Nashua, New Hampshire - After an off-season head coach change, the Sean Rutigliano tenure is officially underway. In his first game in charge, the Colby Men's Basketball team took down Rivier on the road, winning 77-67 to improve to 1-0. 

The Mules' high-caliber offense came out swinging, going on a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the game. Sophomore Dan Civello opened the scoring and later buried a three-pointer, en route to a 13-point first half. Colby continued to knock down shots, but Rivier slowly crawled its way back, tying the game with 7 minutes to go in the half. From then on, it was a back-and-forth affair as neither team could build a comfortable lead. Civello tied the game with two minutes to go, followed by Sam Hinman, who buried two free throws to give the Mules a 33-31 lead heading into the break. 

The start of the second half remained almost identical to the first, with the lead changing twice. However, Colby shot better from beyond the arc, knocking down two early threes courtesy of Hinman and Mitch Humphrey. The 30% 3-point shooting from the first half increased to 50% as the Mules buried 5 of 10 attempted triples. The turning point in the game came with less than ten minutes to go, as Hinman and Savion Stroud converted layups on back-to-back plays to give Colby their first three-possession lead of the half. From then on, the Mules went on an 8-0 run in two minutes to widen Rivier's deficit to 11. Jack Gatjanis knocked down a three and had a tough finish at the rim for a quick five points, while Civello's dunk late in the game secured a double-digit win for Colby.

The Mules are back in action on Wednesday, November 19th, as they travel across town to face Thomas College in a non-conference matchup.