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ITHACA, N.Y. -- The ball came high off the left side of the rim, right into the waiting hands of Shonn Miller. The sophomore knew just what to do with it, electrifying the Newman Nation crowd with a thunderous dunk.

In the end, it wasn't Miller's three rim-rattling dunks that got the Cornell basketball team a win, but it exemplified the fun the Big Red had in getting the 70-63 decision over Colgate on Saturday evening at Newman Arena.

Miller had career highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Big Red improved to 3-1 over its last four games heading into the final exam break and improved to 4-5 on the season. The Raiders slipped to 3-5 with the loss.

Miller was a dominant force all evening, hitting on 6-of-10 shots from the floor, including his only 3-point attempt, while draining 7-of-9 free throws. The 2011-12 Ivy League Rookie of the Year added four blocked shots and three steals in the winning effort. He led a defensive charge that saw the Big Red surrender just 38 percent shooting overall and 28 percent from 3-point range.

Along with Miller's double-double, Errick Peck scored 14 points and had seven rebounds off the bench, while Johnathan Gray notched 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. Miles Asafo-Adjei had eight points and four assists while providing excellent full-court defense, and Eitan Chemerinski made all four of his field goals for nine points and added a pair of big offensive rebounds.

Colgate got 24 points from Murphy Burnatowski, while Brandon James had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double off the bench for the Raiders. Both Luke Roh and Pat Moore chipped in nine points, with Roh adding nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Miller missed a couple of early shots, but it was his aggressiveness that stood out. He blocked a pair of shots in the first two and a half minutes as the Big Red opened the game on an 18-7 run and never trailed after Burnatowski opened the game with a 3-pointer for the Raiders. Gray answered with a 3-pointer on Cornell's next possession to tie, the first of his three straight treys in the first five minutes.

From 18-7 and 20-9, the Big Red couldn't run away with it, Colgate would never let them. The Raiders brought the deficit back to three by halftime and then tied the contest four times in the second half, the last at 47-47 with 12 minutes remaining. Each time, the Big Red responded.

A 7-0 Cornell run that started with a jumper from a 10-foot jumper by Asafo-Adjei was highlighted by a Peck putback dunk that was every bit impressive as Miller's in the first half. The lead grew to as many as 13 (69-56) with just over two minutes remaining on a finger roll by Asafo-Adjei. Colgate used a pair of late turnovers to get the ball back down just three, but forced a pair of misses and rebounded both to run out the clock.

Cornell will take a 16-day break for final exams before returning to action at Vanderbilt on Monday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. ET.