Harries Hits Career-High in Tough Loss
Raiders Drop Close 67-60 Decision to Loyola in First PL Meeting of Series
By Kat Castner
(Baltimore – Jan. 25, 2014) Rookie Nathan Harries netted 10 points and five boards to notch a career-high but his impressive day couldn’t spark a Colgate men’s basketball victory as the Raiders fell in another close game, this time at the hands of Loyola, 67-60
Both teams scored 36 points in the second 20 minutes of action but the 31-24 Loyola halftime advantage was the deciding factor. Colgate held a nine-point edge early in the game but saw Loyola go on a 16-5 run to take its first lead in the game. From that point on Colgate had to play catch up. And that they did as they made it a one-point game, twice, in the final eight minutes of action after the Greyhounds had pushed their lead to a game-high 11-points. But the margin proved to be too much as the Greyhounds finished the game from the free throw line, going 4-4 in the final minute of play.
“We work hard to prepare to win games,” Colgate head coach Matt Langel said when asked about his team not giving up despite being down by 11 points in the second half. “That’s what a team is supposed to do. That’s our jobs. To give everything you have for one another until the final whistle.”
Colgate (7-12, 1-7 PL) watched Harries have a career-high performance going 4-of-5 from the floor and 2-of-3 from long in 13 minutes of action.
“Nathan is a good player who has battled countless difficulties in his first college season,” Langel said. “In addition to trying to work off the rust of not playing basketball in two years, he has had to do so amidst numerous setbacks. He has been playing well and will be a big part of our future moving forward.”
Murphy Burnatowski led the Raiders in scoring with 13 points while Ethan Jacobs added 11 points and a team-high seven boards. Matt McMullen was a close second in rebounding, matching his season-high six boards in the contest.
Overall the Raiders shot 42 percent from the floor and 33% from downtown. They also hit seven of their 10 free throw attempts for 70 percent shooting. Colgate slightly outrebounded the Greyhounds 33-30 but Loyola held the 15-8 advantage on turnovers.
Loyola (9-10, 4-4 PL) received a game-high scoring night from Dylon Cormier, who posted 21 points. He recorded 15 of those points in the final 20 minutes and also went 7-of-7 from the charity stripe on the night. R.J. Williams added a career-high 15 points after going 4-of-6 from the floor to close out the Greyhounds in double-digits. Franz Rassman led Loyola on the boards, pulling down a team-high six rebounds.
The Greyhounds shot 44 percent overall from the floor and 25 percent from behind the arc while also hitting 16 of their 18 free throws. Loyola also registered 17 points off of Raider turnovers.
Colgate started the opening four minutes of the game hitting three treys in its first four baskets to take the early 11-2 lead.
But back-to-back three-point plays from Cormier, pulled the Greyhounds to within three at 13-10, with less than 13 minute to go in the half .
Following a good trey from Jacobs to push the Raider advantage up to five, at 18-13, the Greyhounds responded by going on a 11-0 run to take over the lead at 24-18 with under six minutes to play before the break.
Loyola and Colgate exchanged baskets in the final couple minutes and headed into the break with a seven-point margin between the teams
Early in the second half, Loyola extended its lead to a game-high 11 points, twice, but the Raiders would not go away as they went on a 12-2 run to get the advantage down to one, at 49-48 with eight minutes to play.
After the Greyhounds had extended their edge up to six, Harries hit a big trey with 1:23 remaining to make it a one-possession game, at 61-58.
Following a Loyola layup, Colgate again had the lead cut to three when Jacobs hit a layup with 40 second remaining, but unfortunately that would be the closest the Raiders would come as the Greyhounds finished the game from the free throw line.
Colgate has a quick turnaround as it faces Lafayette on Monday in a CBS Sports Network telecast at 9 p.m.
“We will get our rest, try to recover from another hard fought disappointing loss, and prepare for Lafayette the same way we do every other game,” Langel said. “We will watch film, talk about their tendencies, and discuss what will be important to securing a victory. College student-athletes are young and resilient. Lafayette has the same amount of time to prepare for us, I’m sure it will be another hard fought game.”
