SILVER CITY, N.M.— Behind a 20-point performance from Lamont Sanders, the Adams State University Grizzlies opened the 2022-23 season with a 72-69 win on Friday night in a neutral site game over the University of Texas Permian Basin. The last time the season opened the season with a win was in Dec. 5, 2020 when they defeated the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 85-78, in the COVID-shortened season. Friday's game was a part of the Lone Star/Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference challenge.
This was also the first time that both Grizzly men and women basketball teams (ASU WBB def. Midwestern State University, 97-72) won their season openers in the same year since 2013. That year the Grizzly women defeated Eastern New Mexico 58-46 and the Grizzly men defeated Iowa Wesleyan 87-79.
The Grizzlies and Falcons battled back-and-forth through the entire game but the first half, in which the Grizzlies shot 50 percent (11-of-22) , saw Adams State take a 37-36 lead before the second half saw 11 lead changes.
The Grizzlies trailed with less than five minutes left to play but some key buckets down the stretch helped them capture the win.
Sanders played 18 minutes in which he was 6-of-13 in the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arch and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Kolby Walker scored 15 points while Isaiah Sampson scored 14 points.
As a team the Grizzlies were 25-of-49 (51 percent) from the field and 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from beyond the arch.
The Grizzlies will be back on Drag's Court in Silver City on Saturday when they play Western New Mexico at 2:00 p.m.
