MARSHALL, Texas – The Louisiana State University of Alexandria men's basketball team open the season with an 84-70 victory over Wiley University (TX).

"My staff and I are happy about the win," LSUA Head Coach Dimario Jackson said. "Our guys did a good job of executing the game plan on both ends. There's some things we have to clean up defensively. We have to better offensively. We did a solid job of going to get a tough road win against a good, well-coached WIley Team!"
 
Kashie Natt led LSUA with 16 points and 14 rebounds, netting a double-double in the season opener. Natt added four steals and one block. EJ McQuillan totaled 15 points and went 5-for-11 from the field. The Generals (1-0) recorded 34 points in the paint, 27 points off of turnovers, and 21 second chance points.
 
The Generals stormed out to a 13-2 lead in the opening seven minutes of play. Jakemin Abney went 2-for-2 for four points in the run, Bryce Journee and Jordan Decuir each added a three.
 
Decuir finished with 10 points, going 2-for-2 from the field and 5-for-5 at the charity stripe.
 
LSUA's opening run set the tone for the first half, as the Generals' lead hovered around the 10-point mark for the majority of the stanza.
 
The Jaguars whittled the lead down to six, 32-26, with three minutes remaining in the first period. A trio of free throws made it 32-29, before Decuir converted a layup and the ensuing free throw to push the Generals' lead back to six, 35-29, with two minutes to play in the half.
 
LSUA went into half time leading 41-32, after a jumper from Xavier Smith and four consecutive free throws from Decuir pushed the lead back to nine in the waning seconds.
 
Much like the first half, LSUA opened the second stanza on a 10-2 run, staking out a 51-34 advantage.
 
A 6-0 run midway through the second half extended the lead 19, 61-42. The run consisted of a pair of free throws from McQuillan, a jumper from Natt, and a dunk from Pouncy.
 
Wiley then went on an 8-0 run of their own, cutting the lead to 11. A pair of free throws from Isaiah Howard stopped the Wildcats' run and brought the score to 63-50, before Keyon Giroir and McQuillan knocked down a pair of threes.
 
The Generals cruised through the second half, keeping the Wildcats at arm's reach for the 84-70 victory.
 
The Generals are on the road for an exhibition on Tuesday, October 29, at Lamar University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.