it will be nice to get him some rest here and then hopefully he can get back healthy and into his shooting ways once conference play starts in just a few weeks.
Colgate saw senior Clayton Graham post a career-high 11 points and five boards after going 5-of-5 from the floor. He also added a steal and an assist to his already impressive day.
“He was outstanding,” Langel said. “Clayton, more so than any other player we have, you kind of know what you are going to get. He’s a hard working guy. He is very professional in his preparation and how he goes about his business everyday and to be honest that’s how he has gotten to this point to be able to earn this opportunity in the lineup.”
Junior Ethan Jacobs matched the team-high 11 points, notching all his buckets in the first half. Murphy Burnatowski added 10 points and a game-high three makes from downtown. Rookie John Fenton was a spark for the Raiders off the bench, going 4-for-4 from the floor for his career-high eight points.
Matt McMullen led the Raiders on the boards with six rebounds while Austin Tillotson was one away from reaching his career-high in assists finishing the contest with a game-high eight helpers.
Colgate shot 48 percent from the floor and 29 percent from downtown. The Raiders registered 36 points in the paint and 39 bench points. They also forced Ursinus to shoot only 36 percent from the floor throughout the game and commit 14 turnovers, in which Colgate converted 13 points.
Ursinus (1-8) was led by Ryan Adam who posted 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jesse Krasna also recorded double-digits with 14 points and a team-high four assists.
After a slow opening 20 minutes, the Raiders saw the Bears jump out to a quick 5-0 lead but a trey from Jacobs got Colgate on the board at 5-3 with 18:54 remaining in the half.
A minute later Ursinus extended its advantage back to five but that would be the last time they would lead as the Raiders went on a 7-0 run to take their first edge of the game at 10-8 following a Burnatowski 3-pointer.
The Raiders would create a 17-point advantage, their largest of the half, following a Damon Sherman-Newsome easy layup with 2:04 to play in the first, making the score 37-20.
Ursinus would rattle off five points before the half concluded, however, to pull within 12 at the break.
A trey from Pat Moore to begin the second half got the Raiders off to a good start and they never looked back.
Fenton scored his eight points in a span of three minutes and 30 seconds, after a 9-2 Colgate run with 2:13 remaining in the game. The Raiders increased their lead to 28 at 76-48 following that run.
Freshman Jack Fleming added a good jumper to create the largest margin between the teams at 31 less than 20 seconds later.
The deficit would prove to be to much as Colgate held off any Ursinus attempt to close the gap.
With the win, Colgate has its best 10-game start since the 2007-08 season, in which the Raiders also started out 6-4. Colgate plays host to Columbia following the holiday break on Dec. 30. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip on Cotterell Court.