By Paul Gotham
HAMILTON, N.Y. – As far as first impressions go, the Colgate Raiders made a good one Wednesday night.
The Patriot League team, which spent the first week or so of its regular season playing in Atlantic Coast Conference country, looked happy to be back in the cozy confines.
Now, the question is whether the home opener can serve as a springboard to a special season.
Murphy Burnatowski and Ethan Jacobs combined for 34 points as the Colgate Raiders easily defeated the Cornell Big Red, 81-58 in non-conference action on Cottrell Court.
The duo scored 21 of Colgate’s 38 first-half points and sparked a pair of runs as the Raiders took a nine-point advantage into the break.
The pair accounted for all the scoring during an 11-0 run as Colgate turned an early deficit into a seven-point advantage.
“They both can shoot the ball,” said third year head coach, Matt Langel. “They’re also committed to going inside so the other guy can go outside a little bit. They’re committed to passing, screening and getting their teammates open.”
Burnatowski started the run when he took a hi-lo pass from Jacobs and used a drop step to finish at the rim. Jacobs and Austin Tillotson combined on the next possession. The 6-0 point guard penetrated the paint in transition and used a drop-off pass to free Jacobs for his first trey of the night. Burnatowski fed Jacobs on the next trip for three. Burnatowski’s three-ball from the right corner capped the spurt and gave Colgate an early 13-6 lead.
“We played great as a team,” Burnatowski said. “Everyone chipped in. I don’t know the last time we were able to blow out a team like that.”
The Big Red scored six straight to regain the lead. Devin Cherry converted a steal and layup. Nolan Cressler nailed a three to give Cornell a 22-21 edge with 7:23 remaining in the half.
But the deficit lasted less than a minute.
Tillotson found Damon Sherman-Newsome for a catch-and-shoot three. Luke Roh finished a running one-hander in the lane. Jacobs capped the run when he combined again with Tillotson on the drop-off pass for his third three of the first stanza. Colgate had its first double-digit lead at 34-24 with 3:33 left before the break.
“When you got a guy Ethan’s size who can shoot the ball the way he does, it’s something that the opposition, no matter how much they prepare for it, they’re not used to it,” Langel commented. “Big 6-8, 6-9, 6-10 guys they’re not used to guarding three-point shooters…Ethan has the ability to do it, so it would be foolish not to use him.”
Dominick Scelfo stemmed the tide briefly with a three for Cornell.
Jacobs responded with a pretty spin move on the block, dropstep middle and finish with his left hand.
The 6-11 center started his college career at Ohio University where he played two seasons before transferring to Colgate. The Tipton, Ind. Native sat out last year per NCAA requirements. He came into the game averaging 12 per contest. He scored 13 before halftime.
“I had a lot of energy built up for this game. That’s for sure,” Jacobs stated. “There was a lot of excitement.”
Leading 38-29 at half, the Raiders scored the first nine after the break and never looked back.
Jacobs and Luke Roh traded roles with Jacobs feeding the 6-4 guard for a bucket underneath. Tillotson connected on a jumper when Roh gave him a drop-off pass. Jacobs used a dropstep to get in the lane and finish with his left. At the opposite end, he blocked a Cherry layup attempt.
“He brings a whole other dynamic to the team,” Burnatowski said of Jacobs. “Being able to stretch the floor and shoot the threes. Bigs aren’t used to guarding guys like that. The way he’s been shooting it at the beginning of the year, they’re going to have to get out and guard him. That’s’ just going to open up the key even more for me to post up some guys inside and vice versa.
Jacobs finished with 15 on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor.
Burnatowski scored a team-high 19 hitting 7-of-15 on the perimeter.
“You look at Murphy Burnatowski’s stat line, and he plays 26 minutes and gets 19 points on 15 shots,” Langel explained. “Last year he had to shoot 19, 20, 21 shots at times, and that’s not good.”
Roh (4) and Tillotson (6) combined for 10 assists with just three turnovers.
“Austin and Luke are smart guards.
Cressler led Big Red with 19. Cherry added 12.
Colgate started the season with an 89-78 loss at Wake Forest on November eighth. Eight days later they fell at Syracuse, 69-50.
“Those games are really fun to play in,” Langel said. “It just so happened that the way our schedule fell that we had to play them to start our season. Every year that we’ve been here we’ve challenged ourselves with those kinds of games. That’s what guys who work as hard as our guys do in the off-season and during the season and coming in and doing extra work, they want to play in those games.”
Colgate hit 54.7 percent (29-of-53) from the floor including 47.8 percent (11-of-23) behind the arc.
“We played well,” Langel added. “Usually when you go back and watch the film the opposition had something to do with that as well. But that’s basketball. You got to capitalize on other people’s mistakes when they make ‘em and try and limit yours.
The game was the 125th meeting between the two schools with Cornell now holding a 71-54 lead in the series.
Colgate hosts St. Francis (PA)for 2 p.m. game this Saturday.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a USA Today Contributor and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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