La Verne, CA — The Oberlin College men's basketball team cruised past the University of La Verne Leopards, 96-70, in its season opener Saturday evening. 

With the victory the Yeomen are 1-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season when they opened the season with a victory over the Kalamzoo College Hornets.

As a team Oberlin made 16-plus three pointers (17-for-27) for the second time since 2000. The last time was on December 3, 2016 when the Yeomen knocked down 16 treys against Youngstown State University. Oberlin also shot at a 61.4 percent clip from the field (35-for-57) and won the battle on the boards, 36-23. 

Golden State natives Andre Campbell, Christian Fioretti, Joshua Friedkin and Jordan Armstrong felt at home as they all finished in double figures. Campbell led all scorers with 20 points as he finished the night 8-for-15. Fioretti scored 17 points to go with his eight assists and six rebounds. Friedkin chipped in 11 points and dished out six dimes, while Armstrong cashed in 10, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field. 

The Yeomen got off to the start they wanted as Campbell finished at the rim giving the Yeomen an early 17-point lead, 26-9, just eight minutes in forcing the Leopards to take their second timeout. La Verne answered with a 9-0 run out of the timeout to cut it down to an eight-point Oberlin advantage with 9:50 left in the frame. 

The stingy Yeomen defense would hold the Leopards to just 11 points the rest of the period, allowing them to extend their lead. An Eli Silverman-Lloyd three pointer with just three ticks left on the clock sent the Yeomen into halftime with a 48-29 advantage. In the first 20 minutes of the season the Yeomen shot and impressive 58.1 percent from the field, hitting on 18 of its 31 shots, including an 8-for-14 performance from three-point land.

Oberlin cruised in the second half, as they would build their lead up to as many as 35 points in the second half when a Silverman-Lloyd three with 9:54 left made it 81-46. With the large lead, the Yeomen were able to empty its bench and get freshmen Orlando Ashford II, Jordan Kunney, Aidan Miller, Justin Wright, Josh Friday and Charlie Riordan their first collegiate minutes. 

The Yeomen will wrap up its California trip tomorrow night at Caltech. The game is set to start at 6 p.m. EST and 3 p.m. PST.