WILMINGTON, N.C. – Career-high scoring efforts from Brady Cummins (20) and Sam Wright (18) were not enough to overcome 14 turnovers and Colgate dropped an 82-78 decision to Sam Houston State in the final game of the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic on Saturday afternoon at Trask Coliseum. 

Colgate returns home with a 2-6 record. Sam Houston, a 20-win team last season and picked third in the C-USA preseason poll, moved to 4-4 with the win. Both teams finished the week 1-2 in Wilmington, N.C. 

COACH LANGEL'S COMMENTS

"Hard-fought game between two teams that desperately wanted a win. We came up on the short end. Sam Wright stepped up and he's becoming a better player with his opportunities. Brady Cummins scored like we needed him to. Nicolas Louis-Jacques provided us with leadership in addition to his scoring. Offensively we shot pretty well but we turned it over 14 times. They scored 19 points off turnovers and that ends up being the difference. We knew this week would be challenging. I hope that we choose to grow from the positives and learn from our mistakes. The road doesn't get easier."

HOW IT HAPPENED

The game was tied 70-70 when Sam Houston scored five unanswered points to take the lead for good. Back-to-back buckets from Sam Wright cut the deficit to 75-74 but Colgate couldn't get the stop it needed and the Bearkats finished the game from the free throw line to hold on for the narrow victory.

There were 12 lead changes in a back-and-forth second half that saw Colgate twice overcome four-point deficits – the latter coming on a layup through traffic by Parker Jones that gave the Raiders a 68-67 lead. The veteran Bearkats responded each time, including the final run that led to the victory.

Cummins' career-high 20 points came on 8-of-13 from the field. Wright finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 from the field including 2-of-4 from behind the arc along with seven boards. Nicolas Louis-Jacques tallied 15 points on an efficient 6-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from downtown. 

Colgate went from down by four (9-5) to up by four (19-15) thanks to a three-point barrage sparked by Chandler Baker's corner trey. Louis-Jacques scored five unanswered points and Wright connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Colgate's lead to 22-19 with 7:59 remaining in the half. 

With six tie scores in the first half, Blake Forrest cashed in from long range and had the Raiders in front 27-24 late in the frame. At that point the Raiders were 6-of-13 from behind the arc but they missed their last six attempts in the stanza. Sam Houston closed the frame on a 6-2 run to lead 35-33 at the break.

Neither team led by more than five points in the second half and Colgate made multiple comebacks but could not finish it off. Sam Houston closed out both halves with strong runs to pull off the 82-78 decision.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 

• Colgate shot 54 percent overall (30-56), 37.5 percent from behind the arc (12-32), and 60 percent from the free throw line (6-10). Sam Houston was 52 percent from the floor (28-54), 37.5 percent from behind the arc (6-16), and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (20-24). 
• The Raiders had 14 turnovers against just eight for Sam Houston who turned that into a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Rebounds finished 30-28 in favor of the Raiders. 

UP NEXT
After seven consecutive games away from home Colgate (2-6) finally returns to Cotterell Court on Wednesday to host intrastate rival Cornell at 7 p.m. ESPN+ is carrying the livestream.