Mariah Jones lead Colgate with 17 points against Loyola Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Bob Cornell) Cutline (photo 652)
Reid Snares Season-High 13 Rebounds
Raiders Can’t Hold Early Lead, Drop 61-54 Decision to Loyola
By John Painter
(Hamilton, NY – Jan. 25, 2014) Colgate couldn’t sustain an early run of good fortune, and the Raiders lost 61-54 to Loyola in Patriot League action here Saturday.
The home side led 15-7 at the second media timeout thanks in part to a pair of threes from Catherine Lewis and some solid Colgate ball movement. But Loyola put the brakes on those positive vibes by outscoring the Raiders 16-2 during a nearly nine-minute stretch and going in front 23-17 with 5:01 showing.
“They started attacking the glass,” Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “We were able to have a quick and efficient start to the game because we defended, we rebounded and we were able to get out in the open court.
“They were trapping ball screens and we were doing really well getting the ball out of traps and getting easy baskets. But they stopped trapping and started really attacking the glass. And that was the difference; we got outrebounded again.”
Loyola finished with a 40-34 advantage on the boards and also shot 42 percent to Colgate’s 35 percent from the floor. Both of those slight margins to the Greyhounds were enough to produce Loyola’s second road conference victory of the season.
After trailing 28-22 at halftime, Colgate scored the first five points of the second half to close with one. The Raiders then had three separate possessions to try to snare the lead but couldn’t get any of a trio of field goal tries to drop.
The Greyhounds finally got untracked and reeled off nine straight points to start a 12-2 run that made it 40-29 with 9:35 remaining. It was the first of three separate 11-point cushions for Loyola in the second half; the last coming at 47-36 with 5:33 to play after Tiffany Padgett hit a baseline jumper off an inbounds pass just as the shot-clock was expiring.
A minute later, Missy Repoli connected on her own baseline basket and then Mariah Jones hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull Colgate within 49-43 with 3:52 left.
Offensive Rebound Hurt
The Raiders looked like they were going to get a key defensive stop, but two Loyola misses were grabbed by the Greyhounds and then Nai Brown connected from the 3-point line to push the lead back to 52-43 with 3:07showing.
“Loyola just did a great job,” Hays Fort said. “They made shots when they needed to make shots and got the ball into No. 35’s (Brown) hands. She made some great shots and they got big rebounds.
“Every time we tried to cut it back, they hit big shots because we missed the rebounds.”
Jones and Kelly Reid connected on layups, but Brown had an answer both times to keep it a nine-point game approaching one minute to play. Lewis hit her third three of the game and Randyll Butler a running jumper in the lane, but it was too late.
Loyola’s Brown finished with a game-high 23 points, including 15 in the second half.
Both teams are now 5-14 overall but Loyola climbs ahead of the Raiders in the Patriot League standings, 2-6 to 1-7.
Defensive Anchor
Reid and Jones had the statistical numbers for Colgate. Reid topped her season high with 13 rebounds, while Jones scored 17 for her third-best output of the season and also topped the 100-mark for career 3-pointers.
“We’re happy to have Kelly back and getting healthy,” Hays Fort said of her junior rebounder. “Kelly’s just an anchor. We really challenged them to get rebounds and that’s what she did. She went out and attacked the glass and was just a beast out there with her defending.
“She’s the anchor of our defense and did a great job.”
Colgate finished 20-of-57 from the field for 35.1 percent, 7-of-23 from the arc and 7-of-9 at the line. Loyola was 24-of-57 for 42.1 percent from the floor, 7-of-21 from long distance and 6-of-10 at the line. The Raiders finished with 12 assists – topped by Lauryn Kobiela’s six – against 14 turnovers, while Loyola had 11 assists and 12 turnovers.
Jones – who scored 14 in the second half – matched Lewis with three 3-pointers apiece, giving them 101 and 99, respectively, for their careers. They stand seventh and eighth on the all-time Colgate chart.
Lewis finished with nine, while Carole Harris added 11, Repoli 6, Reid 4, Paige Kriftcher 3, Butler 2 and Josie Stockill 2 to complete the Colgate scoring.
In addition to Brown, Padgett registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Colgate stays at home Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip against Lafayette (9-10, 3-5).