HAMILTON – Colgate rode hot shooting and timely defense to its first win of the 2025-26 season, defeating Drexel 90-83 on Tuesday night at Cotterell Court.Â
Three Raiders reached new career high scoring outputs, led by 20-point showings from Jalen Cox (26) and Sam Wright (22). Andrew Alekseyenko finished with 18 including 12-of-14 from the line. Kyle Carlesimo was 4-for-4 from behind the arc and finished with 16 points for the second straight game. Cox added nine assists, six rebounds, and three steals in a stat stuffing performance.Â
Colgate shot 63 percent from the field (29-46), 61.5 percent from behind the arc (8-13), and 88.9 percent from the free throw line (24-27). Defensively first-year Ayomi Odetoyinbo registered four blocked shots in 11 minutes of action.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was tied 20-20 when the familiar energy boost of Carlesimo turned the tides midway through the first half. After scoring a Colgate career-high 16 points last Friday, the senior drained a triple and sank a fadeaway in a 7-0 burst that put the Raiders in front 27-20.Â
Defense started to lead to offense late in the frame, with three blocks from first-year Odetoyinbo sparking a 9-0 surge for the Raiders. Wright and Carlesimo canned 3-pointers and a three-point play by Cox pushed the lead to double-digits, 42-27.Â
Three old-fashioned three-point plays helped Colgate close the first half on another 7-0 blast. Cox had five of those points to get him up to 16 in the opening stanza and the Raiders took a 49-30 advantage into the locker room.Â
Drexel came out smoking hot in the second half. The Dragons were 6-for-6 from behind the arc and carried a 20-6 burst to trim the deficit all the way down to 60-56 with 10:13 remaining. Drexel cut it all the way down to two before a Wright 3-pointer stopped the bleeding.Â
Alekseyenko played through foul trouble and came up with big shots down the stretch, as did Carlesimo who finished 4-for-4 from behind the arc for the second straight game. His last trey came in a big spot – putting the Raiders back in front by nine, 76-67, with 4:27 to go.Â
Drexel could never get it back to a one-possession game. Colgate was 16-for-18 from the free throw line in the second half, helping Cox (26), Wright (22), and Alekseyenko (18) push past their career-high scoring outputs en route to Colgate's first win of the season, 90-83.Â
NOTES
- Aided by its highest-scoring first half (53) in nearly a full season, Colgate's 90 total points were its most at Cotterell Court since beating Army 93-86 on Feb. 15, 2023.Â
- Colgate had two 20-point scorers for the first time since Feb. 15, 2025, at Boston U.
- Jalen Cox's 26 points bested his previous career high of 25 at Boston U (Feb. 15).Â
- Sam Wright topped his previous best of 18 with his first career 20-point showing, totaling 22. He's now scored 17, 16, and 22 in three games to start the season.Â
- Andrew Alekseyenko now has two double-digit efforts in three games to start his Colgate career, going for 14 at Michigan State before scoring 18 against Drexel.Â
- Kyle Carlesimo has gone 4-for-4 from behind the arc in back-to-back games, scoring 18 against Northeastern and 16 against Drexel.Â
- Ayomi Odetoyinbo's four blocked shots were the most for a Raider since Keegan Records had four at Cornell in December 2023.Â
- Colgate improved to 1-6 all-time against Drexel in a series that began in 1974.
UP NEXT
Colgate (1-2) takes on its second nationally-ranked opponent of the season, visiting No. 14 Illinois on Friday night in Champaign, Ill. Tipoff is 9 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network Plus.Â
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