SAN RAFAEL — The Stanislaus State men's basketball team completed a successful opening weekend as the Warriors defeated Academy of Art, 79-69, Saturday at the PacWest/CCAA Tip-Off Classic at Conlan Center.
Kaelen Mitchell and
Andy Cleaves returned to form on Saturday to lead the Stan State offense. Mitchell scored 19 points, including five three-pointers, and Cleaves added 17 points.
Xavier Francois scored 15 points off the bench for a solid debut-weekend as well.
The Warriors will carry the early-season momentum into Wednesday's California Collegiate Athletic Association opener when they host Cal State San Bernardino at 7:30 p.m.
In Saturday afternoon's win over Art U (0-2), the Warriors pulled away in the second half stretching a narrow 3-point lead at the break into a lead as large as 15 with just about a minute left to go.
A Cleaves dunk and seven straight points from Francois gave the Warriors a double-digit lead early in the second half. Just as the Knights were battling back, the Warriors would drill a three-pointer to turn them away. Key three-pointers were made by
Mat Bradshaw (9:41), Mitchell (6:01) and Cleaves (3:37) to keep Art U from getting too close.
Mitchell, who had 13 points in the first half, finished 5 of 13 from the arch and 6 of 16 from the field to lead Stanislaus. He also had a team-high nine rebounds. Cleaves only missed one attempt (6 of 7) for his 17 points. Francois was 6 of 8 for his 15 points for his second straight night providing some spark off the bench. Francois, who had 12 points in 20 minutes of play in Friday's win over Dominican, was named to the All-Tournament team.
Caleb Baskett made four baskets to chip in with 10 points.
Academy of Art was led by Kendall Brown with 15 points.
