Austin Tillotson tallied a team-high 22 points for Colgate Monday night against Columbia. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Raiders Drop Double-Overtime Thriller
Tillotson Records Third Career 20-Point Game in 76-70 Decision
By Kat Castner
(Hamilton, NY- Dec. 30, 2013) The Colgate men’s basketball team was on the losing end of an exciting double-overtime game here Monday night, falling to Columbia 76-70 in its last non-conference game of the year.
The Raiders and Lions battled the entire contest, with 14 lead changes and seven ties throughout the entire 50 minutes. The double-overtime game was the Raiders’ first since Jan. 29, 2011, when Colgate dropped an 81-78 decision to Navy.
Colgate (6-5) saw Austin Tillotson record his third career 20-point game as he racked up a team-high 22 points and four assists. Damon Sherman-Newsome finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Matt McMullen came off the bench to register 10 points. Luke Roh led all players on the boards with a game-high 13 rebounds, one shy of his career best.
The Raiders shot 44.3 percent from the floor, hitting 27 of their 61 attempts. They also finished the game shooting 35.7 percent from downtown. Colgate outreboundedthe Lions 41-36 and posted 16 bench points.
Columbia (8-6) notched four players in double-figures, with Alex Rosenberg leading all scorers with 23 points and nine rebounds. Grant Mullins added 17 points, whileMaodo Lo and Luke Petrasek earned 14 points and 12 points, respectively. The Lions scored 18 points off Raider turnovers and had 14 points off of second-chance opportunities.
In a back-and-forth game, Columbia jumped out to an early 14-8 lead, scoring eight straight points after a Chad Johnson 3-pointer.
Colgate chipped away at the margin and back-to-back treys from Ethan Jacobs handed the Raiders the largest lead of the game at 30-22 with 4:24 left to play before the break.
Columbia answered in the closing minutes, however, going on a 9-2 run to cut the Colgate lead to 32-31 as the teams headed into the locker room.
The Raiders scored five-straight points out of halftime to push their advantage up to 37-31, but again Columbia rallied by going on a 7-0 run to take over the lead at 39-38 with 17 minutes left to play.
Colgate got its advantage back to seven twice in a six-minute span to take a 62-55 lead after a good Sherman-Newsome layup with 2:04 remaining in the game.
Columbia, though, finished regulation on a 7-0 run to tie the contest at 62-all, sending the game into overtime.
It was a low-scoring first overtime as both teams scored only four points, keeping the game locked at 66-66 and forcing another overtime period.
With less than three minutes to play in the second overtime, the Lions would go on a 5-0 run that would ultimately secure their victory.
Tillotson tried to keep the Raiders in it with two quick baskets, but Columbia finished the game hitting five of its six from the charity stripe in the closing minute of play to steal the win.
Colgate hosts Lehigh on Thursday at 7 p.m. for its first conference game of the year.
Tylor Spink #18 scored the game-winning goal for Colgate with 19 seconds left in its victory over the Russian Red Stars Tuesday at Starr Rink. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Last Minute Tally Lifts Raiders
Tylor Spink Scores Two Power Play Goals Against Russian Red Stars
By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – Dec. 31, 2013) After only one goal in the first 50 minutes of action, the Raiders scored three in the final seven minutes to earn a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Russian Red Stars in an exhibition game on Tuesday.
Colgate saw Tylor Spink factor in all three goals with a pair of power play tallies and an assist on his 21st birthday. Tyson Spink had an assist on his 21st birthday as well. Kyle Baun made it a Cornwall Colts hat trick with a goal that tied the game at 2-2. Charlie Finn got the start and made 10 saves, while Mihalik finished the game with 15 stops.
The Red Stars got two goals from Alexander Kuvaev with the first coming just 26 seconds into the game. Vacheslav Volkov was impressive in net for the Russian team with 29 saves, including 14 in the second period.
The Raiders were able to get their power play on track in the third period with a pair goals and ended the night with a 2-for-5 with the extra man. The Red Stars scored once on the power and it gave them a 2-1 lead late in the game.
The game-winning goal by the Raiders was an impressive one as Mike Borkowski passed the puck down to Tyson Spink and he slid a cross-ice pass to the opposite. Tylor Spink was waiting for the pass and buried the puck with 19 seconds left to earn the 3-2 win.
Colgate is back on the ice on Friday as the Raiders take on top-ranked Minnesota at 8:07 p.m.