Box Score TURLOCK — Collectively, the Warriors shot 65 percent as they opened the 2013-14 season in high-flying style in a 85-72 win over Simon Fraser Saturday afternoon.
Marcus Bell made a loud splash in his Warrior debut with 22 points off the bench to lead all players as he only missed one shot in 25 minutes of play. Bell, who missed the two exhibition contests while waiting on eligibility clearance, was 9-for-10 on the floor. He also made four free throws, picked off three steals and grabbed five rebounds.
Tyler Barber had 19 points, including four three-pointers and game-best eight rebounds.
Chris Read also hit double-digits in scoring with 11 to go with two block-shots.
Sam Marcus had seven assists in the season opener.
Simon Fraser (1-1) was led by David Gebru with 19 points — 16 of them came in the first half. Sango Niang also had 19 points with four three-pointers and Taylor Dunn added 10 to pace the Clan.
As a team, the Warriors were sharp as they combined to make 32 field goals out of 49 attempts with near identical halves. They were 16-for-24 in the first half and 16 of 25 in the second half.
SFU opened the game on a hot streak, running off to a nine-point, 22-13 lead at 11:18 mostly behind the play of Gebru who had 16 of those 22 points for the Clan. But Gebru disappeared after that — after the Warriors made defensive adjustments. After a 7-for-13 first half, Gebru was just 1-for-2 in the second half.
At 27-27, Stanislaus used a 16-2 run for a 14-point halftime lead at 43-29. The Warriors led by as many as 25 points in the second half after a layup by Bell at 13:54.
The Warriors will host Chico State next Saturday at 7 p.m. inside Fitzpatrick Arena.