ABILENE ? Abilene Christian shot 57.6 percent from the field, canned 14 3-pointers, and used a solid transition game to defeat Hillsdale Free Will Baptist 99-58 Monday night at Moody Coliseum in the season opener. The Wildcats used a balanced scoring effort that saw 12 players score and
Dejan Sencanski led all scorers with 21 points.
The Wildcats trailed 8-3, but it wouldn't last long as ACU took the lead on an
Ean Wagner layup with 15:46 remaining in the first half and never looked back. The Saints, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, were overmatched by the Wildcats who outscored the visitors 28-5 on the fast break.
Sencanski, the Lone Star Conference South Division Preseason Player of the Year, was 8 of 9 from the field, 3 of 4 from behind the arc, and 2 of 2 from the free-throw line scored 21 points in just 20 minutes of play. The senior forward added a team-high six rebounds as well.
Wagner and
Dante Adams each scored 15 points and Kevin White also had 12 points off the bench.
Riley Lambert had a solid all-around game in just the second start of his collegiate career. The junior point guard from Merkel had five points, five rebounds and a game-high six assists.
The Wildcats were just two 3-point field goals off the school record and ACU hit 14 of its 23 attempts from deep for a solid 61 percent. The Saints had a good game from outside as well hitting 10 of 26 from beyond the arc and had three from forward Sam Webber. Brody Clark led HFWB in the losing effort with a dozen, Webber had 11 and Kyle Smart had 10 points off the bench.
However, the story was ACU's offense and ball movement in the transition game. The Wildcats had 27 assists on the night and defensively recorded 14 steals and five blocks. At one point in the first half, the Saints went 4:58 without a point while the Wildcats scored nine unanswered in the drought.
Head coach
Jason Copeland is now 4-0 in season openers as ACU's head coach. He'll look for his 40th career win Thursday against Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m. HFWB is 0-3 all-time against ACU and has lost the three games by an average of 34.3 points. The Saints dropped to 0-6 on the young season.
