HAMILTON – Colgate used the three-ball to build an early lead and then rode a 12-0 second-half run to pull away from Army 71-59 in the Patriot League opener Thursday night at Cotterell Court. 

Jeff Woodward led the team with 17 points and seven rebounds. He finished 7-of-9 from the field. Jalen Cox scored 15 points and dished five assists, while Chandler Baker in his second career start finished with 11 points on an efficient 4-of-5 from the floor. 

Colgate won the battle on the glass, 36-28, and held the Patriot League's leading scorer Jalen Rucker – who came in averaging 19 points per game – to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.

HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The first whistle came eight minutes into the game after a back-and-forth start. Back-to-back triples from Kyle Carlesimo midway through the opening stanza pushed Colgate in front 18-14, which was a lead the Raiders maintained the rest of the half. 
• Woodward got going late in the frame. He had eight points in a 10-5 mini run which gave Colgate its largest lead of the half at 38-30. Isaiah Caldwell earned a tough bucket in the paint for Army to close out the first 20 minutes with the Raiders in front 38-32. 
• Cox and Baker scored on successive possessions of the second half to extend the lead to double-digits, 42-32, with 18:16 remaining. Rucker was quiet for most of the night but he drilled a 3-pointer to give Army some momentum and cut the margin to 48-43 midway through the frame.
• Carlesimo, who made several key plays in the game, turned a steal on the defensive end into a transition 3-pointer to swing momentum back in Colgate's favor, 53-43. 
• Colgate's lead ballooned to as many as 17 points on the heels of a 12-0 burst sparked by Carlesimo's third trey of the game. Five different scorers fueled the run and extended Colgate's margin to 60-43 with eight minutes remaining. 
• Seven unanswered points by Josh Scovens brought Army back within 66-56, but a two-handed and-one flush by Woodward answered the bell for the Raiders who closed out their 10th consecutive victory over Army, 71-59.

GAME NOTES
 

• Colgate (4-10, 1-0 Patriot) has now won three consecutive Patriot League openers.
• The Raiders are 19-1 in January over the past three seasons.
• Jeff Woodward's 17 points tied his season and career high scoring output. 
• Colgate leads the all-time series against Army 76-63 and has won 10 consecutive head-to-head matchups.

UP NEXT
The Raiders hit the road for the first time in Patriot League play to face Bucknell (4-10, 0-1 Patriot) on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. from Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa. The Bison dropped an overtime thriller at Lehigh, 66-64, on Thursday night.