GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Xaivian Lee scored 19 points, Thomas Haugh added 17 and No. 23 Florida pulled away late to beat Colgate 90-60 on Sunday and extend its home-winning streak against nonconference opponents to 18.
The Gators (8-4) won their third in a row since dropping back-to-back games to Duke and UConn. Rueben Chinyelu finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Alex Condon had 16 points, 10 boards, five assists, two blocks and two steals.
Olivier Rioux, the world’s tallest teenager at 7 feet, 9 inches, played the final 1:29 but didn’t score. Officials drew the biggest boos of the night when one called Rioux for a foul in the final minute.
Colgate (6-6) kept the game close into the second half thanks to a bevy of 3-pointers, but the Raiders eventually got overwhelmed by Florida’s size and speed.
Colgate made 11 of 17 from behind the arc while losing for the third time in as many games against a ranked team.
Florida now has its longest win streak against nonconference teams since winning 25 in a row between 2010 and 2014.
Lee, who struggled in the first month of the season, led the Gators in scoring for the fifth time in their last six games.
Sam Wright and Kyle Carlesimo led Colgate with 14 points apiece. With his father, former Seton Hall and longtime NBA coach P.J. Carlesimo, on hand for the road game, Carlesimo hit four 3-pointers.
Florida coach Todd Golden, searching for more bench production, turned to Sacramento State transfer Alex Kovatchev in favor of struggling freshmen CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd. Kovatchev played a season-high 11 minutes.
Colgate hosts Harvard on Sunday, its final game before opening Patriot League play.
Florida hosts Dartmouth next Monday, its final game before Southeastern Conference action.
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Colgate forward Sam Wright (33) charges Florida forward Thomas Haugh (10) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris Watkins)
Colgate guard Kyle Carlesimo (13) dribbles past Florida guard Xaivian Lee (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris Watkins)
Florida head coach Todd Golden shouts from the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Colgate Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris Watkins)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration appeared to be intensifying its targeting of such vessels connected to Venezuelan government.
The pursuit of the tanker, which was confirmed by a U.S. official briefed on the operation, comes after the U.S. administration announced Saturday it had seized a tanker for the second time in less than two weeks.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the ongoing operation and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Sunday's pursuit involved “a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion.”
The official said the vessel was flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.
The Coast Guard’s pursuit of the tanker was first reported by Reuters.
Saturday’s predawn seizure of a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries targeted what the White House described as a “falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil.”
The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a sanctioned tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10, another part of the shadow fleet of tankers that the U.S. says operates on the fringes of the law to move sanctioned cargo. It was not even flying a nation’s flag when it was seized by the Coast Guard.
President Donald Trump, after that first seizure, said that the U.S. would carry out a “blockade” of Venezuela. It all comes as Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
This past week Trump demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions.
Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela when asked about his newest tactic in a pressure campaign against Maduro, suggesting the Republican administration’s moves are at least somewhat motivated by disputes over oil investments, along with accusations of drug trafficking. Some sanctioned tankers already are diverting away from Venezuela.
U.S. oil companies dominated Venezuela’s petroleum industry until the country’s leaders moved to nationalize the sector, first in the 1970s and again in the 21st century under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Compensation offered by Venezuela was deemed insufficient, and in 2014, an international arbitration panel ordered the country’s socialist government to pay $1.6 billion to ExxonMobil.
Maduro said in a message Sunday on Telegram that Venezuela has spent months “ denouncing, challenging and defeating a campaign of aggression that goes from psychological terrorism to corsairs attacking oil tankers.”
He added: “We are ready to accelerate the pace of our deep revolution!”
The targeting of tankers comes as Trump has ordered the Defense Department to carry out a series of attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that his administration alleges are smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States and beyond.
At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known strikes since early September. The strikes have faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has offered scant evidence that its targets are indeed drug smugglers and that the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.
Trump has repeatedly said Maduro's days in power are numbered. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published last week that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Trump's use of military to mount pressure on Maduro runs contrary to Trump's pledge to keep the United States out of unnecessary wars.
Democrats have been pressing Trump to seek congressional authorization for the military action in the Caribbean.
“We should be using sanctions and other tools at our disposal to punish this dictator who is violating the human rights of his civilians and has run the Venezuelan economy into the ground,” Kaine said. "But I’ll tell you, we should not be waging war against Venezuela. We definitely should not be waging war without a vote of Congress.
Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed to this report.
President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters during a rally marking the anniversary of the Battle of Santa Ines, which took place during Venezuela's 19th-century Federal War, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
President Donald Trump holds a cell phone with a call to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as he departs on Air Force One at Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Elm City, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
