Boxscore
NAMPA, Idaho -
Anthony Golden scored 18 points in 17 minutes to lead the Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team to a 115-73 season-opening victory over Walla Walla University on Tuesday night at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.
Golden came off the bench to lead the Crusaders (1-0), who placed five players in double-figures and didn't see a starter play more than 21 minutes in the 2009-2010 opener. "We did a nice job defensively in the first half," commented NNU head coach Tim Hills. "The big guys really worked hard in the first 10 minutes and we were able to play a lot of guys some extended minutes tonight."
Golden added to his stat line with five assists, four rebounds, and three steals to accompany his 18 points.
"We had been off for 14-days, so it was good to get everybody out there and shake off the rust heading into this weekend," Hills added.
Tristan Edwards led the WWU (2-8) with 15 points, while Ryan Spady posted the games only double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Mark Moore added 11 and Gerard Dauphin chipped in with 10.
The Crusaders will host the NNU Thanksgiving Classic this Friday and Saturday, facing UC Colorado Springs on Friday and Dixie State College on Saturday, both games tip-off at 7:30 p.m. Central Washington University will join the Crusaders in the four-team classic-formatted tournament, trading opponents with NNU and playing at 3:00 p.m. each day.
The Lady Crusaders will also host a classic-formatted event, facing Cal State Stanislaus on Friday and Colorado Christian on Saturday, both women's games begin at 5:15 p.m. The Central Washington University women's team will also join on the women's side and trade opponents at 1 p.m. both days.
