The men’s basketball team opened its season with a game against Div. III opponent Schreiner University and came away with a 73-59 victory.

The Wildcats played close with Schreiner in the first half at three-to-four point deficits before jumping out to a 35-27 lead at half.

In the second half, the men worked the score to a 20-point lead at the 11:42 mark and didn’t let Schreiner get within 11 points for the rest of the game.

ACU was able to shoot 42 percent from the field as well as 40 percent from three point range.

Five different players were able to score double digits in the game including Farquhar, sophomore guard Jaylen Franklin, sophomore forward Jaren Lewis, sophomore center Jalone Friday, and senior guard Jovan Crnic.

Lewis led the team in scoring with 14 points as he made six of the 13 shots he took and two of his four free throws.

He and two other teammates, Friday and sophomore forward Hayden Howell, put up a team-high seven rebounds, while Crnic led the team in assists with four.

“It was great getting a win and starting out the season like that at home, but we know we could have played better and we know there are things we need to work on going forward,” said Lewis. “It was a great feeling starting the year out with a win, but we need to build off this first game and improve from it.”

For Schreiner, junior guard Keenan Gumbs scored the most points with 15 as he made six of 11 shots including going three for five from beyond the arc.

Senior guard Nathan Robbins led his team in assists with six while freshman forward Paul Wells led in rebounds with six.

“We have great team chemistry and we are a really tight group,” said Lewis. “This team really cares for each other and we look forward to battling with each other each game. As a team we know we have to be better defensively. We all need to be on the same page in order to be a better defensive team.”

The men will next be on the road to take on the University of New Hampshire in Durham Thursday night.