Colgate Rally Falls Just Short in 72-68 Loss to Dons
The Colgate men’s basketball team’s valiant comeback attempt came up just short in a 72-68 loss at San Francisco in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational Wednesday night.
The Raiders trailed by 10 with just over a minute to play and pulled all the way back within one in the final 30 seconds, but the Dons scored the final three points of the game from the free throw line to advance to Monday’s CBI Quarterfinals.
Colgate’s historic season comes to a close, but not before the Raiders set a program record with 19 wins and made their first national postseason tournament appearance in 22 years.
First-year Jordan Burns led Colgate with 20 points. Senior Jordan Swopshire tallied 16, while sophomore Will Rayman added 12.
Colgate got out to an 8-0 lead behind five points from Rayman and a Burns three. The Raiders kept San Francisco off the board for the first 6:14 of the game until the Dons rattled off seven-straight points to make it 8-7 at the 12:01 mark.
Three-pointers from Burns and senior Tom Rivard and free throw from senior Jordan Robertson gave the Raiders a six-point edge at 15-9 with 7:17 left in the opening term. The Dons picked up speed from there, however, as Colgate went cold from the field and San Francisco closed the half on a 15-2 run. The streak gave the Dons a 24-17 edge heading into the locker room.
USF opened the second half with a three-pointer, but a six points from Burns and three-pointer from Swopshire helped the Raiders rattle of a 9-2 streak that pulled Colgate within 29-26 less than three minutes into the term.
The Dons responded with 10 of the next 14 points to extend their lead to 10 at 40-30 at the 14:49 mark. USF held onto a 45-36 lead three minutes later until eight points from first-year David Maynard and a Swopshire trey comprised an 11-3 Raider run that had Colgate back within one at 48-47 with 7:58 to play.
USF rattled off the next seven points to retake an eight-point edge and eventually led by 10 at 65-55 with 1:22 left on the clock. Five Swopshire free throws were followed by Rayman banking in a three as the Raiders were all of the sudden within three at 66-63 with 45 seconds to play.
Swopshire drained another clutch three and Burns followed with a pair of free throws that put the score at 69-68 with 27 seconds left. The Dons’ made two free throws before coming up with a key defensive stop on Colgate’s next possession as San Francisco held on to win 72-68.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
- Program-record 19 wins
- First national postseason appearance since a pair of NCAA Tournament showings in 1995 and 1996
- 13 home wins ties program record and marks the most in 91 years (1926-27)
- First Patriot League Championship game appearance since 2008
- 17 regular-season wins and 12 Patriot League wins both tie program records
- First overall winning season since 2007-08
BOTTOM LINE
- San Francisco 72, Colgate 68
WON-LOST RECORDS
- The Raiders’ record-setting season ends at 19-14 overall.
- San Francisco improves to 19-15.
KEY RAIDER INFO
- Colgate’s five-member senior class of Sean O’Brien, Jordan Swopshire, Jordan Robertson, Tom Rivard and Dylan Whitbread ended their careers by leading the Raiders to the national postseason tournament appearance.
- Swopshire and O’Brien both graduate as Colgate 1,000-point club members. Both rank in the top ten of several categories in Colgate’s career records.
- Burns’ 20 points marked his fourth 20-plus point effort of the season and 20th double-digit effort.
- In addition to his 16 points, Swopshire also pulled down a team-best nine rebounds and dished three assists.
- O’Brien recorded six rebounds, four points and two assists in his final game in a Colgate uniform.
FACTS & FIGURES
- The Raiders finished the game shooting 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field, 34.5 percent (10-for-29) from three-point range and 90.0 percent (18-for-20) from the free throw line.
- USF shot 41.0 percent (25-for-61) from the floor, 21.7 percent (5-for-23) from downtown and 68.0 percent (17-for-25) from the charity stripe.
- The Dons held a 49-34 rebound edge.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Matt Langel
- On the game: “Any time you’re on the road and so far away from home you’re in for a tough game. I thought we got off to a great start and the defense was really locked in. We had a number of good looks, but weren’t able to make them to sustain the lead we had to start the game. Our guys never quit and that’s who they are. They fought back really hard and we had a couple of chances there at the end.”
- On the postseason experience: “After losing in the Patriot League Championship game, a number of guys felt like the season was over. But being able to have practices in the last few days and be able to come to a place like San Francisco and play a historic program means a lot for our program. The experiences and the growing opportunities that our younger guys had and can bring back with them next season are very valuable.”
- On the senior class: “Our seniors have raised the bench mark in how we do everything. Sean O’Brien has been the leader of this group for a few years now. To get to 19 wins, I think the team took on Sean’s personality and his toughness. They’ve raised the expectations and what better legacy is there to have than that.”