Men’s Basketball Sinks the Pirates in Season Opener

Lynn University’s men’s basketball began the 2014-15 campaign with a commanding 86-59 victory against Armstrong State at the de Hornle Center on Saturday evening. With the victory, Lynn remains undefeated against the Pirates with a perfect 3-0 all-time record.

Pavle Raickovic sparked the offense with 14 points, leading three Fighting Knights in double-digits. In his first game in the de Hornle Center, David Johnson scored 13 points while Haki Stampley posted 12 points in 11 minutes. Helping his teammate’s score, Russell Wilson dished out eight assists in his first game as the point guard for the Fighting Knights.

On the boards Benjamin Berry grabbed a team-high six rebounds, followed by Johnson with five.

Defensively Lynn forced 27 turnovers with Aaron Harrison recording five steals. Patrick Jones, Wilson and Stampley all notched two steals in the win.

Lynn never trailed in the contest, using an 11-1 run right out of the gate to set the tempo for the evening. Harrison scored the first points for the Fighting Knights 15 seconds into the season. Back-to-back steals from Harrison and Wilson helped Lynn create their first double-digit lead of the game moments later. Armstrong responded, bringing the score to within four at 13-9, before four straight points from the home team put the lead back to eight at 17-9. The Blue & White ended the half up 13 at 44-31, tied for their largest lead of the half.

The Fighting Knights erupted offensively in the second half, creating a 30-point advantage nine minutes after the intermission. Back-to-back three pointers from Stampley and Kaleb Clyburn capped off the 16-0 run that created the lead. Lynn had their biggest advantage of the night at 32 with 7:43 left to play after a defensive rebound from Wilson was passed down the court to Johnson for an easy layup.