VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Albany State University men's basketball team secured a 73-59 season-opener victory over the University of West Florida as a part of the GSC-SIAC Crossover at the Complex.
 
Albany State jumped out to a quick 16-2 lead in the first seven minutes of play. The Argonauts were plagued by turnovers during that stretch, committing seven while ASU shot 7-of-14 from the field.
 
In the final 33 minutes of action, however, the game was tied ASU 57-57 before the Golden Rams look the lead and never looked back. ASU's leading scorers for the game were Randy McClure (17 points), Joshua Jerome (14 points), and Mario Young (12 points) who scored in double-digits for the Golden Rams.
 
McClure led ASU with 13 points in the second half, where Albany State collected 33 points. Randy led the Golden Rams with four rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Overall, ASU shot 48 percent from the floor.  

West Florida cut into the lead in the second half, trimming the deficit to as few as 10 with 9:31 left in the game. Albany State was able to grow its lead over the final eight minutes, never surrendering the lead to cruise to the victory.  
 
Ke'Sean Robinson led UWF with 14 points.
 
ASU is back to action in the GSC-SIAC Crossover on Saturday at 2 pm against host Valdosta State.