HAMILTON, N.Y. -- Cornell jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead and was never challenged in the second half in claiming an 84-57 victory over five-time defending Patriot League champion Colgate on Wednesday evening at Cotterell Court. The Big Red improved to 5-3 on the season with its fourth consecutive win against its Central New York rival. The Raiders slipped to 2-7.

The offense will get all the headlines for the Big Red with its 58 percent shooting as a team, 13 3-pointers made and 26 team assists on 33 baskets. But it was the defense that made all the difference in picking up the road victory.

The Big Red limited the Raiders to 43 percent shooting overall, including just 5-of-20 from beyond the 3-point arc, and scored 21 points off the Raiders' 14 turnovers. 

Nazir Williams scored a game and season-high 22 points to pace three double figure scorers, with Cooper Noard scoring 19 with a team-best five rebounds and Guy Ragland Jr. adding 12 points and four assists. Eleven different Big Red players scored and 11 assisted on at least one basket. Jacob Beccles had seven points with three assists off the bench, while DJ Nix banged out a pair of 3-pointers. AJ Okereke had a balanced floor game with three points, six assists, four rebounds, a block and a steal, as did Jake Fiegen (four points, five rebounds, three assists) and Ryan Kiachian (four points, four rebounds and three assists).

Four Colgate players reached double figures - Sam Wright, Brady Cummins and Nicolas Louis-Jacques each had 11 points and Jalen Cox scored 10. Cox added seven assists and six boards in the loss.

FIRST HALF
• The Big Red led 54-32, quieting the Cotterell Court fans with its pinpoint passing to open shooters, with Noard cashing in 5-of-7 from beyond the arc himself.
• Right off the tip, the Big Red got a dunk by Ragland Jr. on a feed from Okereke, then Fiegen found Noard in the corner for a trey and a 5-2 lead.
• The Raiders made several tough early shots to keep pace, but after the Raiders gained an 8-7 lead, the Big Red answered with 14-2 run that changed the complexion of the contest.
• A flurry of 3-pointers by Williams, Noard and Beccles made it 19-10, and a decisive move by Kiachian put the Big Red lead into double-digits.
• Noard's third 3-pointer of the half put Cornell up 26-14 after a nice find by Nimani, and his fourth made it 29-14 and forced a Colgate timeout with 11:45 to play in the half.
• It was 31-14 when Anthony Nimani went backdoor on a feed from Ragland.
• At one point, Colgate was shooting 57 percent from the floor (8-for-14), but was still down 37-18 with 8:40 left.
• Freshman Mateen Rafiq hit a corner 3-pointer for his first collegiate points to ignite the Big Red bench and push the team's advantage to 44-23 with 4:32 left in the half.
• A Williams steal and layup in the final minute of the half gave the visitors a 54-32 lead at the break. 

SECOND HALF
• Cornell had four turnovers in the first three minutes of the second half, though the Raiders could only briefly cut the deficit to 17.
• The lead hovered around 20 points nearly the entire second half and grew to as many as 27 by the game's conclusion as the Big Red defense came alive.
• Cornell limited the Raiders to 39 percent shooting after the break to overcome its own nine turnovers.
• A steal at halfcourt by Noard ended in a fastbreak layup for the junior to push him to 17 points on the night.
• The Colgate deficit was narrowed to 17 a total of three times, but all three times Cornell answered.
• Fiegen and Williams scored on layups and Nix connected on a 3-pointer to make sure the home team didn't get any ideas.

UP NEXT
• Cornell remains on the road when it visits Army West Point on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The two teams last met in the 2007-08 season, a 93-78 Big Red victory at Newman Arena behind five double figure scorers and 21 points from Brian Kreefer '08.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 20-13 and has won nine straight meetings.