Colgate Earns 75-68 Victory Over Lafayette; Four Raiders Post Career-High Nights
By Kat Castner
(Easton, Pa. – Jan. 31, 2014) Behind four players in double-figures and a strong defensive effort late in the game, the Colgate men’s basketball team was able to secure a 75-68 victory over Lafayette on Monday night in a nationally televised contest.
“It was huge for us just to find a way to win a game,” Colgate head coach Matt Langel said. “We are 2-7 now, and basically every game since Columbia, of the 9 or 10 games, everyone of them have been down to the wire. Not a double-figure lead but they’ve all been at some point late in the game a one or two possession game.
“If you look at all the numbers and statistics, nothing says that we should have lost as many games as we did, except for the fact that we are a team and a program that is learning how to win. I didn’t think it would take us this long but it has and hopefully tonight was a step in the right process. I know our guys have not quit. They’ve continued to work and I’m so proud of them. I believe in this group that they are going to get where they aspire to go. But again they are learning that it is not as easy as it was in some of our non league games.”
The Raiders posted a season-high five blocks, three of which came from juniorEthan Jacobs (career-high), as well as outrebounded the Leopards 40-30 to earn their second league win.
After a back and forth first half, the Raiders used a 16-8 run midway through the second 20 minutes to push their lead up to a game-high 11 points. The Leopards tried to rally in the final minute of action but Colgate’s defense and free throw shooting held strong, making 10 of its last 12 from the charity stripe to record the win.
With the victory, Colgate moves to 2-7 in league play and 8-12 overall.
Junior Damon Sherman-Newsome led the Raiders with his first career double-double after registering 14 points and 10 boards. Austin Tillotson scored a team-high 16 points while also pulling down a career-high seven rebounds.Murphy Burnatowski posted 15 points and Luke Roh added a season-high 12 points after shooting 6-of-7 from the floor. Senior Clayton Graham tallied a career-high two steals in his solid defensive effort on the night.
“Clayton Graham off the bench was terrific for us defensively,” Langel said. “They got penetration, some passes or drive and kicks that are normally there for them that lead to points that he got his hands on. If he didn’t come up with securing it somebody else on our team did and that kind of stemmed the tide for us.”
The Raiders only shot 17 percent from downtown but proved that they have more to offer than just shooting the long ball as they hit 24 of their 53 attempts for 45 percent shooting from the floor. Colgate also went 23 of 27 from the charity stripe, 12 of those 23 coming in the final minute and a half of action.
“For a group that coming in had faltered a number of times in close games, to step up to the line and make those shots, for me, that was very meaningful,” Langel added of his team’s clutch free throw shooting. It means that they have got enough confidence, they believe in each other, and they trust within one another so that’s a big part. There was no panic of ‘uhoh here it goes again’ we are going to miss foul shots and they are going to come back to steal one from us.”
The Raiders notched 32 points in the paint as well as converting 13 points off of Lafayette turnovers. Colgate also held the big advantage on second chance opportunities at 12-0.
Lafayette (4-16, 0-9) saw Joey Ptasinski earn a game-high 21 points after going 5-of-6 from long and 8-of-10 from the floor. Bryce Scott added 12 points while Nick Lindner and Monty Boykins chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. Dan Trist recorded a team-high eight boards in the contest to lead the Leopards.
The first half featured eight lead changes and four ties, but the Raiders used a 10-2 run in the final four minutes to close out the half and take an eight-point edge into the break, at 38-30.
Lafayette started the second half on an 8-3 run to cut the Raider advantage down to three at 41-38 but Colgate responded with a 10-3 run of its own to create a 10-point margin between the teams, at 51-41 with 10:46 left to play.
The two teams exchanged baskets before the Raiders then saw Burnatowski hit two good free throws to push Colgate’s lead up to 11-points, the largest of the game with less than seven minutes remaining.
Lafayette would not go away, however, as they pulled within three with 28 seconds left following a good layup from Scott but the Raiders finished the game from the charity stripe hitting all four of their final free throws to secure the victory.
Colgate is off until Saturday when it welcomes Bucknell to Cotterell Court to start the second half of league play. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip off.
NOTES: The Raiders defeated the Leopards for the first time since the 2009-10 season when they posted a 74-73 victory in Easton, Pa. … Sherman-Newsome earned his first career double-double in the game after earning 14 points and 10 rebounds … Sherman-Newsome has also posted at least one trey in all of the Raiders games so far this season … Three other Raider players recorded season-highs as Tillotson grabbed seven boards, Graham snagged two steals, and Jacobs tallied three blocks … Roh added a season-high 12 points on the night … All eight players who saw action for Colgate tallied at least a basket in the victory.