NACOGDOCHES, Texas (Interstat) — Stephen F. Austin opened its men’s NCAA Division I basketball season with a 120-61 victory over visiting non-divisional opponent Lyon on Monday at William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Lumberjacks improved to 1-0. Attendance was 923.

The Lumberjacks controlled the game with a decisive first-half run and finished with 58 points before halftime and 62 after it. Lyon scored 35 in the first half and 26 in the second. SFA opened with Erik Makke’s 3-pointer at 19:48, but Lyon briefly led at 5-4 on Kyanu Simeone’s 3-pointer and at 8-6 on another Simeone 3 with 17:51 left in the first half. Camron Williford made a layup, MJ Russell made a free throw and Christian Green made a layup during the early exchange. SFA answered the 8-6 deficit with a 15-3 surge, getting 3-pointers from Russell, Marcus Scurry and Ashton Simmons, to take a 21-11 lead. Dre’Yon Quattlebaum hit a 3 for Lyon, but Scurry and Russell followed with 3-pointers as SFA moved ahead 21-11. Earlier, Russell made a 3 at 17:30, Scurry made a 3 at 16:44 and Simmons made a 3 at 15:47. Scurry made a 3 at 15:03 and Russell made a 3 at 13:39 to complete the surge. Makke made a 3 at 12:57 and another at 9:38, while Chotikavanic made 3s at 4:02 and 2:24. Later, after Lyon pulled to 15 with 11:02 remaining, SFA outscored Lyon 37-11 to close the half and lead 62-26 at the break. In that closing stretch, Edwin Daniel made a layup, Makke hit a 3, Gediminas Alisas made a layup and free throw, Scurry made a 3, Kaloyan Hristov hit a 3, Courterius Scott made a 3, Amari Reed made a layup, Scurry made a driving layup, Manu Manciel hit a 3, Simeone made a layup, Hristov made a driving layup, Chotikavanic hit two 3-pointers, Trevonne Horsley made two free throws, Green made two free throws, Makke hit a 3 and Russell made a 3.

SFA kept pulling away after halftime, opening with Oleg Sadowski’s jumper for Lyon before Makke hit a 3, Chotikavanic hit a 3 and Daniel made a driving layup to make it 70-28. Trevion Ross made a 3 for Lyon, Russell answered with a 3 and Simeone made a 3 before Scurry made two free throws. Simmons made a jumper off a turnover, Sadowski made a jumper and Chotikavanic made a 3 to push the lead to 80-36. Daniel made a tip-in layup, Horsley made a driving layup and Chotikavanic hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 88-38 with 11:04 remaining. Hristov made a 3, Russell made a 3, Vincent Gigilo made a free throw and a 3, Pearson made a tip-in layup, Scurry made a 3, Alisas made a free throw and Easton Hupp made a tip-in layup. Tristian Thomas made a stepback jumper and a 3, Meachum made two free throws, Candler made a 3, Reed made two free throws, Simmons made two free throws, Wright made two free throws and a jumper, Newton made a free throw, Manciel made a 3, Reed made a free throw, Thomas made a 3 and two free throws, Hupp made a 3, Alisas made a tip-in layup, a layup and a free throw, and Manciel made two free throws with 39.9 seconds left to close the scoring at 120-61.

Lyon’s first-half points included Williford’s layup, Simeone’s two early 3-pointers and a stepback jumper, Quattlebaum’s 3-pointer, Ross’s free throws, Hristov’s 3-pointer and driving layup, Horsley’s two free throws and Simeone’s layup. In the second half, Sadowski made two jump shots, Ross and Simeone each made a 3-pointer, Thomas made a stepback jumper and two 3-pointers, Meachum made two free throws, Gigilo made a free throw and a 3-pointer, Wright made two free throws and a jumper, and Newton made a free throw.

Narit Chotikavanic, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard from Plano, Texas, who previously attended Plano East, had 18 points, two rebounds and four assists in 16 minutes. MJ Russell, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard who previously attended Sipsey Valley High School, had 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and one block in 14 minutes. Gediminas Alisas, a 6-foot-6 forward from International School, had nine points, 10 rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. Marcus Scurry, a 5-foot-11 guard from Butler High School, had 16 points, four rebounds, one assist and one block in 13 minutes. Erik Makke, a 6-foot-1 guard from International School, had 15 points, three rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes.

Edwin Daniel, a 6-foot-9 forward from Our Saviour Lutheran High School, had six points, five rebounds, one assist and three blocks in 16 minutes. Christian Green, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound forward from Veterans Memorial, had four points, five rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 16 minutes. Amari Reed, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Lancaster High School, had five points, six rebounds, one assist and one block in 11 minutes. Ashton Simmons, a 6-foot-3 guard from West Brook High School, had seven points, four rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes. Manu Manciel, a 6-foot-3 forward from Wasatch Academy, had eight points, four rebounds and three assists in 13 minutes. SFA finished with 23 offensive rebounds, six assists, eight blocks, 11 turnovers and 21 fouls. SFA scored 120 points from 78 possessions and posted an offensive rating of 154.1.

The next 10 games include five home games and five road games. Stephen F. Austin is scheduled to host Texas Lutheran on Nov. 6, visit Abilene Christian on Nov. 11, host Rice on Nov. 14, host Indiana State on Nov. 20, visit SMU on Dec. 1, host Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 5, host Texas-Arlington on Dec. 9, visit Louisiana Tech on Dec. 12, visit Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Dec. 19 and visit Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 21.