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Weber State's Dylan Warlick (23) drives against Colorado Christian's Steven Hall Jr. during an exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State guard Mason Abittan (8) drives against Colorado Christian during an exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State center Brock Felder (33) attempts a dunk against Colorado Christian's Andrew Okafor (5) during an exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State guard Alvin Jackson III, center, muscles between two Colorado Christian defenders during an exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State center Declan Cutler, center, rises to shoot against Colorado Christian's Joel Speckman (0) during an exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

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OGDEN — Weber State men’s basketball took the court for its first game under new head coach Kaleb Canales, overcoming a cold start to cruise past WSU’s Division II visitor Colorado Christian for a 90-76 exhibition win Saturday night at the Dee Events Center.

Rice transfer guard Aaron Powell tickled the twine for a 5-of-7 performance from behind the arc, scoring 20 points in just 13 minutes. St. Louis transfer wing/forward Dylan Warlick, UNLV transfer guard Mason Abittan and Utah transfer guard Alvin Jackson III each added 10 points for WSU.

“I think we all like each other, which is the start to a great team,” Powell said. “Obviously, there were some lapses, but that’s what the film is for and that’s what getting better is for.”

The Wildcats opened the game 2 of 15 from the field, a stretch that included several misses at the rim, and Colorado Christian led 6-5 at the 15:05 mark. But freshman Chamberlain Burgess hit a 3 to put WSU up 8-6 and the Wildcats led the rest of the way, avoiding the close-call exhibition win that started last year’s campaign against the same opponent.

Powell made 3-pointers on three straight possessions down the stretch of the first half, pushing a steady margin of 8-10 points to a 42-28 lead at halftime.

Georgia Tech transfer wing/forward Dyllan Thompson opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and New Mexico State transfer center Augustine Ekwe finished an and-one dunk to give Weber a 48-28 lead.

The Wildcats led by 15-20 points the rest of the way, including an 86-66 lead before Colorado Christian put home three 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes.

Warlick led WSU with six assists and returning sophomore ArDarius Grayson had five. Burgess finished with six points and eight rebounds. Weber forced 22 turnovers; Grayson, who scored nine points, nabbed five steals and Abittan took four.

Ekwe fouled out in 11.5 minutes after a technical foul, totaling nine points, four rebounds, four steals and one block.

PJ Chambers led Colorado Christian with 14 points. The game featured 45 total fouls and 58 free-throw attempts. WSU shot 21 of 32 (65.6%) at the line, went 11 of 32 from distance and assisted 18 of 29 field goals.

“We want to be a high-level team, we talk about the formula for success,” Canales said. “We want to be a top team in the conference on both offense and defense. I think we had flashes of it today. Not perfect by any stretch, but there’s a lot of good stuff to build on and a lot of corrections to be had.”

In a stretch of three exhibitions against D2 teams from the RMAC, Westminster next visits the Dee Events Center at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, and Colorado Mesa finishes the preseason at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Weber State was voted to finish eighth in both coaches and media Big Sky preseason polls released earlier in the week. Montana State was picked No. 1 in both polls.

Northern Colorado’s Langston Reynolds, a fifth-year player eligible under a court order and a transfer-back to NoCo from Minnesota, was voted preseason MVP. The preseason all-conference team is: Reynolds, Jed Miller (Montana State), Ethan Potter (Utah Tech), Andrew Cook and Alton Hamilton IV (Eastern Washington), Jaiden Feroah (Southern Utah) and Koren Johnson (Portland State).