Both teams shot well in the first half, both averaging over 40.0 percent from the field. Colgate obviously had the bigger, more physical team. The Raiders dominated the early minutes and caused problems for Canisius’ passers in the half court. Colgate employed the trap early to panic the Golden Griffins into turnovers. If it weren’t for Colgate’s costly turnovers (13 in first half leading to 11 Canisius points), the Raiders could have easily blown open the game in the first few minutes. Colgate held a 4-point lead early on.

Canisius struck back by picking up the pace. A full court press disrupted Colgate’s half-court offense and led to several fast-break opportunities for the Griffins. Colgate’s slower defenders couldn’t catch up to the long outlet passes. Canisius’ Cory Herring led all scorers with 17 first half points. The Griffins led after the first half, 39-33.

Canisius seemed to go away from the up-tempo attack that carried them through the first half at the beginning of the second. The Griffins had a hard time scoring in a half-court mode. Colgate climber back to within one possession with excellent accuracy from the line. Colgate pulled the contest even by 13:16 left in the game.

Canisius re-applied its full court pressure and fast-break offense for the final 13 minutes. Colgate responded by shooting over 47.0 percent from the field. It all seemed to be going Colgate’s way when Kendall Chones hit a jumper to put Colgate up one point with 2:43 left in the game. The Griffins actually did not score for over the last three minutes of the game, until Darnell Wilson scored a last second lay-up with 1 second left to force overtime.

The overtime period belonged to Canisius. Despite the Raiders scoring the first four points in the extra period, the Griffins out rebounded Colgate 6-0 in overtime to help seal the win. Colgate’s three-point threat John Simon didn’t have a successful three-point attempt in the extra period.