Colgate Plays Game With Memory of Late Coach

Only nine hours after attending the funeral of its coach, the Colgate lost to Seton Hall, 69-64, at East Rutherford, N.J. on Monday night, but not before displaying heart that would have made Jack Bruen proud of his players.

“I know I was very proud of them,” interim coach Paul Aiello said of his team that took a four-hour bus ride after the funeral in Hamilton, N.Y. “If a couple of shots fell, anything goes. They played extremely hard and extremely well. It was an emotional, draining week, but they never stopped hustling.”

Bruen died Friday at age 48 after a two-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

“It was impossible not to feel that void,” said Seth Schaeffer, a senior who led Colgate (3-4) with 23 points. “He was such a presence in our lives. Everyone he knew he made a better person and with us he did it through basketball.”

Colgate, which trailed by nine points with seven minutes left, closed within 67-64 of Seton Hall (5-5) on a steal and dunk by Chad Wiswall with 59 seconds to go. But Levell Sanders made two free throws 20 seconds later for the final points as the Red Raiders missed two three-point shots in the final 30 seconds.

“I tried to prepare our team for the mind-set of their opponent,” Seton Hall Coach Tommy Amaker said. “It was a difficult game because of all the circumstances that have happened the last few days. They showed a lot of heart and courage. They played hard, just the way Jack would have wanted them to play.”

TOP 25 GAMES

No. 7 Purdue 118, Florida A&M; 77--The Boilermakers (10-2) set a Mackey Arena record with 14 three-point baskets and forced the Rattlers (3-6) into 28 turnovers at West Lafayette, Ind.

Jaraan Cornell led Purdue with 23 points.

No. 8 Stanford 95, UC Santa Barbara 62--David Moseley scored 20 points and Ryan Mendez had 18 to lead the Cardinal (8-0) to its 16th consecutive home victory.

B.J. Bunton had 20 points for Santa Barbara (2-5).

No. 15 Iowa 82, Southern Mississippi 58--Ricky Davis scored 16 points to lead the Hawkeyes (9-1) in the Christmas San Juan Shootout at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Kelly McCarty scored 14 points for Southern Mississippi (7-2).

No. 16 Mississippi 74, Louisville 70--Keith Carter scored eight of his 18 points in a 10-0 run at the start of the second half as the Rebels (8-1) won their first game against the Cardinals at Louisville, Ky.

Louisville (3-6), which has lost five of its last six, got 17 points from former USC player Cameron Murray.

No. 20 Maryland 110, North Carolina Asheville 52--Sarunas Jasikevicius scored six of his 17 points during a 21-0 first-half run for the Terrapins (6-3) at College Park, Md.

It was the Maryland’s fifth-highest margin of victory. Asheville is 5-5.

No. 21 Clemson 65, Charleston Southern 42--The Tigers (8-3), who returned to the Top 25 earlier in the day, cruised to victory behind Greg Buckner’s 16 points at Clemson, S.C.

Clemson won its third game in a row without injured point guard Terrell McIntyre.

Charleston Southern (1-10) was the Big South Conference’s NCAA tournament representative last season.

No. 22 Rhode Island 85, Ohio 72--Senior guard Tyson Wheeler scored 25 of his game-high 29 points in the second half at Providence, R.I. as the Rams (6-1) won their fifth consecutive game.

Jim Peterson came off the bench to make six of nine three-point shots and lead Ohio (2-7) with 18 points.

No. 23 West Virginia 55, Virginia Tech 52--Damian Owens blocked Eddie Lucas’ three-point shot with three seconds remaining as the Mountaineers (10-1) won at Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech (5-3) shot 32%.