ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Colgate saw a 14-point second-half lead slip away as St. Bonaventure turned a late rally into an 85-77 decision Wednesday night inside the Reilly Center.
Jalen Cox matched his career high with 26 points along with seven assists, six rebounds, and four steals. Andrew Alekseyenko posted a new career high going for 25 points on 10-of-16 from the field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colgate (6-5) started 6-for-6 from the field with early 3-pointers by Alekseyenko and Josh Ahayere. St. Bonaventure also came out hot, connecting on seven of its first eight attempts from the field to lead 15-12 five minutes into the contest.
The Raiders rolled through their rotation and found another spark from Kyle Carlesimo, who buried an inside drive and forced a steal during a 12-0 Colgate blitz. Cox capped off the surge with a driving layup to stretch the Raider lead to 24-17 midway through the first half.
Colgate extended its lead to double-digits, 32-19, when Alekseyenko finished an 8-0 burst with a turnaround jumper from the free throw line. Back-to-back triples from Ben Tweedy and Alekseyenko gave Colgate a 38-25 lead, which would still be its halftime margin, 47-34.
St. Bonavenure (10-1) stormed out of the second half with a 16-3 run, slowly gashing Colgate's lead. Colgate was just 1-for-10 offensively during that stretch, and fell into foul trouble with a three-point play from Cayden Charles dwindling the lead down to 51-50 with 13:57 showing.
After a back-and-forth scoring stretch, Colgate still maintained a 59-56 margin after four straight points from Cox midway through the second stanza. Another three-point play from St. Bonaventure tied the game at 59-59, and then another three-point play gave them the lead for good on the heels of a 7-0 run to put the home team in front 70-63 with 5:33 left.
Colgate did not go away but couldn't get closer than 83-77 after Alekseyenko's layup in the final minute. St. Bonaventure took care of the free throw line to seal the 85-77 decision.
Free throws were a major factor in the decision. Colgate was just 5-of-13 in the second half, while St. Bonaventure was 16-of-19.
The Raiders shot 46.3 overall (31-67), including 23.8 percent from behind the arc (5-21), and 52.6 percent from the line (10-19). Colgate was 1-of-12 from the perimeter in the final stanza. St. Bonaventure shot 47.7 percent from the field (31-65), 21.1 percent from long range (4-19), and 79.2 percent from the foul line.
GAME NOTES
- Colgate has led in the second half in 10 of its 11 games this season.
- Jalen Cox tied his career high with 26 points, matching his effort against Drexel earlier this season.
- Andrew Alekseyenko eclipsed his previous career high of 21 at Illinois with his second 20-point game, finishing with 25.
- This is the second time Colgate has two 20-point scorers in a game this season. Jalen Cox (26) and Sam Wright (22) also reached the plateau against Drexel.
- Colgate still leads the all-time series against St. Bonaventure, 8-5.
UP NEXT
Colgate will take a break for exams before facing Florida in its penultimate non-conference test Sunday, Dec. 21, at 12 noon. The Raiders close out the first half by hosting Harvard after the holiday break on Sunday, Dec. 28.
